FIVE FORMER WINNERS FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Ninety to start Caribbean's biggest annual motor sport event

Five former winners are seeded in the top 10 for the Caribbean's biggest annual international motor sport event, Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31); as the final running order was published Wednesday afternoon (May 27) by the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC), last-minute preparations were under way across the island for what promises to be the most competitive in the 20-year history of the event.
A capacity entry of 90 cars is listed to start the two-day tarmac rally, including current and former Champions from the host island, the wider Caribbean and Europe. Following the Ceremonial Start at Simpson Motors on Friday evening - an innovation for 2009 - there are 24 stages run over a distance of a little under 80 miles.
Saturday's route features 14 stages, including the event's signature - and longest - stage, Automotive Art Canefield, which alone attracts around 10,000 spectators, and 10 on Sunday, plus the Shell V-Power Super Special, which brings the event to a resounding climax at the island's circuit racing venue, Bushy Park.
Last year's winners Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle from Northern Ireland (Digicel/Red Bull/ARMAG Subaru Impreza WRC S9) will start at number one; their trip to the island has been generously allowed by Peugeot UK, in whose Kronos Racing-run S2000 Peugeot 207 they are currently leading the International Rally Challenge (IRC), fast replacing the World Rally Championship as the sport's most marketable high-end product.
A clutch problem prevented Meeke reminding island fans of his skills at last Sunday's Shell V-Power King of the Hill, which was won by Roger 'The Sheriff' Skeete, who will therefore start at number two in his recently-acquired Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12, co-driven by Louis Venezia, winning co-driver in 2003 with Paul Bourne. Skeete has won the BRC's premier event 10 times since 1990, most recently in 2004.
Bourne and Stuart Maloney (Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Subaru Impreza WRC S9) will start at three, Bourne also the winner in 2007 and the strongest challenger last year to Meeke, until he rolled mid-way through Saturday morning. Roger Hill and Graham Gittens, winners of the recent Automotive Art Shakedown Stages, will start at four in the Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC in which Meeke won last year.
After Meeke, England's Steve Perez is the highest-seeded international entry, co-driven in the Kick Energy Drink/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC05 by Welshman Paul Spooner; they start at five, with 1998 winner, Jamaica's Jeffrey Panton (Automotive Art/Bearings and Seals/Jamaica Freight and Shipping/Seaboard/Castrol/

Active Traders/Automoto Ford Focus WRC) at six, with Mike Fennell Jnr.
England's Kevin Procter and Dave Bellerby (Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7) start at seven, ahead of the Chairman of the Sol RB09 organising committee Barry Gale - he is co-driven in the Autolink/VP Racing/Bella Beauty Supply/Pro Pac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI by the highest-seeded of the 12 female co-drvers, Cherie Edghill - 1999 winner Trevor Manning, now co-driven by Derek Edwards in the All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Garbage Master/Bess Block Ford Escort WRC, and last year's runners-up, former UK National Champions Paul Bird and Ian Windress (SuperCasino.com/Vent Axia/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC07).

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 final running order statistics:
+ 90 crews entered
+ drivers or co-drivers from eight nations, including Barbados
+ 26 four-wheel-drive cars, including nine ex-factory World Rally Cars
+ 38 drivers or co-drivers from Europe
+ nine drivers or co-drivers from around the region
+ 1 female driver, 12 female co-drivers
+ cars from 18 manufacturers, Toyota the best-represented with 19, followed by Mitsubishi (15), Ford (13) and Subaru (11)

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels and Shelbury Construction.

Remaining key events

Friday, May 29 - 6.00pm to approx 9.00pm - The Ceremonial Start
+ Simpson Motors, Warrens, St Michael
Saturday, May 30 - Sol Rally Barbados 2009 - day 1
+ round five of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships
+ start at 9.00am from SS1, Sailor Gully 1
+ Simpson Motors is the service area for the day
Sunday, May 31 - Sol Rally Barbados 2009 - day 2
+ round six of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships
+ restart at 7.30am from Bushy Park, St Philip, which is the service area for the day
+ Shell V-Power SuperSpecial and Rally Finish at Bushy Park
Monday, June 1 - approx 3.30pm - Sol RB09 Prizegiving
+ The Boatyard, Bay Street, St Michael

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

Sol-RB09-33a: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 27, 2009

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2009
Final running order at May 27, 2009

+ list subject to final scrutineering of a number of cars

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): ENG - England; IRL - The Republic of Ireland; JAM - Jamaica; NED - The Netherlands; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; TDAD - Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

