MAYERS & FERRI WIN RALLY BARBADOS . . . AT LAST!

Jamaican World Rally Cars finish second and third

After suffering a series of disappointments over the past three years, the Barbados crew of Roger Mayers and Max Ferri finally won the island's premier motor sport event at the weekend (May 28/29), claiming the Rally Barbados 2005 crown by a margin of more than 50 seconds.

In a weekend of lively competition, fought out under the watchful eye of the organising Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) guest of honour, 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol, the best drivers in Barbados faced strong opposition from the wider Caribbean and Europe, as the fifth Barbados Rally Carnival reached its conclusion.

From the Start at Simpson Motors on Saturday morning, Mayers and Ferri took the advantage in the Trivial Pursuit/McEnearney Quality Ford Focus WRC, fastest on four of the first six stages. At the prize-giving on Monday evening, Mayers said: "It was important to push from early, as we wanted to build up a cushion." And the strategy proved to be a good one.

Jamaicans Gary Gregg/Hugh Hutchinson were fastest on the two Digicel Dark Hole stages early Saturday in the KFC/NGRacing Ford Focus WRC, but the fast times for Mayers were coming on the longer stages - Automotive Art Shell Canefield and DMSDistributors.com Sailor Gulley - so he was steadily extending his advantage. Mayers and Gregg claimed another fastest time each before the lunch break and, although Mayers was some way off the pace in the final Sailor Gulley, he led by 13 seconds after the first eight stages.

And it was Gregg's fellow-countrymen John Powell/Michael March in second place in the ex-Carlos Sainz Intercontinental Shipping Toyota Corolla WRC, not Gregg; although Powell failed to log a fastest stage time until Sunday morning, his consistent pace had given him the edge over the rest of the chasing pack.

Gregg was third, with 10-time winner Roger Skeete fourth in his first run on this event with his new Havoline/McEnearney Quality/Michelin Ford Focus WRC and new co-driver Stuart Maloney. He was already experiencing drive-train problems, however, and would not finish the day.

Another previous winning crew was in trouble, too - Paul Bourne/Louis Venezia ran out of fuel in the second Dark Hole stage in the Banks/Pirelli Subaru Impreza WRC, then missed the next two stages; they had been lying in third place, but dropped out of overall contention. By way of consolation, they went on to win the Texaco Sunday Cup, setting four fastest stage times in the process, and winning the Cingular Award for being fastest overall on the four Malvern stages.

Between Saturday lunch and the overnight halt, no-one beat Mayers and Ferri, so they went to bed with a lead of just over 30 seconds. Powell/March were second and Gregg/Hutchinson third (another seven seconds adrift), while the younger Mayers brother, Barry, was a remarkable fourth overall with co-driver Adam Hart in the two-wheel-drive Trivial Pursuit/Nassco Toyota Starlet.

Roger Hill/Graham Gittens had topped the Modified 8 times on all but four of the day's stages to lie fifth overall in the Mobil 1/Nassco Toyota Celica GT4, around 8secs ahead of the highest-placed European crew, Kevin Procter/Mike Gilby from England in the rare Procters Coaches/Motoscope Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4. Two more Jamaican crews were next up: Doug Gore/Mark Nelson (Mistubishi Evo VIII) and Peter Moodie Jnr/Mike Fennell Jnr (Mitsubishi Evo VI) had run well in their respective Groups, Moodie claiming three fastest Modified 8 times during the day.

The top 10 was completed by the crowd-pleasing BMW M3 of Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell and the consistent Mitsubishi Evo V of Sean Dowding/Jason Cozier.

On Sunday, Mayers and Ferri put their 30-second cushion to good use, not pushing any harder than necessary; they were fastest on just five of the day's 11 stages, although did it where it counted, and even survived a scare with a broken gearbox mount, which required a rapid temporary repair to keep it in place until the next service stop. Their winning margin was 52.74secs.

Powell/March were fastest twice, and might have been closer at the finish, but for a very disappointing run through the second northbound Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre Kendal stage, while Gregg completed the best Jamaican result on the event since 1998 with third place.

The amazing Starlet of Barry Mayers finished fourth, winning its Group for the third year in a row, while Hill's fifth place completed a hat-trick of Group wins for the Celica. Moodie claimed his best-yet result in Barbados with sixth, while Gore might have finished higher had he pushed from earlier in the event; even so, there was delight in the Jamaican camp, with four cars in the top seven!

But for penalties incurred on Saturday, 1999 winner Trevor Manning could have finished higher than eighth in the Mitsubishi Evo VIII, co-driven by James Betts, while last year's highest-placed overseas crew, Procter/Gilby, finished ninth. Dowding/Cozier were delighted to complete a hat-trick of top 10 results.

