Smooth operator

Englishman?Paul Bird and Welshman Aled Davies, the two-time defending champions, will be the ones to beat in this year’s SOL Rally Barbados, which drives off at Bushy Park Circuit in St Philip, with the first stage starting at 6:30 p.m. today.
The 23-stage event covering a distance of 128 kilometres has attracted 84 crews, and with seeding based on the results of last Sunday’s Scotiabank King of the Hill, Bird and Davies will start at number one in the Rubis/Cockspur Rum Ford Focus WRC08.
Here, Bird, a former UK National Rally champion who is chasing a hat-trick of wins, kissing his car during an autograph/photo session with race fans at the Rubis Kendal Hill service station in Christ Church this week.