1 Kris Meeke - NIR/Paul Nagle - NIR (M8-WRC Digicel/Red Bull/ARMAG Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
2 Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (M8-WRC Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
3 Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (M8-WRC Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
4 Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)
5 Steve Perez - ENG/Paul Spooner - WAL (M8-WRC Kick Energy Drink/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC05)
6 Jeffrey Panton - JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr - JAM (M8-WRC Automotive Art/Bearings and Seals/Jamaica Freight and Shipping/Seaboard/Castrol/Active Traders/Automoto Ford Focus WRC)
7 Kevin Procter - ENG/Dave Bellerby - ENG (M8-WRC Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7)
8 Barry Gale/Cherie Edghill (M8-WRC Autolink/VP Racing/Bella Beauty Supply/Pro Pac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
9 Trevor Manning/Derek Edwards (M8-WRC All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Garbage Master/Bess Block Ford Escort WRC)
10 Paul Bird - ENG/Ian Windress - ENG (M8-WRC SuperCasino.com/Vent Axia/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC07)
11 Ian Warren/Robert Warren (SM10 Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift)
12 Cliff Roett/Orry Hunte (SM10 Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage/Castrol Toyota Starlet)
14 Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (SM11 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Little Switzerland BMW M3)
15 Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (M8-A Simpson Motors/Hankook Tyres/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
16 Ryan Champion - ENG/Craig Thorley - ENG (M8-A Champions/Pirelli/MSR Motorsport/Axis Caribbean Subaru Impreza 555)
17 Nick Gill/Sue Rogers (SM11 SDRR/Glassfibre Products/Castrol/Barb's Bikinis Mazda 3)
18 John Powell - TDAD/Michael March - JAM (P4 Intercontinental Shipping Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
19 Phil Collins - WAL/Derek Brannigan - IRL (SM11 Silverstone Tyres/Millington Engines/Great Stuff Caterers/Orchard Motorsport/Collins Engineering/Pontilas Developments Ford Escort MkII)
20 Sammy Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (SM11 Williams Industries/Digicel/F Taylor Associates/Castrol BMW M3)
21 Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (M8-WRC Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
22 Josh Read/Mark Jordan (SM9 Automotive Art Toyota Starlet)
23 Martin Stockdale - ENG/Mark Swallow - ENG (SM11 Divi Southwinds Beach Resort/Drive-a-Matic Car Rentals BMW M3 Compact)
24 Rob Swann - ENG/Darren Garrod - WAL (P4 Revolution Competition Wheels/Escape Hotel Subaru Impreza N14)
25 James Betts/Josh Delmas (SM9 All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Makita/Black Bess/Yamaha/Champion Auto/Quik Start Auto/Kendal Sporting Opel Corsa)
26 Geoff Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Globe Finance/DeWalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
27 Graeme Finlayson - SCO/Martin Atwell (M8-A www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS)
28 Adrian Linton/Jonathan Linton (M7 Ravensden/Morris Straker Construction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipments Vauxhall Astra GSi)
29 Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (SM9 Area 5 Auto Works/Mom's Pasta Products Mitsubishi Mirage)
30 Justin Campbell/Jermin Pope (SM11 Area 5 Auto Works/Cumberbatch Nurseries/Target Studio BMW M3)
31 Michael Worme/Brian Gibson (M8-A Cot Media Group/Speedline Performance Auto/Dingolay/Details Car Valet Subaru Impreza STi)
32 Harold Morley - ENG/Geoff Goddard (P4 Subaru Impreza N14)
33 Rhett Watson/Logan Watson (SM10 The Unknown Entity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbz Workz/Castrol Ford Escort MkI)
34 Kirk Watkins/Ryan Corbin (M8-A Abacus Builders Inc/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
35 Tom Roberts - ENG/Paul Rees - WAL (M8-A Playboy Entertainment/Autolink/VP Racing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
36 St Elmo Cumberbatch/Dwayne Forde (SM11 Carib Supply/F Taylor Associates BMW E36)
37 David Williams/Kris Yearwood (P4 Mix 96.9FM/Consolidated Finance/Warrens Motors/Dynamic Limo Services/Castrol Subaru Impreza WRX STi)
38 Jeremy Gonsalves/Natasha Farnum (SM9 Makita/All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Star Products/Champion Auto/Kendal Sporting Suzuki Swift GTi)
39 Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG/Shaun Mellett - ENG (GpB Earl's Performance Hoses Ford Puma)
40 Dean Serrao/Ryan Farmer (P4 Amalgamated Security/Coconut Car Rentals/Lucky Games Inc Subaru Impreza N12)
41 Norman Catwell/Stuart Leach - ENG (GpB Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Peugeot 205 GTi)
42 Owen Cumberbatch/Kelly-Ann Sandiford (SM11 Combo Auto Parts and Service BMW M3)
43 Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (SM11 PowerMaster Batteries/Automotive Art/MQI/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII)
44 Raymond Gill/Jeremy Foster (SM11 BMW M3)
45 Andrew Jones/Mark Thompson (GpB Rexona V8/A P Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Hotel Ford Escort MkII)
46 Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (M7 Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing/Workz Mechanical Services Toyota Corolla RunX)
47 Karl Waterman/Matthew Staffner (SM9 3W's Racing Team/Propac/Crane & Equipments/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur/Catch Chocolates Toyota Starlet)
48 Kenny Hall - SCO/Fenny Wesselink - NED (M5 Halltune Garage Opel Corsa)
49 Greg Cozier/Jamie Marsh (GpB Mahindra Lotus Elise)
50 Frans Verbaas - NED/Hester van Ovost - NED (GpB Verbaas Preparations/Koni/Team Dynamics Wheels Austin Mini Cooper)
51 Edward Corbin/Rodney Clarke (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant)
52 Stuart White/Jason O'Neil (SM9 3W's Racing Team/Propac/Crane & Equipments/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur/Catch Chocolates Toyota Starlet)
53 George Anderson - SCO/John Millar - SCO (P4 George Anderson Building Contractors/Hutton Stone/J I Inglis Joinery Contractors/MVR/Border Ready Mix Concrete/lilmiss504 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII)
54 John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (M7 Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio/Automotive Art Toyota Corolla)
55 Ryan Wood/Raymond Parris (SM9 3W's Racing Team/Propac/Crane & Equipments/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur/Catch Chocolates Toyota Starlet)
56 Kyle Catwell/Justin Harrison (M7 Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI)
57 Winston Thompson/Scott Bentham (SM9 Chicken Pen Racing Team/SDRR Toyota Starlet)
58 Chris Moss - ENG/Stuart Ulyatt - ENG (SM11 FAMOSS Ltd Aston Martin Rally GT)
59 Sean T Field/Darnley Rayside (P3 AM Realty/Ackee Tree/Field Insurance Brokers/Landscapes in Harmony Peugeot 306)
60 Simon Michael - NIR/Jonathan Foster (SM10 www.clockworkorange.net/www.diamondfireworks.co.uk/Eddie Torrens Car Breakers/Eskylane Developments Ford Escort MkII)
61 Mark Antrobus/Rommell Coppin (P4 Speedline Performance Auto/Caribbean Alliance Insurance/Premier World Cargo/Precision Plumbing Services Subaru Impreza STi)
62 Wayne King/Summer Lewis (SM10 New Tech Peugeot 306)
63 Ralph White/Joe Troulan (SM10 Island Safari/Drive-a-Matic/Going Places Travel/Barbados Villa Services Toyota Starlet)
64 Eric Allamby/Zach Heaselgrave (SM10 Shelbury Construction/Container Services/Castrol/ACT Sandblasting Mitsubishi Lancer)
65 Ron Layne/Giselle Layne (M7 SDRR/Pavements & Foundations/L & N Workshop/Auto Solutions Nissan Sunny)
66 Danny Williams/Shane Emtage (M6 Chris's Workshop/Sunbury Plantation House/Barbados Paragliding Association Ford Fiesta)
67 George Gabriel/Leslie Evanson (SM9 my11plus.com/El Tigre Catamaran Cruises/Poonketeers Toyota Starlet)
68 Glenn Campbell - NIR/Anthony Concannon - IRL (M5 Burn Road Trade Sales/Campbell Motorsport Electrics/Motorcare/Agnew Recovery/TorqueTronix Nissan Micra)
69 Allan Maynard/Chris O'Neal (SM9 Gliptone/Johnsons/El Tigre Catamaran Cruises/Marshal Trading/Lubriguard/SDRR/Woodworks Toyota Starlet)
70 Neil Corbin/Aaron Kirton (SM9 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet)
71 Tarik Minott - JAM/Peter Clarke - JAM (SM9 Royal Computers/Extreme Sports/Tropical Battery Suzuki Ignis JWRC)
72 Vishal Dhanraj - TDAD/Richard Ramsingh - TDAD (SM9 Lucozade Energy/Lange Trinidad/The Dispensary/Automan/V3 Rally Team Toyota Starlet)
73 Jeremy Croney/James Goddard (SM9 Suzuki Snipe)
74 Sean Cox/Adam Cox (M5 Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift)
75 Wayne Archer/Angelique Bjerkhamn (M6 Daihatsu Charmant)
76 David Brewster/Rashid Phillips (M7 SRG Engineering/Castrol Peugeot 205GTi)
77 Bobby Marshall - JAM/Dario Hoyte (M7 Motor Sales & Service/Singer/Tru-Juice/Ocean Spray/TGIF Mitsubishi Mirage)
78 Ron Greaves/Dwain Carter (M7 Chicken Pen Racing/Ellesmere Quarries/Dreamworks/McCarthy's Garage Honda Civic)
79 Andrew Skeete/Bradley Weekes (M7 Fasteners Barbados/Hitachi Power Tools/Metal Stud/Rentequip/Quality Tyre Mitsubishi Lancer)
80 Gary Mendes/tba (M7 Lunatics Inc/G & G Sales & Service/LG Trading/Barbados Muffler Centre/Appleby Filling Station/ACT Sand Blasting/Techno Toy Tuning/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Corolla)
81 Ryan Hutchinson/Andre Snobel (P4 Toyota Celica GT4)
82 Ding Boston - ENG/John Puliston - ENG (Hist Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation/Phillips Tyres/Virgin Atlantic/Toyo/Recaro/Powervamp Racing/MASS Engines Riley 1.5)
83 Fabien Clarke/Pierre Lashley (P2 Barbados Business Listings/RCA Tours/Bovell Auto Repair Suzuki Ignis Sport)
84 Paul Inniss/Kerry Downes (SM11 246 Tuning/King Kuts Barber Shop/K Woods Boutique/Illusion Graphics/Char Nails Boutique/Hincksons Toyota Starlet Turbo)
85 Calvin Briggs/Hulita Brathwaite (SM11 Ford Escort MkII)
86 Nigel Reece/Jonathan Reece (M6 Subzero Services/TGM Air Conditioners/Trident International Corporation/Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Structural Systems/Preconco Datsun 120Y)
87 Shareef Walcott/Juan Watts (M6 Melwani's/Auto Solutions/Spoons Custom Brokers & Trucking/Klark-Odio/SMS Management Toyota Corolla)
88 Jamal Brathwaite/Talia Mapp (M6 AM Electrical Solutions/Arthur Construction/Arthur Lifting and Freighting/Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing/D2 Racing Suspension Mitsubishi Mirage)
89 Carlos Edwards/Andre Waithe (M6 Global Business Centre Toyota Starlet)
90 Cheryl Spencer - ENG/Barry Spencer - ENG (P3 Eden Vauxhall/Creative Space Solutions/Old Castle B & B/ABS Embroidery Vauxhall Astra GSi)
91 Duane Johnson/Victor Leslie (SM11 G & G Sales & Service/De Auto Spot/Rezults Auto Shop/AS Auto Stop/SBI Distribution/LG Trading/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo)

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

BARBADOS SURFERS ASSOCIATION…… IS ROUNDING UP ALL MALE AND FEMALE SURFERS ON THE ISLAND……FROM DUPIES TO SOUP BOWL
FROM BATTS ROCK TO FREIGHTS
FOR THE ISLAND WICKEDEST SURFER’S PARTY EVER
THE FULL MOON BEACH PARTY
@ the cruising club, pebbles beach.
SAT 6TH JUNE FROM 8 PM
FEATURING BOOMTRIBE DJS, NRG,SAGA BOY AND STOKELY MURRAY!!!
ROCKIN YOU: THE BAND: FULLY LOADED BEACH WEAR IN EFFECT
IT GOING TO BE AWESOME DUDES!!
GET YOUR $20. TICKETS NOW!! BOX OFFICES (LAZY DAYS, SURFERS BAY OISTINS, CAFÉ JUNGLES SHERATON, ESSO PAYNES BAY)

COME PARTY WITH THE ISLANDS HOTTEST FEMALE AND MALE SURFERS
NOBODY DOES IT……. LIKE THE SURFERS DO!!!
THIS EVENT IS A FUND RAISER TO ASSIST THE BSA TO REPRESENT OUR ISLAND IN COSTA RICO WORLD EVENT.

SKEETE IS SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL
Thousands turn out for final Sol Rally Barbados 2009 shakedown

Thousands of fans gathered at Stewarts Hill in St Philip on Sunday (May 24) to witness the 'Sheriff's promotion to 'King', as Roger Skeete powered to victory at Shell V-Power King of the Hill, the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) final shakedown before the Caribbean's biggest annual motor sport event, Sol Rally Barbados 2009, next weekend (May 29-31).
Despite two heavy morning showers, the three-kilometre stage was lined with spectators from long before the scheduled 10.30am start, with the largest gathering on the hill overlooking the straight, alongside which Merville Lynch Productions was broadcasting live coverage on the Giant Daylight Screen.
Competing for the first time in his recently-acquired Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12, Skeete set the pace from the start, clocking a time of 1 minute 54.34 seconds on the practice run; his closest rival was last year's winner Paul Bourne, on 1:57.38 in the Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Subaru Impreza WRC S9), while only two other drivers dipped below the two-minute mark - Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC) and England's Kevin Procter (Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7). Sol RB09 winner Kris Meeke (Digicel/Red Bull/ARMAG Subaru Impreza WRC S9) was having clutch problems and the 2:09.78 he recorded in practice would be his only time of the day.
In the first official timed run, Skeete went more than three seconds faster (1:51.24), as did Bourne (1:54.27) and Hill (1:55.78), with Steve Perez (Kick Energy Drink/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC05) now leading Procter as highest-placed visitor. The top 10 - now re-seeded in reverse order to run at the back of the field - was completed by Barry Gale (Autolink/VP Racing/Bella Beauty Supply/Pro Pac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), an impressive Cliff Roett (Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage/Castrol Toyota Starlet) the highest-placed two-wheel-drive runner, ahead of Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Little Switzerland BMW M3) and Ian Warren (Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift), with Neil Armstrong (Simpson Motors/Hankook/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) 10th.
In the second official run, Skeete found only an additional three-tenths (1:50.95) and, although Bourne reduced the margin significantly (1:52.84s), it would be enough for Skeete to win, as the third official run was cancelled part-way through on safety grounds, with oil dropped on a fast section of the stage after another brief shower. Hill also further improved (1:53.97), cutting the spread across the top three from five seconds after practice to just over three seconds by close of play.
Perez found another second and finished fourth, highest-placed international competitor, with Jamaica's Jeff Panton (Automotive Art/Bearings and Seals/Jamaica Freight and Shipping/Seaboard/Castrol/

Active Traders/Automoto Ford Focus WRC) fifth, despite only doing one official timed run. Procter and Gale finished sixth and seventh, ahead of Trevor Manning (All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Garbage Master/Bess Block Ford Escort WRC), who arrived in time for a hero's reception from the crowds on the second official run.
In that run, the fastest two-wheel-drive men switched order, Warren finishing ninth overall and claiming SuperModified 10 from Roett, who failed to finish and slipped to 10th; Still finished 12th, winning SM11 from Nick Gill (Mazda 3) and Welsh legend Phil Collins, whose bright red Ford Escort MkII was reaching some alarming angles.
Martin Atwell (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS) improved by more than a second for 11th place, pipping Armstrong to Modified 8-A, while Ryan Champion (Subaru Impreza 555) finished class third, after suffering a puncture on the first official run. Production 4 produced an excellent mixed battle, victory going to Trinidad's John Powell (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) from British Rally Championship regular Rob Swann (Subaru Impreza N14), with local ace Geoff Noel (Evo IX) third, after setting the practice pace, but then missing the second timed run.
Eight of the 88 drivers entered ran in an event which had no major incidents, although the afternoon rain caused some very entertaining moments for the crowd at the end of the long straight, drivers sliding off incuding Group N winner Andrew Costin-Hurley (Ford Puma), St Elmo Cumberbatch (BMW) and Daryl Clarke (Mitsubishi Mirage).

