King-Of-The-Hill is heading to the north of the island this year.
Word of this came from chairman of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC), Mark Hamilton, at a press conference Friday at the Scotiabank, Warrens, St Michael office, as he received a cheque for $35 000 from title sponsor of the May 26 event.
The Scotiabank King-Of-The-Hill will take place on what should be a near three-kilometre course in St Lucy, but he gave no further details, saying only that it should be a very interesting course with everything mixed into it.
“We are still fine-tuning details such as the VIP area and others things and until all those things are battened down, we prefer to keep the location under wraps, but the course, with regards to its layout, has not been used in its current form for many years and could be seen as a levelling of the playing field,” Hamilton said.
King-Of-The-Hill was first contested at Turners Hall, St Andrew in 2009, then at Stewarts Hill, St John in 2010 and the following year, Sailor Gully, St Peter. A course laid out from Hangsman’s Hill to Lion Castle was the venue last year.
King-Of-The-Hill has been won by only three drivers. Local aces Paul Bourne and Roger Skeete swapped, with Bourne winning in 2008 and 2010, and Skeete in 2009 and 2011. Last year, England’s Paul Bird won the event.
The BRC chairman said a field of about 100 cars was expected for the event.
Victor Boyce, director of corporate and commercial banking at Scotiabank told the media the bank was pleased to be associated with the Barbados Rally Club and it was the start of the bank being the sole sponsor of King-Of-The-Hill.
“This presentation is a continuation of a relationship which started last year when we came on board as a joint sponsor of the event. This year, we are really pleased and excited to increase our role and bring to you the Scotiabank King-Of-The-Hill which we are sponsoring to the tune of $35 000,” Boyce said.
He added that because Scotiabank enjoyed being involved with the community, supporting motorsport was a natural fit with a real community event enjoyed by old and young, male and female and people from all classes of society.
“It is free and accessible to thousands of people and this shows in the huge numbers that pack their baskets and coolers and line the roads every year to take in the action,” Boyce said.
Pointing out that Sol Rally Barbados pumps about $4 million into the economy and accounts for around 4 000 visitor nights each year, Boyce said it was a pleasure for the bank to be associated with an event that was a key driver of the economy and helped maintain jobs and bring in foreign exchange.
