Ian Warren was the Barbados Rally Club’s Champion Driver in 2023. Who will it be this season?
Two intense days of competition at the end of April will start the chase for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2024 Champion Driver title. Ahead of the opening rounds at the end of this month, the BRC has confirmed the dates for its Driver’s and Class Championships, along with the Annual Prizegiving which will celebrate the 15 new Champions who joined the Club’s roll of honour during the 2023 season.
The Championship will start on Saturday, April 27, with a RallySprint organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club (VRMSC) at Bushy Park, St Philip, while track repairs are being carried out at VRW; the event is being shared by BRC, with the fastest time in the four qualifying runs determining the points. On the Sunday, the action will move to the north of the island for the Shakedown Stages, to be contested over special stages in St Lucy and St Peter.
There will be eight rounds between this month and November, with one dropped score to be taken into account at year-end and the now-traditional enhanced scale of points awarded for the Winter Rally finale. The Champion Driver title will be awarded to the Class Champion with the highest number of points scored against his peers in one of the BRC’s 13 classes, with 4wd and 2wd Champions also to be crowned, based on overall results during the season.
The 2023 Annual Prizegiving is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, April 25, immediately following the Briefing Meeting for the Shakedown Stages, which is due to start at 6.30pm; details of the venue will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The Shakedown Stages will start at 10.30am on Sunday, April 28, with Scrutineering from 8.00am in the Service Park at Haymans Plantation, St Peter. There will be nine runs through two venues in the north of the island which are popular with spectators and drivers alike: the stage between Luke Hill and Lamberts in St Lucy will run in both directions, alternating with French Village to Four Hills, with the event slated to finish by around 5.30pm.
Entries open tomorrow (Wednesday) at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall. Regular entries will close at 3.00pm on Wednesday, April 24, with a late fee for entries received after this time up to mid-day on April 25.
The Club’s two grass-roots competitions have already started. The second round of the Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship will be the All Terrain Enterprises Safari on Saturday, April 13, with round two of the BRC Autocross Championship at Bushy Park Barbados the following day.
BRC Driver’s and Class Championships: Rd 1 – Apr 27, RallySprint (VRMSC); Rd 2 – Apr 28, Shakedown Stages; Rd 3 – May 26, King of the Hill; Rds 4 & 5, May 31-Jun 2, Rally Barbados; Rds 6 & 7 – Aug 25, Summer Sprint; Rd 8 – Nov 17, Winter Rally
Chefette MudDogs BRC Safari Championship: Rd 1 – Mar 10, BRC MudDogs March Memorial Safari; Rd 2 – Apr 13, All Terrain Enterprises MudDogs April Safari; Rd 3 – Jun 29/30, Chefette MudDogs June Safari; Rd 4 – Sep 15, KG Enterprises MudDogs September Safari; Rd 5 – Nov 9, Savvy on the Bay MudDogs November Safari
BRC Autocross Championship: Rd 1 – Feb 16; Rd 2 – Apr 14; Rd 3 – Jul 21; Rd 4 – Oct 13; Rd 5 – Nov 6 (all rounds at Bushy Park Barbados)