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels and Shelbury Construction.

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb


Sol-RB09-32a: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 25, 2009

SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL
Results

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown):
ENG - England; JAM - Jamaica; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; TDAD - Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

Overall
1st Roger Skeete (M8-WRC Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 1m 50.95s
2nd Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 1m 52.84s
3rd Roger Hill (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 1m 53.97s
4th Steve Perez - ENG (M8-WRC Kick Energy Drink/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC05), 1m 55.44s
5th Jeffrey Panton - JAM (M8-WRC Automotive Art/Bearings and Seals/Jamaica Freight and Shipping/Seaboard/Castrol/Active Traders/Automoto Ford Focus WRC), 1m 56.75s
6th Kevin Procter - ENG (M8-WRC Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7), 1m 56.93s
7th Barry Gale (M8-WRC Autolink/VP Racing/Bella Beauty Supply/Pro Pac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1m 58.12s
8th Trevor Manning (M8-WRC All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Garbage Master/Bess Block Ford Escort WRC), 1m 58.36s
9th Ian Warren (SM10 Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift), 1m 58.91s
10th Cliff Roett (SM10 Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage/Castrol Toyota Starlet), 1m 59.13s
etc
Modified 8-WRC 1st Skeete; 2nd Bourne; 3rd Hill
M8-A 1st Martin Atwell (www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS), 1m 59.15s - 11th o/a; 2nd Neil Armstrong (Simpson Motors/Hankook/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1m 59.87s; 3rd Ryan Champion - ENG (Champions/Pirelli/MSR Motorsport/Axis Caribbean Subaru Impreza 555), 2m 00.18s; etc
Production 4 1st John Powell - TDAD (Intercontinental Shipping Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 2m 01.01s - 16th o/a; 2nd Rob Swann - ENG (Revolution Competition Wheels/Escape Hotel Subaru Impreza N14), 2m 02.64s; 3rd Geoff Noel (Globe Finance/DeWalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 2m 03.56s; etc
SuperModified 11 1st Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Little Switzerland BMW M3), 1m 59.85s - 12th o/a; 2nd Nick Gill (Mazda 3), 2m 00.81s; 3rd Phil Collins - WAL (Silverstone Tyres/Millington Engines/Great Stuff Caterers/Orchard Motorsport/Collins Engineering/Pontilas Developments Escort MkII), 2m 01.03s; etc
SM10 1st Warren; 2nd Roett; 3rd Logan Watson (The Unknown Entity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbz Workz/Castrol Ford Escort MkI), 2m 07.07s; etc
SM9 1st Josh Read (Automotive Art Toyota Starlet), 2m 02.19s - 20th o/a; 2nd James Betts (All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Makita/Black Bess/Yamaha/Champion Auto/Quik Start Auto/Kendal Sporting Opel Corsa), 2m 02.85s; 3rd Daryl Clarke (Area 5 Auto Works/Mom's Pasta Products Mitsubishi Mirage), 2m 04.88s; etc
M7 1st Adrian Linton (Ravensden/Morris Straker Construction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipments Vauxhall Astra GSi), 2m 04.57s - 26th o/a; 2nd Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing/Workz Mechanical Services Toyota Corolla RunX), 2m 11.29s; 3rd John Corbin (Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio/Automotive Art Toyota Corolla), 2m 14.51s; etc
M6 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant), 2m 12.78s - 46th o/a; 2nd Danny Williams (Chris's Workshop/Sunbury Plantation House/Barbados Paragliding Association Ford Fiesta), 2m 19.29s; 3rd Wayne Archer (Daihatsu Charmant), 2m 29.90s; etc
M5 1st Kenny Hall - SCO (Halltune Garage Opel Corsa), 2m 12.60s - 45th o/a; 2nd Glenn Campbell - NIR (Burn Road Trade Sales/Campbell Motorsport Electrics/Motorcare/Agnew Recovery/TorqueTronix Nissan Micra), 2m 20.52s; 3rd Sean Cox (Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift), 2m 29.11s; etc
P3 1st Sean T Field (AM Realty/Ackee Tree/Field Insurance Brokers/Landscapes in Harmony Peugeot 306), 2m 15.75s - 54th o/a; 2nd Cheryl Spencer - ENG (Eden Vauxhall/Creative Space Solutions/Old Castle B & B/ABS Embroidery Vauxhall Astra GSi), 2m 52.45s
P2 1st Fabien Clarke (Barbados Business Listings/RCA Tours/Bovell Auto Repair Suzuki Ignis Sport), 2m 42.37s - 72nd o/a
Group B 1st Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG (Earl's Performance Hoses Ford Puma), 2m 08.98s - 37th o/a; 2nd Norman Catwell (Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Peugeot 205 GTi), 2m 09.45s; 3rd Andrew Jones (Rexona V8/A P Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Hotel Ford Escort MkII), 2m 09.98s; etc
Historic 1st Ding Boston - ENG (Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation/Phillips Tyres/Virgin Atlantic/Toyo/Recaro/Powervamp Racing/MASS Engines Riley 1.5), 2m 33.77s - 70th o/a

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL
Running order

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown):
ENG - England; IRL - The Republic of Ireland; JAM - Jamaica; NED -
The Netherlands; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; TDAD -
Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

1 Rhett Watson (SM10 The Unknown Entity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbz Workz/Castrol Ford Escort MkI)
2 Fabien Clarke (P2 Barbados Business Listings/RCA Tours/Bovell Auto Repair Suzuki Ignis Sport)
3 Sean T Field (P3 AM Realty/Ackee Tree/Field Insurance Brokers/
Landscapes in Harmony Peugeot 306)
4 Cheryl Spencer - ENG (P3 Eden Vauxhall/Creative Space Solutions/Old Castle B & B/ABS Embroidery Vauxhall Astra GSi)
5 Ding Boston - ENG (Hist Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation/Phillips Tyres/Virgin Atlantic/Toyo/Recaro/Power

