SOL RALLY BARBADOS BACKS RALLYE SUNSEEKER
Caribbean trip for winning National crew . . . and their car!
The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) has joined forces with the London office of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) to stage a major promotion for Sol Rally Barbados 2011 (June 4/5) at Rallye Sunseeker International next month; based in the British south coast resorts of Bournemouth and Poole, it is for the first time the opening round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship.
From small beginnings in 1990 as a one-day rally for local crews, Rally Barbados – it was renamed in 2003 - has grown into the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international; one of the region’s strongest sporting brand names, particularly for European visitors, it is a major contributor to the island’s foreign exchange earnings.
A two-day tarmac rally, with 24 special stages run under road closure orders, it follows the previous weekend’s Scrutineering and Shell V-Power King of the Hill ‘shakedown’, a chance for overseas competitors to experience local tarmac at more than recce speed.
Rallye Sunseeker (February 25/26) has for 25 years been round one of the ANCRO National Rally Championship – the series won by Barbados regulars Steve Perez and Paul Bird in 2004 and ’05 respectively – and is the only major rally in the south of England; comprising 11 stages on gravel, it includes National, Historique and Military events.
The winner of Rallye Sunseeker National will receive free entry and shipping to Sol RB2011 from the BTA, plus flights, accommodation and rental car from the BRC, an award valued at around US $8,500 (£5,500); the National event is also the opening round of the UK’s new SuperCar Rally Challenge, which caters for those four-wheel-drive cars outside British Rally Championship regulations, including World Rally Cars.
Petra Roach, BTA vice-president, marketing & sales Europe, said: “Sol Rally Barbados is a key element of our island’s sports-tourism product; after a limited promotion at Rallye Sunseeker 2010, we saw the potential for a bigger programme this year. There is a lot of synergy between the two events – both bring vital tourist income to their host venues at traditionally ‘slower’ times of year, winter in Bournemouth and summer in Barbados, and both are organised by extremely professional teams.”
Rallye Sunseeker event director Rick Smith added: “We’re delighted to be associated with Sol Rally Barbados; many of our regular competitors, like ‘Birdy’ and Steve Perez, are well known in the island, and I hope we can build on this relationship in the future.”
In addition to the winner’s prize, the promotion includes a major BTA presence at the Friday night Ceremonial Start on Poole Quay and Saturday’s Somerley Speed Festival, staged alongside the keynote spectator stage at Somerley Park, home of event patron Viscount Somerton. Sol Rally Barbados chairman Barry Gale says: “With footfall through the official car parks and various venues at Rallye Sunseeker of around 35,000 people, this is an ideal way to enhance our existing promotion of this year’s event.”
Sol Rally Barbados 2010 marked the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Club’s International All-Stage Rally; the event has played host to 235 overseas competitors in the past decade – with 12 new names already listed since on-line entries opened (www.rallybarbados.bb), organisers are confident of passing the 250 mark this year, so much so that the maximum start list has been increased from 90 to 100.
Sol Rally Barbados (June 4/5, 2011) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 29) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB2011 is the 22nd running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the start of a second three-year term of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.
web site: www.rallybarbados.bb