With a total of 80 starters, and 13 different Groups being contested, there were battles all through the field to entertain the thousands of spectators who packed the popular viewing points along the 80 miles of special stages. One of the largest crowds ever seen at a rally finish in Barbados gathered at the Vaucluse Raceway for the Total Sport SuperSpecial, mid-way through which Auriol did a demonstration run in Powell's Corolla WRC. The island's motor sport fraternity was already proud that the French former World Champion had accepted an invitation to attend their event . . . the demo run was the icing on the cake. They'll be talking about it for months to come.

Rally Barbados 2005 was organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Cingular, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, Digicel, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event was supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment.

RALLY BARBADOS 2005 Results
Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): AUT - Austria; ENG - England;
HOL - Holland; IoM - Isle of Man; JAM - Jamaica; NIR - Northern Ireland;
SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; WAL - Wales

Overall
1st Roger Mayers/Max Ferri (M9 Trivial Pursuit/McEnearney Quality Ford Focus WRC), 58m 46.99s
2nd John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (M9 Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC), 59m 39.73s
3rd Gary Gregg - JAM/Hugh Hutchinson - JAM (M9 KFC/BD Gregg Bros/KIG/NGRacing Ford Focus WRC), 59m 47.04s
4th Barry Mayers/Adam Hart (S11 Trivial Pursuit/Nassco Toyota Starlet), 1h 01m 12.76s
5th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8 Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac/Michelin Toyota Celica GT4), 1h 01m 35.38s
6th Peter Moodie Jnr - JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr - JAM (M8 Moore's Business Forms/Citrix/Teleform/Jap Auto Supplies/MoTeC/NGRacing/Century Wrecking/Auto Maintenance Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1h 01m 46.02s
7th Doug Gore - JAM/Mark Nelson - JAM (M9 DMS Distributors.com/Sandals/Walkerswood/Motor Sales and Service/Ricks Café/Slam/Amsoil/Value Buys Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 1h 01m 47.16s
8th Trevor Manning/James Betts (M9 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 1h 02m 51.47s
9th Kevin Procter - ENG/Mike Gilby - ENG (M9 Procters Coaches/Swift Signs/PC Vehicle Rentals/Motoscope Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4), 1h 03m 19.58s
10th Sean Dowding/Jason Cozier (M8 Pro Pac/Globe Finance/Xypex Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1h 03m 55.06s
11th Harold Morley - ENG/Geoffrey Goddard (M9 Sunbeach Communications/Tyra Lee Appeal Subaru Impreza WRC), 1h 04m 19.51s
12th Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Irving Oil/Max Meyer/Autozone/Mix 96.6/ESSCO/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1h 04m 30.72s
13th Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (M6 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Ignis JWRC), 1h 04m 57.82s
14th Edward Corbin/Mark Perkins (M7 Automotive Art/Kumho Toyota Corolla SR), 1h 06m 05.55s
15th Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (M5 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift GTi), 1h 06m 21.01s
16th Steve Ollivierre - SVG/Keith Francis - SVG (M6 ECMIL/Empire Cigarettes Mitsubishi Mirage), 1h 07m 23.90s
17th Robert Dick - WAL/Barry Green - WAL (S12 Line Maintenance Contracting/John Hardman Engineering Darrian T9), 1h 07m 35.26s
18th Gary Thomas - WAL/Phil Ralphs - WAL (S12 Ford Escort MkII), 1h 07m 40.35s
19th Norman Catwell/Kyle Catwell (M7 Alchemy Performance Fuels/Ellesmere Quarries/Earthrace.com Peugeot 205GTI), 1h 07m 47.63s
20th Josh Read/Daryl Clarke (S11 Baram Services/ERP Exports/Forever Flowers/D Blades Trophies Toyota Starlet), 1h 07m 59.82s
21st Roger Marshall/Bruce Lambert (M7 Signia Financial/Western Union/Bill Express Hyundai Accent), 1h 08m 05.19s
22nd Ray Brammer - ENG/Matthew Whattam - ENG (M8 Ray Brammer Vehicle Repairs/C & R Units/Thurlow Nunn Subaru Impreza WRX), 1h 08m 07.57s
23rd Kirk Watkins/Justin Gill (M6 Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Bridgestone Toyota Corolla), 1h 08m 22.53s
24th Andy Carter - ENG/Cal Briggs - ENG (S12 Ford Escort MkII), 1h 10m 9.65s
25th Joshua Delmas/Adam Alleyne (M6 Autolink Service Centre/Ideal Agencies Toyota Corolla Gti), 1h 10m 40.66s
26th Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (M7 Wurkx Mechanical/Nishikoi Fish Foods/VP Racing/Gales Hatcheries Toyota Corolla RunX), 1h 10m 43.50s
27th Paul McMullan - ENG/Jane Cowling - ENG (M6 Plaice T & R Insurance/Motoscope/Hardrock Flooring Proton Satria Kitcar), 1h 10m 49.03s
28th Winston Thompson/Russel Brancker (S11 SDRR/Precision Packaging/Tropic Ice Unlimited/VP Racing/Alchemy Performance Fuels Toyota Starlet), 1h 10m 59.69s
29th Tom Roberts - ENG/Andy Stobart - ENG (P4 crash.net Subaru Impreza WRX), 1h 11m 59.90s
30th Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (M5 Citgo/Black Bess Quarry/Glassfibre Products Peugeot 205XS), 1h 14m 47.45s
31st Derek Roach/Tricia Gittens (P3 Magna/Pine Hill Dairy/Dupont/Sargento Cheeses/Warrens Motors Mini Cooper S), 1h 16m 00.11s
32nd Neil Barnard/Chris Hoyos (P2 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Ignis Sport), 1h 16m 13.31s
33rd Neil Corbin/Jeremy Roach (S11 Nassco/CAC Enterprises Toyota Starlet), 1h 16m 25.52s
34th Colin Aitchison - SCO/Monty Pearson - SCO (Hist Pearsons Vauxhall Chevette HS), 1h 16m 34.83s
35th Simon Wallis - ENG/Neil Burgess - ENG (P3 www.DialPrefix.co.uk/Babylon Direct/NewsText.com Vauxhall Astra Sport), 1h 17m 50.51s
36th Rob Brook - ENG/John Brook - ENG (P3 Cadbury Adams Peugeot 205GTi), 1h 18m 27.81s
37th Andrew Jones/Stuart White (S13 AP Jones Pharmacy/Total Sport Ford Escort MkII), 1h 21m 35.58s
38th Carlos Humphrey/Jonathan Foster (P2 Toyota Starlet), 1h 22m 20.94s
39th Rupert Lomax - WAL/Dave Alcock - WAL (S12 John Hardman Engineering/SMS/Dee-Jays of Rhyl/Dig-It Ford Escort MkII), 1h 22m 23.37s
40 Gary Mendez/Grae Griffith (P2 Toyota Starlet), 1h 27m 34.25s