vamp Racing/MASS Engines Riley 1.5)
6 Dave Sealy (M5 Lunatics Inc/G & G Sales & Service Inc/LG Trading/Barbados Muffler Centre/Appleby Filling Station/ACT Sand Blasting/Techno Toy Tuning/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Starlet)
7 Sean Cox (M5 Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift)
8 Kenny Hall - SCO (M5 Halltune Garage Opel Corsa)
9 Glenn Campbell - NIR (M5 Burn Road Trade Sales/Campbell Motorsport Electrics/Motorcare/Agnew Recovery/TorqueTronix Nissan Micra)
10 Andy Carter - ENG (tba)
11 Carlos Edwards (M6 Global Business Centre Toyota Starlet)
12 Wayne Archer (M6 Daihatsu Charmant)
14 Nigel Reece (M6 Subzero Services/TGM Air Conditioners/Trident
International Corporation/Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Structural Systems/Preconco Datsun 120Y)
15 Danny Williams (M6 Chris's Workshop/Sunbury Plantation House/Barbados Paragliding Association Ford Fiesta)
16 Shareef Walcott (M6 Melwani's/Auto Solutions/Spoons Custom Brokers & Trucking/Klark-Odio/SMS Management Toyota Corolla)
17 Jamal Brathwaite (M6 AM Electrical Solutions/Arthur Construction/
Arthur Lifting and Freighting/Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing/D2 Racing Suspension Mitsubishi Mirage)
18 Edward Corbin (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant)
19 Ron Layne (M7 SDRR/Pavements & Foundations/L & N Workshop/Auto Solutions Nissan Sunny)
20 Ron Greaves (M7 Chicken Pen Racing/Ellesmere Quarries/Dreamworks/McCarthy's Garage Honda Civic)
21 David Brewster (M7 SRG Engineering/Castrol Peugeot 205GTi)
22 John Corbin (M7 Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio/Automotive Art Toyota Corolla)
23 Freddie Gale (M7 Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing/Workz Mechanical Services Toyota Corolla RunX)
24 Kyle Catwell (M7 Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI)
25 Adrian Linton (M7 Ravensden/Morris Straker Construction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipments Vauxhall Astra GSi)
26 Karl Waterman (SM9 3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlet)
27 George Gabriel (SM9 my11plus.com/El Tigre Catamaran Cruises/Dreamworks Toyota Starlet)
28 Allan Maynard (SM9 Gliptone/Johnsons/El Tigre Catamaran Cruises/Marshal Trading/Lubriguard/SDRR/Woodworks Toyota Starlet)
29 Winston Thompson (SM9 Chicken Pen Racing Team/SDRR Toyota Starlet)
30 Stuart White (SM9 3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlet)
31 Jeremy Gonsalves (SM9 Makita/All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Star Products/Champion Auto/Kendal Sporting Suzuki Swift GTi)
32 Ryan Wood (SM9 3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlet)
33 Simon Gillmore (SM9 Lucozade Energy/Lange Trinidad/The Dispensary/Automan/V3 Rally Team Toyota Starlet)
34 Neil Corbin (SM9 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet)
35 Daryl Clarke (SM9 Area 5 Auto Works/Mom's Pasta Products Mitsubishi Mirage)
36 Josh Read (SM9 Automotive Art Toyota Starlet)
37 James Betts (SM9 All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Makita/Black Bess/Yamaha/Champion Auto/Quik Start Auto/Kendal Sporting Opel Corsa)
38 Tarik Minott - JAM (SM9 Royal Computers/Extreme Sports/Tropical Battery Suzuki Ignis JWRC)
39 Martin Atwell (M8-A www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS)
40 Eric Allamby (SM10 Shelbury Construction/Container Services/Castrol/ACT Sandblasting Mitsubishi Lancer)
41 Ralph White (SM10 Island Safari/Drive-a-Matic/Going Places Travel/Barbados Villa Services Toyota Starlet)
42 Logan Watson (SM10 The Unknown Entity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbz Workz/Castrol Ford Escort MkI)
43 Wayne King (SM10 New Tech Peugeot 306)
44 Simon Michael - NIR (SM10 www.clockworkorange.net/
www.diamondfireworks.co.uk/Eddie Torrens Car Breakers/Eskylane Developments Ford Escort MkII)
45 Cliff Roett (SM10 Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage/Castrol Toyota Starlet)
46 Ian Warren (SM10 Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift)
47 Norman Catwell (GpB Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Peugeot 205 GTi)
48 Greg Cozier (GpB Mahindra Lotus Elise)
49 Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG (GpB Earl's Performance Hoses Ford Puma)
50 Frans Verbaas - NED (GpB Verbaas Preparations/Koni/Team Dynamics Wheels Austin Mini Cooper)
51 Paul Inniss (SM11 246 Tuning/King Kuts Barber Shop/K Woods Boutique/Illusion Graphics/Char Nails Boutique/Hincksons Toyota Starlet Turbo)
52 Duane Johnson (SM11 G & G Sales & Service/De Auto Spot/Rezults
Auto Shop/AS Auto Stop/SBI Distribution/LG Trading/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo)
53 Justin Campbell (SM11 Area 5 Auto Works/Cumberbatch Nurseries/Target Studio BMW M3)
54 Calvin Briggs (SM11 Ford Escort MkII)
55 Raymond Gill (SM11 BMW M3)
56 Andrew Jones (SM11 Rexona V8/A P Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Hotel Ford Escort MkII)
57 Owen Cumberbatch (SM11 Combo Auto Parts and Service BMW M3)
58 St Elmo Cumberbatch (SM11 Carib Supply/F Taylor Associates BMW E36)
59 Mark Hamilton (SM11 PowerMaster Batteries/Automotive Art/MQI/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII)
60 Sammy Cumberbatch (SM11 Williams Industries/Digicel/F Taylor Associates/Castrol BMW M3)
61 Martin Stockdale - ENG (SM11 Divi Southwinds Beach Resort/Drive-a-Matic Car Rentals BMW M3 Compact)
62 Jonathan Still (SM11 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips
Lighting/Crane & Equipments BMW M3)
63 Nick Gill (SM11 Mazda 3)
64 Phil Collins - WAL (SM11 Silverstone Tyres/Millington Engines/Great Stuff Caterers/Orchard Motorsport/Collins Engineering/Pontilas Developments Escort MkII)
65 Chris Moss - ENG (SM11 FAMOSS Ltd Aston Martin Rally GT)
66 Ryan Hutchinson (P4 Toyota Celica GT4)
67 Mark Antrobus (P4 Speedline Performance Auto/Caribbean Alliance Insurance/Premier World Cargo/Precision Plumbing Services Subaru Impreza STi)
68 Dean Serrao (P4 Amalgamated Security/Coconut Car Rentals/Lucky Games Inc Subaru Impreza N12)
69 David Williams (P4 Mix 96.9FM/Consolidated Finance/Warrens Motors/Dynamic Limo Services/Castrol Subaru Impreza WRX STi)
70 Harold Morley - ENG (P4 Subaru Impreza N14)
71 George Anderson - SCO (P4 George Anderson Building Contractors/Hutton Stone/J I Inglis Joinery Contractors/MVR/Border Ready Mix Concrete/lilmiss504 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII)
72 Geoff Noel (P4 Globe Finance/DeWalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
73 Rob Swann - ENG (P4 Revolution Competition Wheels/Escape Hotel Subaru Impreza N14)
74 John Powell - TDAD (P4 Intercontinental Shipping Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
75 Michael Worme (M8-A Cot Media Group/Speedline Performance Auto/Dingolay/Details Car Valet Subaru Impreza STi)
76 Kirk Watkins (M8-A Abacus Builders Inc/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
77 Neil Armstrong (M8-A Simpson Motors/Hankook/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
78 Graeme Finlayson - SCO (M8-A www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS)
79 Ryan Champion - ENG (M8-A Champions/Pirelli/MSR Motorsport/Axis Caribbean Subaru Impreza 555)
80 Brett Clarke (M8-WRC Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
81 Barry Gale (M8-WRC Autolink/VP Racing/Bella Beauty Supply/Pro Pac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
82 Jeffrey Panton - JAM (M8-WRC Automotive Art/Bearings and Seals/Jamaica Freight and Shipping/Seaboard/Castrol/Active Traders/Automoto Ford Focus WRC)
83 Roger Hill (M8- WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)
84 Steve Perez - ENG (M8-WRC Kick Energy Drink/VK Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC05)
85 Kevin Procter - ENG (M8-WRC Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7)
86 Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
87 Trevor Manning (M8-WRC All Terrain Plus/Cellate Caribbean/Garbage Master/Bess Block Ford Escort WRC)
88 Roger Skeete (M8-WRC Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
89 Kris Meeke - NIR (M8-WRC Digicel/Red Bull/ARMAG Subaru Impreza WRC S9)

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

LIVE COVERAGE AT SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL
Maximum attack as 88 enter final shakedown

The Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) final shakedown before the Caribbean's biggest annual motor sport event, Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31), looks set to offer the island's thousands of motor sport fans a spectacle nearly as good as the 'main event', with live coverage all day on the Giant Daylight Screen.
The final running order for Sunday's (May 24) Shell V-Power King of the Hill, issued in advance of Scrutineering at the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium today (May 22), lists 88 entries, nearly 20 more than last year. Cars will run in reverse order of seeding, from Production 2 up to Modified 8-WRC, while the addition of some exhibition runs promises a day to remember.
Shell V-Power King of the Hill is important in more ways than one: it is a points-scoring round of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships, provides overseas competitors with a chance to shakedown their cars before the following weekend, and the results are key to the seeding process for Sol RB09 . . . so everyone will be in maximum attack mode.
As an additional attraction, Barry Mayers will treat fans to their first sight of his new mid-engined Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power/Chefette/Illusion Graphics/Ignition Plus Suzuki SX4 race car being driven in anger; he will run, untimed, as one of a number of Zero cars, which will also include the striking reincarnation of Neil Armstrong's Toyota Starlet, the 'Pitbullet', sponsored by energy drink Pit Bull. An invitation has also been extended to Roger Mayers and the Ford Focus WRC in which he won Rally Barbados in 2005, before it was converted to a circuit racer.
And that isn't all that spectators have to look forward to:
+ Merville Lynch Productions will broadcast live coverage on the Giant Daylight Screen of nearly every inch of the action on the three-kilometre stage, from five camera positions
+ live commentary will keep fans up to speed with the latest times
+ nearly 90 cars, contesting one practice and three official timed runs, means something around 360 attacks on the popular St Philip venue
+ the fastest 10 after the first official timed run will be re-seeded in reverse order, then run at the end of the field, building to an explosive climax to an action-packed day

Quality action all through the Sol RB09 field

Although the lower-capacity classes in the Sol RB09 field are now less well-supported, there is still quality action. In Modified 6, with two wins to one this year in local events, Edward Corbin is currently ahead, co-driven by Rodney Clarke in the Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant.
Whether a last-minute change of co-driver to Shane Emtage will affect the result for the year's other winner, Danny Williams (Chris's Workshop/Sunbury Plantation House/Barbados Paragliding Association Ford Fiesta) remains to be seen, but both these crews will need to watch out for Jamal Brathwaite/Talia Mapp (AM Electrical Solutions/Arthur Construction/Arthur Lifting and Freighting/Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing/D2 Racing Suspension Mitsubishi Mirage) and Shareef Walcott/Juan Watts (Melwani's/Auto Solutions/Spoons Custom Brokers & Trucking/Klark-Odio/SMS Management Toyota Corolla).
Circuit racing fans will certainly be checking the progress of former triple karting Champion Nigel Reece, co-driven by cousin Jonathan Reece, himself a respected surfer, in the Subzero Services/TGM Air Conditioners/Trident International Corporation/Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Structural Systems/Preconco Datsun 120Y,.
Despite just four entries, M5 offers a great mix, including two overseas crews, one visiting for the first time. In local events, newcomers Sean and Adam Cox (Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift) have impressed with their solid approach, but they will find Sol RB09 more challenging. The clever money has to be on Scotland's Kenny Hall, with Dutch co-driver Fenny Wesselink - he's won twice before in the Suzuki-engined Halltune Garage Opel Corsa - although Irish crew Glenn Campbell and Anthony Concannon might spring a surprise in their Burn Road Trade Sales/Campbell Motorsport Electrics/Motorcare/Agnew Recovery/TorqueTronix Nissan Micra.

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels and Shelbury Construction.

For a hi-res version of the attached image, please contact Neil Barnard on neil@809design.com

BIRD'S FOCUS FLIES IN FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Cars are the stars at Scrutineering on Friday

The most recent World Rally Car ever to arrive in the Caribbean touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados shortly after 1.00pm today (May 20) in the cargo hold of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, which was also carrying a large contingent of competitors and supporters heading for Sol Rally Barbados 2009, the Caribbean's biggest annual international motor sport event.
The 2007 SuperCasino.com/Kick Energy/Vent-Axia Ford Focus WRC of former motorcycle racer Paul Bird will be among the star attractions at pre-event Scrutineering, set to attract thousands of fans to the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium on the outskirts of the island's capital, Bridgetown, between 4.00pm and 8.00pm on Friday (May 22).
Reunited with Ian Windress, co-driver for his UK National Rally Championship title win in 2005, 'Birdy' finished second to Kris Meeke in Sol RB08 in a Subaru Impreza WRC S9; he then announced his decision to retire from competition, apart from running his PBM team, the official factory-backed Kawasaki outfit in the World Superbike Championship.
Bird has since re-launched his career, however, aiming for a second National title; shortly before the Championship's opening round, Rallye Sunseeker in February, he acquired the Focus from M-Sport - former drivers include Jari-Matti Latvala - which also meant his equipment now matched that of friend and arch-rival Steve Perez, whose own Focus 07 was formerly campaigned by Marcus Gronholm.
Following a bad start - both retired from Sunseeker - a stirring battle has raged: Bird finished third, second and first respectively in the next three rounds, with Perez three times in the top three. Both now trail multiple National Champion Marcus Dodd by just a few points . . . but miss the next event to compete in Sol RB09.
Bird's victory on the Manx Telecom Rally in early May came after the Geest Line had shipped the other European cars, hence the Focus airlift. Many had hoped Perez would do the same but, through his Kick Energy and Vodka Kick brands, he sponsors the popular annual Chatsworth Rally Show, now in June, making the timetable too tight.

