While most of the overseas competitors taking part in this year’s Sol Rally Barbados were either relaxing at the beach, or making last-minute minor adjustments to their machinery yesterday, the Virgin Atlantic rally team of Ding Boston and his navigator, Andy Parsons, were anxiously awaiting the 2 p.m. arrival of a Virgin Atlantic flight out of Britain to the Grantley Adams International airport.
On board the flight was the replacement parts they desperately needed to fix their car in time for the start of last night’s event at Bushy Park as well as the remaining two days.
When the SATURDAY SUN caught up with the team at Ulyett’s Machine Shop in Content, St Thomas, co-ordinator of the Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation student rally team and driver of the 1966 model “Inca” Alfa Gt, Boston, and his navigator Parson, were forced to source a replacement differential for their car after their original one exploded in last Sunday’s warm-up King Of The Hill event.
While it’s the first time for his navigator as well as four of the five students, this year will mark the sixth year for Boston, who competed in five previous Sol Rallies with a measure of success.
“I first visited the island in 2008 and competed successfully in my first Sol Rally in a 1.5 Austin Riley where I won my class. This year I am here with a new car and navigator along with five students from the university,” he said yesterday.
In describing the choice of vehicle for this year’s entry, Boston noted that the Alfa Romeo they came with this year had a rich history.
“It is the students’ pilot project. In 2001 this car was used in the world’s toughest rally called the Inca trail, which is contested over 15 000 miles around South America and over the worse roads imaginable. It completed the rally after three months and several big accidents.”
When asked what kept him coming back to Barbados for Sol Rally Barbados, Boston revealed that in England the education system meant that the students who were studying automotive and motorsport engineering got little or no practical hands-on experience in fixing things that were broken or malfunctions. “… So coming to Barbados to Ullyett’s Machine Shop, in particular, where persons are able to fix anything that breaks, is a massive learning exercise for the students who are more used to being in a country where things are just fitted brand new rather than having to fix a unit when it goes wrong. That is an enormous help for the students who come and learn how to prep and how to support a rally car at this kind of top-flight level of Sol Rally Barbados.
“The other thing that keeps me coming back is the camaraderie, the friendliness, the weather, beaches, the enthusiasm of everyone we meet. The support from everyone both on and off the stages, the atmosphere is just incredible.”