BCIC RALLY BARBADOS 2024 At a glance

New for 2024
• British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC) is the new title sponsor of Rally Barbados. In a deal agreed in April, the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event becomes BCIC Rally Barbados for the next three years. BCIC has offered general insurance products to Jamaicans for more than 50 years and opened its first overseas branch in Barbados in 2017. From its offices at Manor Lodge, Green Hill, the company underwrites all major lines of insurance and offers insurance for private cars, commercial vehicles, electric vehicles, motorcycles and PSVs, also 24-hour islandwide emergency breakdown roadside assistance through BCIC Assist . . .
• while King of the Hill (KotH), the sprint used since 2008 to seed the running order for Rally Barbados, returns to last year’s venue and benefits from a third year of title sponsorship from First Citizens Group, it also marks the return of ‘VIP’ hospitality. Now dubbed the Rally Experience, the facility will be at Society Plantation in St John, roughly mid-way through the course from Palmers to Colleton. It was also operate on the Saturday of BCIC RB24 . . .
• although most of the special stage venues remain the same with tweaks to layout and distance, there has been a major shake-up in format for BCIC RB24, with the traditional north Saturday/south Sunday order reversed. There will be two floodlit stages at Bushy Park Barbados on Friday night, either side of a run through nearby Featherbed Lane, Saturday’s nine stages will be at three venues in the south-east of the island and Sunday’s in the north, with the Rally Finish at the Vaucluse Raceway. One result is that Leg 1, which includes Friday night, now represents nearly two-thirds of the rally distance, compared with just under a half last year . . .
• now in its third year at Bushy Park Barbados, the renamed Auto & Rally Show on Saturday, May 25 is set to be the biggest yet. The display of more than 100 cars competing in BCIC RB24 will be the focal point as usual, laid out in the spectator area overlooking the circuit, but the exhibition has been expanded to the east past the Clubhouse. This year, a number of the island's car dealers will exhibit their products, offering patrons the chance to briefly road test them on the circuit, with an on-line prize draw to be revealed shortly. Later in the day, a number of lucky winners of teams’ and sponsors’ social media competitions in recent weeks will experience a passenger ride on a short purpose-designed rally stage. The Auto & Rally Show will open an hour earlier, at 1.00pm, and run to 6.00pm. More details to come nearer the time . . .
• Ireland’s most successful co-driver Paul Nagle, who twice won Rally Barbados with Kris Meeke in 2008 & ‘09, returns to the event this year as the International Safety Delegate. Since retiring in 2022, Nagle has taken a keen interest in the organisational aspects of the sport and has recently been appointed as the FIA Sporting Delegate and Observer for 10 of the 14 rounds of this year’s European Rally Trophy. Nagle and Meeke won the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge for Peugeot before moving on to the World Rally Championship, winning five WRC rounds for Citroen between 2013 and ’18 . . .

Rally schedule – summary:
• Friday: three stages, two under floodlights at Bushy Park Barbados, one at nearby Featherbed Lane
• Saturday: nine stages at three venues
• Sunday: eight stages at three venues, followed by the Final Stage & Rally Finish at the Vaucluse Raceway
• total stage distance – 114.80km

Random stats from the provisional entry list:
• 103 crews listed (the highest number since a record 108 in 2012)
• participants from 13 countries (including host nation Barbados)
• 65 overseas drivers or co-drivers, 15 new to the event
• 67 local crews (the highest number since a record 72 in 2012)
• a record number of 24 female competitors (previously 22 in RB18)
• cars from 16 manufacturers, BMW best-represented with 34, followed by Ford (25), Toyota (10), Mitsubishi and Skoda (7 each)

For media information only. No regulatory value.