Class action right through the field

While 'Birdy' will be aiming to finish in front of Meeke this year, there are many down the field, enjoying class battles just as tense. In SuperModified 9, there have been three different winners in as many years . . . and all are back, hoping for more success.
In local events, the winns have gone to last year's RB08 class-winner James Betts, now with co-driver Josh Delmas in the All Terrain Plus/Makita/Black Bess/Yamaha/Champion Auto/Quik Start Auto/Kendal Sporting Opel Corsa; in a class with a healthy mix of machinery, the challenge will come from '06 winners Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Automotive Art Toyota Starlet) and '07 victors, Jamaicans Tarik Minott and Peter Clarke, in the Royal Computers/Extreme Sports/Tropical Battery Suzuki Ignis JWRC.
Trinidad's Vishal Dhanraj and Richard Ramsingh appear in the Lucozade Energy/Lange Trinidad/The Dispensary/Automan/V3 Rally Team Toyota Starlet - David Williams finished class second in that car last year - after stepping down from four-wheel-drive.
Daryl Clarke and Russell Brancker (Area 5 Auto Works/Mom's Pasta Products Mitsubishi Mirage) could be in with a shout, along with Neil Corbin/Aaron Kirton (Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet), as would the 3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlets of Karl Waterman/Matthew Staffner, Stuart White/Jason O'Neil and Ryan Wood/Raymond Parris, if they didn't spend so much time deciding whether to go for times, entertain the crowd . . . or try for both!
Mixing it with the SM9 runners will be the fast men from Modified 7, won twice in the last three years (second in '07) by Adrian Linton (Ravensden/Morris Straker Construction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipments Vauxhall Astra GSi); reunited with brother Jonathan after wife Jackie sat in last year, Linton again starts as favourite, having been the consistent winner in local events.
There's a good selection of challengers: Jamaica's rapid Bobby Marshall (Motor Sales & Service/Singer/Tru-Juice/Ocean Spray/TGIF Mitsubishi Mirage) debuts in Barbados with local co-driver Dario Hoyte, the returning Norman Catwell has England's Stuart Leach alongside in the Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Peugeot 205 GTi, while Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing/Workz Mechanical Services Toyota Corolla RunX) will want to improve on their hat-trick of class thirds since '06.
Aside from the brothers Linton, family connections include Catwell's son Kyle, co-driven in the Ellesmere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI by Justin Harrison (son of island motor sport stalwart 'Tiny' Harrison), and married couples Ron and Giselle Layne (SDRR/Pavements & Foundations/L & N Workshop/Auto Solutions Nissan Sunny) and England's Cheryl and Barry Spencer (Eden Vauxhall/Creative Space Solutions/Old Castle B & B/ABS Embroidery Vauxhall Astra GSi), Cheryl the event's only female driver.

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels and Shelbury Construction.

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

STILL CHASING HAT-TRICK ON SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Unlikely mix of Aston Martin, BMW and Mk II Escort

Local crowd favourite Jonathan Still is gunning for a hat-trick of wins in the island's SuperModified 11 category when Sol Rally Barbados 2009, the Caribbean's biggest annual international motor sport event, runs off on May 29-31 . . . but he faces the strongest field the class has ever attracted.
Co-driven in the Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments BMW M3 by Heath Hazell, 'Stillo' would also like to add a third consecutive top 10 finish to the list - they were eighth in 2007, 10th last year - but that looks set to be even more of a challenge than the class win.
Not only is SM11 currently the best-subscribed of the 13 classes, with 17 of the total of 90-plus entries, but quantity is matched by quality . . . and possibly the most unlikely mix of cars assembled for any international rally in the world this year: Still's M3 is one of seven BMWs on a list that ranges from Mk II Ford Escorts to what is believed to be the first Aston Martin ever to be seen the island.
Before considering overseas entries, however, Still needs to deal with his year-round nemesis, the Mazda 3 of Nick Gill and Sue Rogers; over the past couple of Barbados Rally Club (BRC) seasons, the nip and tuck battle between these two has made SM11 the most hotly-contested class, with Still leading the way two-one in local events this year.
And they have a strong new local challenger, in BRC Chairman Mark Hamilton, with a new engine in his PowerMaster Batteries/Automotive Art/MQI/Consolidated Finance Mark II Escort; he and co-driver Clive Howell were already something of a thorn in Still's side in the car's previous SM10 spec, so a three-way local contest is on the cards.
Of the overseas entries, three stand out: Stillo's good friend, Britain's Martin Stockdale, returns to compete in Barbados for the ninth time, hoping to maintain his remarkable record of returning to Nottinghamshire each year with a trophy. This year, he and co-driver Mark Swallow have a new Divi Southwinds Beach Resort/Drive-a-Matic Car Rentals-supported BMW M3 Compact to campaign and will enjoy putting behind them the memories of Sol RB08, when an injury to 'Mad-dale's hand suffered during an accident in service resulted in their early retirement.
The other potential class-winner from overs eas is Welsh rallying legend Phil Collins, co-driven in his Silverstone Tyres/Millington Engines/Great Stuff Caterers/Orchard Motorsport/Collins Engineering/Pontilas Developments MkII by Ireland's Derek Brannigan. Formerly a world-class works driver in the 1980s, Collins is best known in recent years for his prodigious speed on British tarmac events, his Escort frequently snapping at the heels of significantly more modern World Rally Cars.
And, while the car is unlikely to be in contention for class honours, the Famoss Ltd Aston Martin Rally GT of England's Chris Moss and Stuart Ulyatt will certainly attract attention, not least for the sound of its 4.3-litre V8 engine. The only right-hand-drive example of a limited run built by Prodrive, it turned many a head in the island's capital, Bridgetown, last Friday, when it was towed from the Port to secure storage on its trailer.
No fewer than three members of the Cumberbatch family are entered in BMWs - father St Elmo is co-driven in his Carib Supply/F Taylor Associates E36 by Colin Davis, now his former co-driver, son Owen, has his own Combo Auto Parts and Service M3 with co-driver Kelly-Ann Sandiford. Son Sammy is the most likely to show well, with Nicholas Yarde in the Williams Industries/Digicel/F Taylor Associates/Castrol M3.
A hat-trick of wins is possible in SuperModified 10, too, although for car, rather than driver. Dominant in M6 in recent years, Ian Warren (co-driven by brother Robert), is the new driver of the ex-Sean Gill Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift; although short on seat time, 'Wee Wee' is well-placed to bring home a third win.
Based on the Automotive Art Shakedown Stages, where they beat Warren's stage times twice, Cliff Roett/Orry Hunte should present the strongest challenge, given reliability. Much work has been done on the Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage/Castrol Toyota Starlet, and Roett elected to save the car and miss Sunday's (May 17) circuit race meeting at Bushy Park, despite being well-placed in his Group.
Both these classes are also long on entertainment: under that heading come Andrew Jones/Mark Thompson (Rexona V8/A P Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Hotel MkII) and Rhett and Logan Watson (The Unknown Entity/McEnearney Quality Inc/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbs Workz Castrol MkI), who will have a new playmate, Ireland's Simon Michael in his www.clockworkorange.net/www.diamondfireworks.co.uk/Eddie Torrens Car Breakers/Eskylane Developments MkII (with local co-driver Jonathan Foster). Add in Ralph White and Joe Troulan (Island Safari/Drive-a-Matic/Going Places Travel/Barbados Villa Services Starlet) and fireworks will follow.

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels and Shelbury Construction.

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

ALLAN, MACKIE AND FERNANDES DOMINATE TILE GALLERY JUNIOR SURF EVENT
Event #2 of the Burkie Junior Surfing Championship series sponsored by TILE GALLERY was held in beautiful, three foot semi-glassy waves, ideal conditions for the junior surfers at South Point on March 28th. The event attracted 81 entries in three divisions.

The 10 & Under Division had eighteen entries, the Under-12 Division had thirty entries and the14 & Under Division had thirty three entries .Nine-year old Che Allan and twelve year old Gavin Fernandes took top honors in the 10 & under and under-12 Divisions for the second time as in many events.

In the 14 & Under Divison, Dane Mackie threw adult type turns and got the better of Fernandes, dethroning him from the 14 & Under top spot. The high tide played a significant role during the finals, causing the waves to become inconsistent and making the competitors scrabble for any wave they could find.

In the earlier rounds, there was some phenomenal surfing from the kids; with seven-year old, Zander Venezia receiving 9.0 score from the judges. Other outstanding performances were seen from seven-year old Axe Garrett, Ryan Burke, nine-year old Anna Aimetti and eight-year old Jacob Burke; paddling into some steep drops and showing some class with backside rail grabs.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the skill level of these kids has risen significantly since the 1st Burkie event, held in February at Freights Bay," stated the organizer Alan Burke, "Most of these kids a few weeks ago would not have even paddled out at South Point in these waves, but yet are out there surfing them from start to finish in a competition. We are seeing above average surfing from Che Allan, Zander Veneiza, Jacob and Joshua Burke, Dane Mackie and Gavin Fernandes.”

Receiving lovely marble plaque trophies were:

10 & Under Division
1st Che Allan, 2nd Andrew Rose, 3rd Zander Venezia, 4th Jack Degruchy.

Under 12 Division
1st Gavin Fernandes, 2nd Dane Mackie, 3rd Che Allan, 4th Josh Burke.

Under 14 Division
1st Dane Mackie, 2nd Gavin Fernandes, 3rd Adrian Williams, 4th Josh Burke

Event # 3 Burkies Junior Surfing Championship Series sponsored by ASHFORD DAIRIES/BRANKERS will be held at Surfers Point, July 25th.

