The 2024 British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC) Rally Barbados got underway under floodlights at Bushy Park in St Philip on Friday night with one major non-starter as the team of Roger Mayers and Barry Ward had to withdraw due to engine issues.
Two-time Rally winner and favourite, Dane Skeete, started the action in this year’s event, but within a few minutes, Ford Fiesta WRC driver Daniel Hiorns and co-driver Josh Beer came to a halt a few corners into the stage, the first casualty for 2024.
Most drivers were looking to just make it through, all the while pushing hard to establish an early class lead. However, with two stalls, things have not started well for Skeete but they have certainly started superbly for the R5 cars thus far.
Skoda R5 drivers Stuart Maloney and Mark Maloney, along with Ford driver Adam Mallalieu, have all won a stage each, but it is the Maloneys and Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton who hold the top three positions.
They, along with all the surviving competitors, will battle in nine stages on Saturday as they head to the South-east of the island for the restart at Bushy Park from 10 a.m. (SW)
