A BATTLE of the champions is brewing in Modified 7 (1600-2000cc) as two-wheel drivers prepare to settle the Sol Go Further/Scotiabank King-of-the-Hill and Sol Rally Barbados.
Five former Barbados Rally Club (BRC) champions are down to take on Edward Corbin, driving the ex-Freddie Gale Toyota Valvoline Corolla RunX, who has a hat-trick of titles starting in 2003.
And among the challengers is Gale himself who took the group title for the past three years, but has been experiencing some challenges with a newer RunX.
Corbin’s performance could also be strengthened, and his confidence bolstered by his outstanding performance in the Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) where he has been the overall champion for the past two years.
But Corbin should be concerned by the presence of Daryl Clarke, in the Ellco Rentals/Mom’s Pasta Products/MQI/Roberts Manufacturing Honda Civic, who has won M7 in all three Virgin Atlantic BRC Championship rounds this season and currently leads the overall drivers table.
Other contenders include the Linton brothers, Adrian and Jonathan, who will be in the new and untried Vauxhall Astra SRi, reigning champion Jeremy Sisnett, in a Ford Fiesta, and 2001 winner, John Corbin, in the Corbin’s Garage/Klark-Odio Corolla.
And as if to further compound his problems, Edward Corbin will also have to keep his eyes on drivers such as Kyle Catwell, in the Chicken Pen Racing/Kumho/Valvoline/Mackeson/Ellesmere Quarries Volkswagen Golf GTI, and journeyman Chris Ullyett, in a Ford Escort RS2000.
In M5, for cars up to 1400cc, Sean Cox, in the Simpson Motors/Gliptone/Johnsen’s Suzuki Swift Gti, will be hoping to repeat his last year’s performance when be beat Northern Ireland’s Glenn Campbell – who again leads the international invasion in his Nissan Micra Kit Car – by nine seconds as his class will be merged with M6 for BRC points.
Other drivers expected to face the starter are returnee Dublin’s Peter Gallagher, driving the Talbot Samba he last rallied with 15 years ago, and England’s Stuart Deeley, who will be making his Barbados debut in a John Hardman-owned Nissan Micra.
Sol Go Further/Scotiabank King-of-the-Hill is scheduled for June 3, while Sol Rally Barbados will take place the following weekend over 22 stages.