Defending champions St. Winifred’s take NKM Interschool Surfing Championship shield
4/29/2009

FIFTY-TWO surfers took to the waters over the weekend to contest the Barbados Surfing Association’s (BSA) annual School Surfing Championships on Saturday, at Brandens, Drill Hall Beach.

There were surfers from eight public and private primary and secondary schools, with some competitors as young as seven-years of age. The Divisions contested were Boys and Girls Under 10, Under 12, Under 16 and Under 19. Surfers competed in three to five feet waves making ideal conditions for the young competitors in the water.

In the Boys Under 10 Division, Jack Degruchy of Wills Primary came out the winner while Andrew Rose from St. Winifred’s placed second. Zander Venezia and Jacob Burke, also from St. Winifred’s, claimed third and fourth place.

In the Girls Under 12 Division, the lone competitor was Isabella Venezia who took the gold medal without opposition. In the Boys Under 12 Division, Dane Mackie of St. Winifred’s took top honours while Gavin Fernandes from the St. Michael’s School was a commendable second. Joshua Burke and Che Allan from St. Winifred’s were third and fourth respectively.

In the Girls Under 16 age group, competition was extremely fierce as the girls in the group were all veterans in the water, though not reflected in their age. The talented Chelsea Tuach of Queen’s College emerged victorious, while experienced surfer, Ametza Nicholls of the St. Michael School was second. Chelsea Roett of the St. Winifred’s School, also a tried and tested campaigner, was third and Alyssa Fernandes from St. Ursula’s was fourth.

In the Boys Under 16 Division, again a fierce group of competitors, Matthew Kieffer of Queen’s College earned the top spot while Daniel Edghill of the Seventh Day Adventist School was second. Gavin Fernandes finished third and Dane Mackie fourth.

Thirteen-year old Daniel Edghill won the Boys Under 19 age group while Mathew Kieffer was second and Warren Ashby of Queen’s College was third.

In the Girls Under 19 age group it was a reverse of the top two spots in the Under 16, as Ametza Nicholls finished first ahead of second place, Chelsea Tuach. Chelsea Roett ended in third and Jade Niccolls of St. Winifred’s was fourth.

The top four placed competitors in each Division received points for his or her school and points were tallied at the end of the competition. Four of Barbados’ most talented Junior surfers, namely thirteen-year olds Chelsea Tuach and Daniel Edghill, and fifteen-year olds Ametza Nicholls and Matthew Kieffer, won the most points for their schools, each amassing 1,860 points.

In addition, Chelsea Tuach won the expression session for the Girls with a powerful front-side re-entry which was well-received by the crowd on hand.

The Seventh Day Adventist School finished fourth with 1,860 points, in third position the St. Michael School with 3,450 points. Second position went the way of Queen’s College with 4,450 points, while the defending Champions, the St. Winifred’s School, emerged victorious once again with a total of 8,460 points. The BSA thanks all its sponsors for helping to make the event the success that it was.

CLASS BATTLES PROMISED IN SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Armstrong and Noel aim to keep the trophies at home

Since the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC) published the provisional entry list for Sol Rally Barbados 2009 on Monday (May 11), the main focus on the popular internet chat rooms in the island and around the region has been on who will claim outright victory in the Caribbean's biggest annual international motor sport event.
There has been vigorous debate, much favouritism of particular drivers, and not a little nationalistic fervour, as Bajan fans look to their own to return the trophy to the island, after Kris Meeke last year became only the fourth overseas driver to win the BRC's blue riband event in its 19-year history.
But the story of Sol Rally Barbados (May 29-31) will run far deeper than that. In all, there could be as many as 13 'winners', as those contesting the various classifications vie not only for points in the Virgin Atlantic BRC Class Championship, but also - in most cases - to represent well for the 'home team'.
Those classified in Modified 8-WRC are the potential outright winners, but there is every reason to expect the front-runners in M8-A and Production 4 - in essence, European Group A and Group N - to be well into the top 10 in the final results.
The battle in M8-A will be one to watch: Group N winner (eighth overall) last year, Ryan Champion has acquired the Subaru Impreza 555 in which Pierro Liatti claimed six top seven World Championship finishes in 1996, now sponsored by Champions, Pirelli, MSR Motorsport and Axis Caribbean. The former Puma and Mitsubishi Evo Champion and co-driver Craig Thorley want another class win . . . but it won't be easy.
Leading the local defence are Neil Armstrong and Barry Ward (Simpson Motors/Hankook Tyres/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) and Kirk Watkins/Ryan Corbin (Abacus Builders Inc/Hankook Evo V); these crews finished second and third last year, to five-time class-winner Roger Hill, who has moved up to M8-WRC.
Whether success for local ace Martin Atwell in the www.racedandrallied.com Evo III he shares with Scottish owner (and Barbados regular) Graeme Finlayson counts as a home or away result is unclear; either way, he was fearsomely fast at night in Finlayson's previous, less-powerful, car last year. Britain's Tom Roberts (Playboy Entertainment/Autolink/VP Racing Evo VI) returns for a fourth visit, this time co-driven by Welshman Paul Rees, one of whose earlier visits to the island resulted in his marriage to local rally stalwart Biddy Barber's daughter, Aly, while locals Michael Worme/Brian Gibson move up from Group N in the Cot Media Group/Speedline Performance Auto/Dingolay/Details Car Valet Impreza Sti.
Production 4 has nine entries, led by 2005 winner Geoff Noel in the Globe Finance/DeWalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/

Automotive Art Evo IX; despite finishing second to Champion last year, he and co-driver Kreigg Yearwood both look on it as one of their most challenging and enjoyable events, and will be keen to build on the experience.
The strongest threat will be Trinidad-based Jamaican John Powell (Intercontinental Shipping Evo IX); with fellow-Jamaican Michael March, he has twice finished second overall in Corolla World Cars and, although a bit rusty after missing much of the last two years, his attacking style will serve him well. Dark horse may be British Rally Championship regular Rob Swann; after an impressive debut with Darren Garrod in an older N11 last year, he will aiming to at least keep his Revolution Competition Wheels/Escape Hotel Impreza N14 ahead of the similar car of Barbados-based Brit Harold Morley and experienced local co-driver Geoff Goddard.
The older Imprezas of Dean Serrao/Ryan Farmer (Amalgamated Security/Coconut Car Rentals/Lucky Games Inc N12) and David Williams, co-driven by Kris Yearwood in the Mix 96.9FM/Consolidated Finance/Warrens Motors/Dynamic Limo Services/Castrol WRX Sti, should not be too far behind, while newcomers Mark Antrobus and Rommell Coppin will be on a steep learning curve in the Speedline Performance Auto/Caribbean Alliance Insurance/Premier World Cargo/Precision Plumbing Services Sti.
The entry is completed by Scottish duo George Anderson and John Millar (George Anderson Building Contractors/Hutton Stone/J I Inglis Joinery Contractors/MVR/Border Ready Mix Concrete/lilmiss504 Evo VII), returning to the island for the first time since 2002, and locals Ryan Hutchinson/Andre Snobell (Toyota Celica GT4).

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland and Shelbury Construction.

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

MAJOR RETHINK OF SOL RALLY BARBADOS ROUTE
Club looks to improve competitor, resident, spectator experience

Following the most comprehensive re-assessment since 2003 of the route for Sol Rally Barbados, the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC) is targetting three key benefits from this year's 20th running of the Caribbean's biggest annual motor sport event: a refreshing change in the challenge for competitors, a better spectator experience and a continued lessening of disruption for residents along the route.
While running an International tarmac rally on a Caribbean island measuring just 21 by 15 miles means the Club is very limited in its options, some creative thinking has resulted in a more compact route, which should enable the BRC to hit its triple targets.
As last year, there are 24 stages, but there will now be 14 on Saturday (12 in 2008) and just 10 on Sunday, plus the Shell V-Power Super Special at Bushy Park; this shifts the balance of competitive stage distance back to Saturday, compared with Sunday last year. The longest of the event's four routes is now Saturday afternoon, running into the evening . . . four runs each through Redline Fuels Dark Hole and Automotive Art Canefield total 41.2 kilometres, which represents almost exactly one-third of the event distance, which will make those stages more significant than before.
Questioned during last week's (May 6) Media Conference at the Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, which will be Rally HQ for the forthcoming event, Sol RB09 Chairman Barry Gale said: "You will notice a number of changes to the route. We have modified it, to deal with some bits and pieces which caused problems, particularly with traffic.
"We have also shuffled the order in which the stages are run, to improve the spectator experience; there will be a shorter gap between the last car coming through each stage to the first car coming through next time round. This has a number of advantages - there is less time for spectators to be hanging around and losing interest . . . and, from the competitor point of view, it results in a significantly more compact route.
"Each day starts in a different way to last year - on Saturday, the first stage is Sailor Gully, on Sunday it is Malvern; in the past few years, we have suffered with delays on the traditional opening stages, Canefield and Kendal. One of the very few criticisms we have heard from our overseas competitors revolves around those early delays; while everyone in rallying accepts that, once you get under way, an incident, particularly a major one, can cause delays, there really is no excuse for not starting on time . . . so we have worked hard to address that criticism."

Programme of key events

Wednesday, May 20 - 4.30 to 6.30pm - Meet and Greet
+ a chance for fans to mingle with their favourite competitors
+ Shell Warrens Service Station, St Michael
Friday, May 22 - 4.00pm to approx 8.00pm - Scrutineering
+ Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Wildey, St Michael
Sunday, May 24 - 10.00am to approx 4.00pm - Shell V-Power King of the Hill
+ round four of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships
+ Stewart's Hill, St Philip, with one practice and three official timed runs
Friday, May 29 - 6.00pm to approx 9.00pm - The Ceremonial Start
+ Simpson Motors, Warrens, St Michael
Saturday, May 30 - Sol Rally Barbados 2009 - day 1
+ round five of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships
+ start at 9.00am from SS1, Sailor Gully 1
+ Simpson Motors is the service area for the day
Sunday, May 31 - Sol Rally Barbados 2009 - day 2
+ round six of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships
+ restart at 7.30am from Bushy Park, St Philip, which is the service area for the day
+ Shell V-Power SuperSpecial and Rally Finish at Bushy Park
Monday, June 1 - approx 3.30pm - Sol RB09 Prizegiving
+ The Boatyard, Bay Street, St Michael

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland and Shelbury Construction.

