SOL RALLY BARBADOS JOINS FIA NACAM CHAMPIONSHIP

Island motor sport pays tribute to Freddie Gale

Sol Rally Barbados is inscribed on the calendar of the world governing body, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), for the first time in 2020 as it becomes a round of the NACAM Championship. The 31st running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event is scheduled for Friday to Sunday, May 29 to 31, with The Rally Show and Flow King of the Hill the previous weekend.

Established in 2008, the FIA Regional Rally Championship for the NACAM zone (North America, Central America, the Caribbean and the north of South America) will this year comprise six rounds, split equally between gravel and tarmac for the first time. It opens at the third round of the World Championship, Rally Mexico in March, and includes three further events in the same country, plus one each in Barbados and Canada.

Mexico’s Ricardo Triviño has 10 Championship titles to his credit, most recently last year in a Skoda Fabia R5, following previous successes in a Citroen DS 3 R5 and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX and X. Triviño’s run of success has only been interrupted by Peruvian drivers Nicolás Fuchs (Evo IX) and Raúl Orlandini Griswold (Evo IX), who won the title in 2010 and ’11 respectively.

BRC and Sol Rally Barbados Chairman Mark Hamilton said: “We are delighted to be included in the NACAM Championship for 2020. This opportunity evolved out of an approach from Carlos Cordero, President of the FIA North American & Central America Rally Championship to Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) President Andrew Mallalieu regarding the Club’s interest. After some initial discussion and the submission of a proposal from NACAM to the Club, it was determined that we could proceed. While much is still to be done between now and Sol RB20, there is no doubt that the event being listed on the FIA Calendar is a feather in our cap and may offer further opportunities in the future.

“Additionally, the prospect of having up to 12 or so additional vehicles competing is obviously positive, especially when as many as half of them could be additions to the four-wheel-drive FIA R5 and Modified 4 classes. As we know, recent developments on the local scene with the upgrading or replacement of cars during 2019 and into 2020 will enhance the competitive environment for spectators. I can’t wait to enjoy it myself.”

NACAM Rally Championship 2020
March 12-15 – WRC Rally Mexico (Gravel)
April 3/4 – Rally Montanas, Mexico (Gravel)
May 29-31 – Sol Rally Barbados (Tarmac)
June 26-28 – Rallye Baie des Chaleurs, Canada (Gravel)
August 21-23 – Rally Sierra Juarez, Mexico (Tarmac)
November 26/27 – Rally Colima, Mexico (Tarmac)

Island motor sport pays tribute to Freddie Gale

The island’s motor sport family have joined together to pay tribute to Freddie Gale, who died this week at the age of 71 after more than 50 years involvement in the sport. Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Chairman Mark Hamilton said: “Our Club, the wider motor sport community and - I venture to say - Barbados has lost a stalwart of a man. May he rest in peace and the Good Lord comfort his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Katie, Barry, Rachel and the wider family.”

Freddie was competitor and organiser in equal measure, passing both those attributes on to his son Barry. A navigator from the late 1960s, he competed at home and abroad (including the Carreras 1000-mile navigational rally in Jamaica), before a 15-year lay-off. In a rear-wheel-drive Toyota Starlet bought for the school run, he returned as a class front-runner on racetrack and rally stage, a regular at Old Bushy Park in the BRC Super Sprint Series and race meets. In a front-wheel-drive Starlet Turbo, he won at the Vaucluse Raceway – once in the end-of-day Handicap – and was a multiple BRC Class Champion and joint Champion Driver in 1994.

Hamilton said: “It was with great sadness that I heard of Freddie’s passing. He was a tremendous individual, whom I have known for some time, initially through our mutual love of motor sport and then through our participation as active members of a shooting club. While he was an enthusiastic and competitive driver with several titles to his name, his real and lasting impact was his character. His selfless approach, willingness to help both individuals and worthwhile endeavours were apparent not just to those who knew him well, but also to those with whom he had limited interaction. You could simply tell what type of person he was.

“Freddie was the backbone of many an initiative supporting motor sport. The arranging and supervision of road repairs, supply of equipment and the provision of storage areas for the Club’s archives are but a few of the many ways in which he gave of his time and support. This was maintained through the years and I am pleased that the Club had the opportunity to say a sincere thanks to Freddie at the conclusion of the 2019 Sol Rally Barbados awards ceremony, with a token of our appreciation. It was inscribed: ‘Presented to Mr Freddie Gale in recognition of his significant contribution to the development and growth of the Club’s All Stage Rally, through many years of selfless dedication to the unseen tasks that are critical to making the event successful’. These words sum up the type of man Freddie was.”

Sol Rally Barbados and Flow King of the Hill are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 2017; Sol RB20 marks the 13th year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company, and the fifth by communications provider Flow.

For media information only. No regulatory value.

For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web sites: www.rallybarbados.net; www.barbadosrallyclub.com