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
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