For further information:
media contact - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

Sol-RB09-27a: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 13, 2009

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2009
Schedule

Saturday, May 30

0900 SS1 - Sailor Gully 1 (4.80km)
0930 SS2 - Automotive Art Canefield South 1 (5.90km)
1035 SS3 - Sailor Gully 2 (4.80km)
1105 SS4 - Automotive Art Canefield South 2 (5.90km)
1210 SS5 - Sailor Gully 3 (4.80km)
1240 SS6 - Automotive Art Canefield South 3 (5.90km)

Service and lunch halt - Simpson Motors
Total stage distance, leg 1 - 32.10km

1450 SS7 - Redline Fuels Dark Hole 1 (4.40km)
1515 SS8 - Automotive Art Canefield North 1 (5.90km)
1605 SS9 - Redline Fuels Dark Hole 2 (4.40km)
1639 SS10 - Automotive Art Canefield North 2 (5.90km)
1729 SS11 - Redline Fuels Dark Hole 3 (4.40km)
1745 SS12 - Automotive Art Canefield North 3 (5.90km)
1835 SS13 - Redline Fuels Dark Hole 4 (4.40km)
1900 SS14 - Automotive Art Canefield North 4 (5.90km)

Total stage distance, leg 2 - 41.20km
Total stage distance, day 1 - 73.30km

Sunday, May 31

0730 Restart - Bushy Park
0750 SS15 - Digicel Malvern West 1 (3.00km)
0825 SS16 - Red Bull Kendal South 1 (5.70km)
0915 SS17 - Digicel Malvern West 2 (3.00km)
1010 SS18 - Red Bull Kendal South 2 (5.70km)

Service and lunch halt - Bushy Park
Total stage distance, leg 3 - 17.40km

1205 SS19 - Digicel Malvern East 1 (5.30km)
1235 SS20 - Red Bull Kendal North 1 (5.70km)
1310 SS21 - Digicel Malvern East 2 (5.30km)
1340 SS22 - Red Bull Kendal North 2 (5.70km)
1415 SS23 - Digicel Malvern East 3 (5.30km)
1445 SS24 - Red Bull Kendal North 3 (5.70km)

1600 Shell V-Power SuperSpecial at Bushy Park - Rally Finish

Total stage distance, leg 4 - 33.00km
Total stage distance, day 2 - 50.40km

Total overall stage distance - 123.70km

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

SOL RALLY BARBADOS OVERSUBSCRIBED
Meeke and Bird get timely confidence boost for Caribbean trip

The strongest entry in the 20-year history of the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) blue riband event will assemble in three weeks' time for the Caribbean's biggest annual international celebration of motor sport, Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) . . . and success this weekend has provided a timely confidence boost for last year's top two crews.
Sol RB08 winners, Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, now lead the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), fast replacing the World Rally Championship as the sport's most marketable high-end product; adding victory in the Peugeot UK/Kronos Racing S2000 Peugeot 207 in the rain-shortened Rally of the Azores on Saturday to their earlier win in Brazil, they become the first crew to win two IRC rounds this year.
Meanwhile, England's Paul Bird and Ian Windress (Ford Focus WRC07) increased their chances of adding a second UK National Championship to the title they won in 2005 by winning the Manx Telecom Rally, another rain-affected event run on an island, hopefully not a bad omen; for Superbike team owner Bird, whose successes there include road racing legend Joey Dunlop's final Isle of Man TT victory on one of Bird's machines, it was an emotional win after eight years of trying.
Both are entered for Sol RB09 in Subaru Impreza WRC S9s; Meeke is sponsored by Red Bull and local companies Digicel and ARMAG, while 'Birdy' carries over his UK backers, SuperCasino.com, Vent Axia and VK Vodka Kick. The provisional entry list published today (May 11) includes four more previous winners; 10-time winner Roger Skeete will lead the local defence in his recently-acquired S12, backed up by 2003 and '07 winner Paul Bourne (S9) and Trevor Manning (Ford Escort WRC), who won in 1999.
Jamaica's Jeffrey Panton - winner in 1998 - makes his first appearance in Barbados in the ex-Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC02 in which he won Rally Jamaica 2008, while the Toyota Corolla WRC in which Meeke won Sol RB08 is now campaigned by local ace Roger Hill, who won last week's Automotive Art Shakedown Stages. Adding to that list the 2004 UK National Champion, Steve Perez, who finished fifth on the Isle of Man on Saturday in his Kick Energy Focus WRC07, and fellow-Brit Kevin Procter (S7), means only those very confident of their predictions should be placing bets.
Despite the pressures of the worldwide economic downturn, the Club's maximum of 90 entries has been exceeded, testament to the special appeal of the event, according to Rally Chairman Barry Gale: "I don't mind admitting I've been totally bowled over by the support we have from our overseas competitors; when we opened entries back in January, I was very nervous about how things would turn out.
"But what we have been finding is that many European competitors, faced with tighter budgets, have decided to 'cherry pick' a smaller number of events, perhaps a special trip they have always wanted to make; while return visitors like Steve Perez, Kevin Procter and Martin Stockdale, have kept us on their list, we have some interesting newcomers."
Among these are Glenn Campbell and Simon Michael from Ireland, who drive Nissan Micra and Ford Escort MkII respectively; already hard at work publicising his visit - and the event - Michael told the popular Irish CarSport magazine: "Glenn and myself had been thinking about this event for a couple of years, and I found myself reducing the number that I could participate in, so it was an obvious choice. The Barbados Rally Club really help you out with the arrangements."
Their entries help spread the overseas interest right through the field - only one or two of the BRC's regular classifications will be without a battle between local drivers and visitors from either the region or Europe.

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 provisional entry headline statistics:
+ 92 crews entered, including reserves
+ drivers or co-drivers from nine nations, including Barbados
+ 25 four-wheel-drive cars, including nine WRC
+ 38 drivers or co-drivers from Europe
+ nine drivers or co-drivers from around the region
+ one female driver, 13 female co-drivers
+ cars from 18 manufacturers, Toyota the best-represented with 20, followed by Mitsubishi (15), Ford (13) and Subaru (11)

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Automotive Art, Banks, Digicel, McEnearney Quality, Red Bull and Simpson Motors; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line, Stoute's Car Rental and Virgin Atlantic Airways; associate sponsors are ARMAG, Caribbean Airlines, Crane & Equipments, Merville Lynch Productions, Little Switzerland and Shelbury Construction.

For further information:
media contact - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

Sol-RB09-26a: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 11, 2009

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2009
Provisional entry list at May 11

+ some classifications subject to scrutineering of overseas entries
+ list is provisional and includes reserves

+ driver/co-driver (car) - listed alphabetically by class

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown):
ENG - England; IRL - The Republic of Ireland; JAM - Jamaica; NED - The Netherlands; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; TDAD - Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

Modified 8-WRC
Paul Bird - ENG/Ian Windress - ENG (Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
Barry Gale/Cherie Edghill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Toyota Corolla WRC)
Trevor Manning/Derek Edwards (Ford Escort WRC)
Kris Meeke - NIR/Paul Nagle - NIR (Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
Jeffrey Panton - JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr - JAM (Ford Focus WRC02)
Steve Perez - ENG/Paul Spooner - WAL (Ford Focus WRC05)
Kevin Procter - ENG/Dave Bellerby - ENG (Subaru Impreza WRC S7)
Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (Subaru Impreza WRC S12)

Modified 8-A
Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
Ryan Champion - ENG/Craig Thorley - ENG (Subaru Impreza 555)
Graeme Finlayson - SCO/Martin Atwell (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III RS)
Tom Roberts - ENG/Paul Rees - WAL (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
Kirk Watkins/Ryan Corbin (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)

Production 4
George Anderson - SCO/John Millar - SCO (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII)
Ryan Hutchinson/Melissa Hutchinson (Toyota Celica GT4)
Harold Morley - ENG/Geoff Goddard (Subaru Impreza N14)
Geoff Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
John Powell - TDAD/Michael March - JAM (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
Dean Serrao/Ryan Farmer (Subaru Impreza N12)
Rob Swann - ENG/Darren Garrod - WAL (Subaru Impreza N14)
David Williams/Kris Yearwood (Subaru Impreza WRX STi)
Michael Worme/Brian Gibson (Subaru Impreza STi)

SuperModified 11
Calvin Briggs/Hulita Brathwaite (Ford Escort MkII)
Justin Campbell/Jermin Pope (BMW M3)
Phil Collins - WAL/Derek Brannigan - IRL (Ford Escort MkII)
Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG/Shaun Mellett - ENG (Ford Puma)
Owen Cumberbatch/Kelly-Ann Sandiford (BMW M3)
Sammy Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (BMW M3)
St Elmo Cumberbatch/Dwayne Forde (BMW E36)
Nick Gill/Sue Rogers (Mazda 3)
Raymond Gill/Jeremy Foster (BMW M3)
Rohan Hall/Pedro Thomas (Ford Sierra)
Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (Ford Escort MkII)
Andrew Jones/Mark Thompson (Ford Escort MkII)
Graham Manning/tba (Ford Escort MkII)
Chris Moss - ENG/Stuart Ulyatt - ENG (Aston Martin Rally GT)
Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (BMW M3)
Martin Stockdale - ENG/Mark Swallow - ENG (BMW M3 Compact)

SuperModified 10
Eric Allamby/Zach Heaselgrave (Mitsubishi Lancer)
Greg Cozier/Antonio Da Silva (Lotus Elise)
Paul Inniss/Kerry Downes (Toyota Starlet)
Duane Johnson/Victor Leslie (Mitsubishi Lancer)
Wayne King/Summer Lewis (Peugeot 306)
Simon Michael - NIR/Jonathan Foster (Ford Escort MkII)
Cliff Roett/Orry Hunte (Toyota Starlet)
Frans Verbaas - NED/Hester van Ovost - NED (Austin Mini Cooper)
Ian Warren/Robert Warren (Suzuki Swift)
Rhett Watson/Logan Watson (Ford Escort MkI)
Ralph White/Joe Troulan (Toyota Starlet)

