Panton, Fennell top seeds for SOL Rally Barbados

Following their fourth consecutive victory in Flow King of the Hill at its new location of Stewart’s Hill last Sunday, Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton and Michael Fennell Jnr are top seeds for the 30th running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event. The entry list of 98 cars for Sol Rally Barbados 2019 – one shy of the 2012 record of 99 starters – was published by the BRC at last evening’s (Wednesday) Briefing Meeting at Mahogany Ridge, St Thomas.

Panton and Fennell (Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06) will lead the field in to tomorrow’s (Friday) three 6.25-kilometre stages from Golden Grove to the spectacular floodlit arena of Bushy Park, the toughest challenge since the the opening night-time stages were added in 2014; at 18.75km, they account for 15 per cent of the total distance and could play a major role in the outcome of the event.

Retson reigns in World Championship prize fund with inspiring partnerships

Progressive young rally driver Finlay Retson will head into the second half of the Junior British Rally Championship season, in the lead of the race to secure a prize fund worth 60,000 Euros towards a 2020 campaign in the Junior World Rally Championship from M-Sport Ford and Pirelli.

Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally shaping up to be a “classic year”

The Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally launched last week as one of the region’s most popular events on the calendar returns for the third successive year on June 22nd, with new challenges for competitors in the KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship.

Backed by Dunoon Presents and the local community, the event will once again see some of the best drivers in Scotland and beyond heading to Dunoon to compete across classic Argyll and Bute forests stages with a brand-new test added to the mix in 2019.

Panton & Fennell’s foruth Flow King of the Hill

Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and Mike Fennell re-wrote the record books again yesterday (Sunday) with their fourth straight victory in Flow King of the Hill, the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) annual Sol Rally Barbados shakedown. Having trailed England’s Rob Swann for the first three runs, Panton made the final run count, to win by a margin of 12 hundredths of a second in the Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06.

With the car undergoing a total rebuild, Panton has seen no action since last year, as he explained at the finish: “The times today reflect how much I had to catch back up. All day I really thought Rob had it, right up to the last run when we put on a set of fresh tyres and just went for it. To come out on top is a major confidence boost for next weekend, when we need to be driving more like we did in the last run.”

Hansen grabs the spoils in SpeedMachine finale

Timmy Hansen claimed victory in a gripping final of the Dayinsure World RX of Great Britain at the SpeedMachine Festival, the fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.

Hansen thus became the first double winner of the 2019 season, following victory in Barcelona in round two in his Team Hansen MJP Peugeot 208.

World RX of Great Britain

A fantastic weekend of rallycross was capped off with drama through the semi-finals and then a closely fought final. The first semi final looked to be a routine 1-2 for the Hansen brothers in their 208’s with Timmy leading Kevin as they jokered on the last lap well ahead. Timmy got through okay but Kevin turned in too early and clipped the barrier on the inside of the hairpin left. By the time he got sorted out the top 3 places were gone. In the other semi final Janis Baumanis (Fiesta) got a flyer off the start, from the 3rd row, whilst Joni Wiman (i20) bogged down off the startline. It bunched the field up and Liam Doran (S1) was going door handle to door handle with a charging Baumanis.

Record entry of 95 for Flow King of the Hill

A record entry of 95 crews will contest Sunday’s (May 26) Flow King of the Hill, the final shakedown ahead of Sol Rally Barbados 2019 (May 31 to June 2), the 30th running of the Barbados Rally Club’s premier event. A classic showdown between local, regional and international drivers is on the cards, to be played out in front of huge crowds as the event makes a popular return to Stewart’s Hill, an iconic venue in island motor sport.

Dane Skeete steps up to lead the ‘home team’, driving the Subaru Impreza WRC S12B in which his father Roger won KotH three times, a score equalled last year by Jamaica’s Jeff Panton (Ford Focus WRC06). With Britain’s Rob Swann (Impreza S12B) and Kevin Procter (Ford Fiesta) also in the mix – their best finishes are, respectively, second in 2017 and third in 2008 – the result of Sunday’s event is not a foregone conclusion, but the outcome will fuel some lively discussions among fans in the coming days.

World RX battle shifts to all-action SpeedMachine

The fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy, the Dayinsure World RX of Great Britain, is the centrepiece of the SpeedMachine Festival at Silverstone this weekend.

Nicky Grist gives a personal insight into this year’s ‘super-smooth’ Nicky Grist Stages forest rally route

This year’s Nicky Grist Stages (Saturday 13 July) is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of title sponsorship support from Nicky Grist Motorsports – and the man himself has been a vital component in the event’s success over the years, both in terms of backing and his invaluable guidance on planning the route and timetable from a competitor’s point of view.

And Nicky says that this year’s Quinton MC-organised event, which contains eight stages (four repeated) totalling 43 stage miles in the classic Mid-Wales forest stages in the Carmarthenshire-Powys border area, will be one of the best – as the stages are in super-smooth condition.

Final countdown to SOL Rally Barbados is on

Since the first European competitors arrived in the island earlier this week to be reunited with rally cars they last saw at the UK port of Dover in early May, the final countdown to Sol Rally Barbados 2019 is in full swing. With the Rally Show this Saturday (May 25) launching 10 days of intense activity, the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) preparations have changed into high gear; Flow King of the Hill follows on Sunday at its new home at Stewart’s Hill, St Philip, with the 30th running of the BRC’s blue riband event, Sol RB19, from Friday to Sunday, May 31 to June 2.

The arrivals hall at the Grantley Adams International Airport is a blaze of colour each afternoon, as overseas crews, their families and friends alight from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights from London Gatwick or Manchester airports, already wearing their team T-shirts.