Highest placed overseas crew John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (M9 Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC), 2nd overall
Highest placed two-wheel-drive car Barry Mayers/Adam Hart (S11 Trivial Pursuit/Nassco Toyota Starlet), 4th overall
Highest placed female competitor Jane Cowling - ENG, 27th overall (co-driver for Paul McMullan)

Starters 80 (Barbados 55, Europe 19, Regional 6)
Overall finishers 40 (Barbados 24, Europe 11, Regional 5)

Texaco Sunday Cup
1st Paul Bourne/Louis Venezia (M9 Banks/Pirelli Subaru Impreza WRC), 26m 48.39s
2nd Barry Gale/Ryan Rodriguez (M8 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 28m 42.63s
3rd Martin Stockdale - ENG/Mark Swallow - ENG (GpB Plasterland/Drive-a-Matic BMW M3 GTR), 29m 14.24s

Group results
Modified 9 1st Mayers/Ferri; 2nd Powell/March; 3rd Gregg/Hutchinson
Modified 8 1st Hill/Gittens; 2nd Moodie Jnr/Fennell Jnr; 3rd Dowding/Cozier
Group B 1st Stockdale/Swallow, 1h 04m 24.99s; 2nd Hugh Peat - ENG/Tom Jordan - ENG (Plasterland/Jordan Road Surfacing Ford Escort RS Cosworth), 1h 52m 51.04s
Production 4 1st Noel/Yearwood; 2nd Roberts/Stobart; 3rd Peter Thompson/Winston Agard (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty Proton Wira), 1h 10m 26.30s
SuperModified 10 & 11 merged 1st Mayers/Hart; 2nd Read/Clarke; 3rd Thompson/Branker
SuperModified 12 1st Dick/Green; 2nd Thomas/Ralphs; 3rd Carter/Briggs
SuperModified 13 1st Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3), 1h 04m 45.41s; 2nd Jones/White; 3rd St Elmo Cumberbatch/Owen Cumberbatch (CaribSupply/Michelin/F Taylor Associates BMW E36), 1h 22m 52.80s
Modified 7 1st Corbin/Perkins; 2nd Catwell/Catwell; 3rd Marshall/Lambert
Modified 6 1st Gill/Cummins; 2nd Ollivierre/Francis; 3rd Watkins/Gill
Modified 5 1st Clarke/Clarke; 2nd Manning/Hinds
Historic 1st Aitchison/Pearson
Production 3 1st Roach/Gittens; 2nd Wallis/Burgess; 3rd Brook/Brook
Production 1 & 2 merged 1st Barnard/Hoyos; 2nd Humphrey/Foster; 3rd Mendez/Griffith

Total Sport Super Special - Vaucluse Raceway
Group winners
Modified 9 Bourne/Venezia
Modified 8 Moodie Jnr/Fennell Jnr
Production 4 Roberts/Stobart
Group B Stockdale/Swallow
SuperModified 13 Still/Hazell
SuperModified 12 Lomax/Alcock
SuperModified 11 Read/Clarke
Historic Aitchison/Pearson
Modified 7 Corbin/Perkins
Modified 6 Gill/Cummins
Modified 5 Clarke/Clarke
Production 3 Brook/Brook
Production 1 & 2 merged Barnard/Hoyos