SuperModified 9
James Betts/Josh Delmas (Opel Corsa)
Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (Mitsubishi Mirage)
Neil Corbin/Aaron Kirton (Toyota Starlet)
Jeremy Croney/James Goddard (Suzuki Snipe)
Vishal Dhanraj - TDAD/Richard Ramsingh - TDAD (Toyota Starlet)
George Gabriel/Leslie Evanson (Toyota Starlet)
Jeremy Gonsalves/Natasha Farnum (Suzuki Swift GTi)
Allan Maynard/tba (Toyota Starlet)
Tarik Minott - JAM/Peter Clarke - JAM (Suzuki Ignis JWRC)
Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Toyota Starlet)
Winston Thompson/tba (Toyota Starlet)
Karl Waterman/Matthew Staffner (Toyota Starlet)
Stuart White/Jason O'Neil (Toyota Starlet)
Ryan Wood/Raymond Parris (Toyota Starlet)

Historic
Ding Boston - ENG/John Puliston - ENG (Riley 1.5)

Modified 7
David Brewster/Rashid Phillips (Peugeot 205GTi)
Kyle Catwell/Justin Harrison (Volkswagen Golf GTI)
Norman Catwell/Stuart Leach - ENG (Peugeot 205 GTi)
John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (Toyota Corolla)
Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (Toyota Corolla RunX)
Ron Greaves/Dwain Carter (Honda Civic)
Ron Layne/Giselle Layne (Nissan Sunny)
Adrian Linton/Jonathan Linton (Vauxhall Astra GSi)
Bobby Marshall - JAM/Dario Hoyte (Mitsubishi Mirage)
Gary Mendes/tba (Toyota Corolla)
Andrew Skeete/Bradley Weekes (Mitsubishi Lancer)
Cheryl Spencer - ENG/Barry Spencer - ENG (Vauxhall Astra GSi)

Modified 6
Wayne Archer/Angelique Bjerkhamn (Daihatsu Charmant)
Jamal Brathwaite/Talia Mapp (Mitsubishi Mirage)
Edward Corbin/Rodney Clarke (Daihatsu Charmant)
Carlos Edwards/tba (Toyota Starlet)
Nigel Reece/Jonathan Reece (Datsun 120Y)
Shareef Walcott/Juan Watts (Toyota Corolla)
Danny Williams/Reuben Nelson (Ford Fiesta)

Modified 5
Glenn Campbell - IRL/Ray Fitzpatrick - IRL (Nissan Micra)
Sean Cox/Adam Cox (Suzuki Swift)
Kenny Hall - SCO/Fenny Wesselink - NED (Opel Corsa)
Dave Sealy/tba (Toyota Starlet)

Production 3
Sean T Field/tba (Peugeot 306)

Production 2
Fabien Clarke/Pierre Lashley (Suzuki Ignis Sport)

Media enquiries: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb

HILL WINS AUTOMOTIVE ART SHAKEDOWN STAGES
Fightback from Skeete one of many highlights

The final countdown to Sol Rally Barbados 2009 will be busier than anticipated for some of the island's rally teams following yesterday's (May 3) Automotive Art Shakedown Stages; a high rate of attrition left just 27 crews classified as overall finishers from the 47 that started the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) 10-stage tarmac event.
After an impressively clean drive over the demanding Canefield, Pickerings and Turners Hall stages in the north of the island, Roger Hill and Graham Gittens claimed victory by 12.41 seconds in the Esso/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Corolla WRC; in doing so, Hill also took the lead in the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship from Paul Bourne (Subaru Impreza WRC S9), who retired after crashing out on the opening stage of the day.
Hill was fastest on that first Canefield test, just over four seconds ahead of a determined Neil Armstrong (Simpson Motors/Hankook/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), with the flying Mazda 3 of Nicholas Gill third, another 1.5secs adrift. Just over half-a-second covered the next three cars, Barry Gale's Evo VI, Ian Warren's Suzuki Swift (fastest two-wheel-drive) and the Group N-leading Evo IX of Geoff Noel.
A flat tyre cost Roger Skeete (Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S9) exactly 30 seconds to Hill, placing him 28th after stage one; for the massive spectator turn-out, however, this was good news, as it set the stage for a fight-back for the rest of the day, starting on stage two, where Skeete gained his first three seconds, leaping to 14th overall.
After suffering with on-board computer dramas early on, Trevor Manning (Ford Escort WRC) was fastest on the second run up Canefield; Hill was second fastest, snatching back the three seconds Skeete had gained on the previous stage, so a battle was clearly on the cards.
Skeete topped the time sheets on the final two stages before lunch, with Manning and Hill second fastest on stages four and five respectively; Armstrong had maintained his pace, to lie second overall, 15secs behind Hill, with Gale now third, another 6secs behind and two ahead of fourth-placed Skeete.
Warren and Brett Clarke (Evo VI) now completed the top six, ahead of Noel and Cliff Roett (Toyota Starlet), who had been in the top 10 a couple of times; behind him, less than 4secs covered the three leading cars in SuperModified 11, early front-runner Gill having slipped down to 10th overall, splitting the battling Jonathan Still (BMW M3) and newcomer to the Group Mark Hamilton (Ford Escort MkII).
Skeete continued his charge after the lunch halt, with a perfect hand of four fastest times (the penultimate stage was cancelled, following a minor timing malfunction), but it was simply not enough; on all but the final stage of the day, when Manning was just half-a-second shy of Skeete, Hill was second fastest, maintaining his advantage.
Armstrong was promoted to third by lose of play, Gale suffering from a hose detaching itself intermittently during the afternoon - he and Cherie Edghill won the trophies as highest-placed crew including a female; Warren finished fifth and highest-placed two-wheel-drive, with a delighted Roett sixth - he had enjoyed an excellent afternoon, beating Warren on two of the four stages.
Clarke, Noel, Still and Hamilton completed the top 10, after Gill's Mazda broke a driveshaft in stage eight, dropping out of overall contention. Other notable retirements included Josh Read, who had propelled the Automotive Art Starlet to 11th overall on the opening stage, only to suffer gearbox failure on the very next test.
Despite the record number of starters for a National tarmac event in recent years, and an enormous spectator attendance, there were no major delays, the final stage of the day starting just four minutes late. Sol Rally Barbados Chairman Barry Gale said: "As I said before the event, it was as important as a shakedown for our many volunteers as it was for the competitors, and I think they came through with flying colours. Our stage commanders and their crews ran the event very smoothly, the results system was being updated regularly . . . speaking as a competitor this weekend, I think everyone did a fantastic job. Now for Sol Rally Barbados!"

Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (May 29-31) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 24) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group, the Caribbean's largest independent oil company, and both events are rounds of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships. Associate sponsors include the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association.

Automotive Art Shakedown Stages - Sunday, May 3
Results - overall
1st Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Corolla WRC), 19m 14.10s
2nd Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (M8-WRC Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 19m 26.51s
3rd Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (M8-A Simpson Motors/Hankook/Shell V-Power/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 19m 45.54s
4th Barry Gale/Cherie Edghill (M8-WRC VP Racing/Autolink/Bella Beauty Supply/ProPac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 20m 03.82s
5th Ian Warren/Robert Warren (SM10 Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power Suzuki Swift), 20m 04.21s
6th Cliff Roett/Orry Hunte (SM10 Carters & Co/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage Toyota Starlet), 20m 18.06s
7th Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (M8-WRC Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 20m 21.22s
8th Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Globe Finance/DeWalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/

Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 20m 26.43s
9th Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (SM11 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments BMW M3), 20m 44.12s
10th Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (SM11 PowerMaster Batteries/Automotive Art/MQI/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII), 20m 55.57s
etc
Modified 8-WRC 1st Hill/Gittens; 2nd Skeete/Venezia; 3rd Gale/Edghill
M8-A 1st Armstrong/Ward; 2nd Kirk Watkins/Ryan Corbin (Abacus Builders/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 21m 23.08s
Production 4 1st Noel/Yearwood; 2nd Harold Morley/Geoff Goddard (Subaru Impreza N14), 21m 06.76s; 3rd David Williams/Kristian Yearwood (Consolidated Finance/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Mix 96.9FM/Chelsea Car Rentals/Castrol Subaru Impreza WRX STi), 21m 46.90s; etc
SuperModified 11 1st Still/Hazell; 2nd Hamilton Howell; 3rd Nicholas Gill/Sue Rogers (Mazda 3), 22m 00.20s; etc
SM10 1st Warren/Warren; 2nd Roett/Hunte; 3rd Rhett Watson/Logan Watson (The Unknown Entity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbz Workz Ford Escort MkI), 22m 00.42s; etc
SM9 1st James Betts/Josh Delmas (All Terrain Plus/Black Bess/Makita/Champion Auto/Kendal Sporting/Yamaha Opel Corsa), 21m 07.64s; 2nd Stuart White/Jason O'Neil (3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlet), 23m 03.03s; 3rd Karl Waterman/Matthew Staffner (3W's/Flyin' Fish/Aqua Pur Toyota Starlet), 23m 23.28s; etc
M7 1st Adrian Linton/Jackie Linton (Ravensden/Morris Straker Construction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipment Vauxhall Astra GSi), 21m 16.86s; 2nd Greg Cozier/Antonio Da Silva (Hyundai Trucks/Citgo Oils Ford Escort RS2000), 22m 12.10s; 3rd Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing Toyota Corolla RunX), 22m 17.59s; etc
M6 1st Edward Corbin/Rodney Clarke (Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant), 21m 28.40s; 2nd Danny Williams/Reuben Nelson (Chris's Workshop/Sunbury Plantation House/Barbados Paragliding Association Ford Fiesta), 23m 16.76s; 3rd Shareef Walcott/Juan Watts (Melwani's/Auto Solutions/Klark-Odio/Spoons Customs Brokers & Trucking Toyota Corolla), 24m 43.12s
M5 1st Sean Cox/Adam Cox (Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift), 30m 24.47s
P3 1st Sean T Field/Trai Field (AM Realty/Ackee Tree/Field Insurance Brokers/Landscapes in Harmony Peugeot 306), 27m 02.12s
P2 1st Fabien Clarke/Pierre Lashley (Barbados Business Listings/RCA Tours/Bovell Auto Repair Suzuki Ignis Sport), 28m 51.85s

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