SMJ SUPPORT RALLY CLUB’S 65th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

The Six Nations of Modified 4 in Sol Rally Barbados

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC), which is marking its 65th Anniversary in 2022, has entered a new partnership with SMJ Beverages, which will support a range of the Club’s activities throughout the year. In addition to naming the Pickerings stage of Sol Rally Barbados for the Kure brand, the deal includes title sponsorship of the year-round Oasis Autocross Championship and the Turbo Winter Rally, along with a programme of support for the Club’s volunteer marshals and officials.

  Sol RB22 will be staged over the weekend of June 4 & 5, with the Rally Show and King of the Hill shakedown event the weekend before. The second round of the Oasis Autocross Championship will be run at Bushy Park this Saturday (May 7), with three further rounds to follow, while the Turbo Winter Rally will bring the BRC Driver’s and Class Championships to a close on October 16.
  Rally Club PRO Neil Barnard said: “The Barbados Rally Club is thrilled to partner with SMJ Beverages in what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship. SMJ is utilising some of its most popular brands to sponsor a number of our events, as well as offering vital support for our Motorsport Marshals throughout the season.”
  Founded in 1924, SM Jaleel & Company Ltd, popularly known as SMJ Beverages, is the largest manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages in the English-speaking Caribbean, with headquarters in Trinidad & Tobago. The company produces juices, carbonated soft drinks, iced tea, energy drinks, water, flavoured waters and milk, which are exported to more than 60 countries on five continents. Its premium brand, Kure Oxygen Water, pushes the boundaries of what water can be, while Turbo is the number one energy drink in Barbados, particularly suitable for persons with an active lifestyle.
  Michelle Maynard, Trade Marketing Executive of SMJ Beverages Barbados, said: “We are making big strides in year 2022! One such is partnering with the Barbados Rally Club and we are proud to be sponsoring Rally Barbados with two of our popular brands, Kure Oxygen Water and Turbo Energy Drink.
  “We look forward to a very successful and lasting partnership with Barbados Rally Club and what a wonderful time to do so, as the Club celebrates 65 years of motor sport! We are excited to be supporting the drivers, navigators, marshals, co-ordinating officials and of course, helping to bring thrills and excitement to the fans. There will be some exciting activities and giveaways to look forward to throughout the season as well.”

The Six Nations of Modified 4 in Sol Rally Barbados

Island crew Mark Thompson and Kurt Seabra head an international cast in the Modified 4 class for Sol Rally Barbados 2022, with six nations represented in the four cars. Father and son George and Anthony Sherman from the US have already been reunited with their locally-based Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX at last month’s Shakedown Double Header, while the Evo VIs of Irish returnee Peter Gallagher and Scottish first-timer Ian Barclay left the UK yesterday (Sunday) on the Geest Line freighter Luzon Straight.
  Three-time Group N winner Thompson and Guyana-born co-driver Seabra were heading for a well-deserved overall podium finish in Sol RB19 until the gearbox of their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX gave out just three stages from home and will be keen to mix it with the record entry of more modern machinery in the FIA R5 class this year.
  Newcomer Barclay has been rallying since the mid-1990s, first with a Hillman Avenger, before twice entering the iconic Tour of Mull in his native Scotland in a Peugeot 205; he has lived in London for more than 25 years and only competes in a limited number of events. The Evo on its way to Barbados is his second, replacing one which was written off on Mull, and he also rallies a Darrian GTR nick-named ‘Dave’, most recently in Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton last weekend (April 23/24), with his wife Sue Plater co-driving. For the Barbados his co-driver will be his 20-year-old English-born student son Cameron, who started co-driving in the Darrian in 2019.
  American former drag and circuit racer Sherman and son Anthony made their rally debut in Barbados in 2018, winning the Rally Club’s Novice Award, finishing Sol RB18 34th overall and winning Group N. The Evo was owned by Trinidad & Tobago’s David Coelho, for whom Sherman serviced on Sol RB in recent years, and was upgraded to M4 spec before the 2019 season. With the pandemic restricting travel, the Shermans are glad to finally be back in the car, gaining valuable seat time last month.
  Ireland’s Peter Gallagher will be competing for the 14th time, his third with the Lancer in which he has yet to claim an overall finish, although he made it through the Sunday Cup each time with Bajan co-driver Rene Forde. His first two visits were as co-driver to Martin Taylor, since when he has competed with a range of cars, an ex-Peugeot Cup 206, in which he finished class runner-up in the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2009, a factory-built Group N 306, and the Talbot Samba in which he won class and overall Group A titles in the Irish National Championship in the mid-1980s.

Sol Rally Barbados and King of the Hill are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrates its 65th Anniversary in 2022; Sol RB22 marks the 15th year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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web sites: www.rallybarbados.net; www.barbadosrallyclub.com