Maloney, Yearwood back at the top in BCIC RB26

One year after retiring from the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event, 2024 winners Stuart Maloney and Kristian Yearwood returned to the top step of the podium at BCIC Rally Barbados 2026 (May 29-31). Victorious last year, Jamaican Kyle Gregg and Yearwood’s brother Kreigg finished second, ahead of Mark Maloney and son Justin.
 After 19 special stages in the south-east of the island, Maloney’s winning margin was 10.60secs, with his brother Mark just another 4.40secs adrift of Gregg. Barry Mayers further extended his record total of 2wd wins to seven, this year with co-driver Moishe Steinbok in his Ford Fiesta; he finished 11th overall, his first 2wd win outside the top 10.
 Between the floodlit Riddara SuperSpecial last Friday and the FLOW SuperSpecial on Sunday afternoon, both at Bushy Park Barbados in St Philip, the event’s 36th edition played host to 116 crews from 11 countries, including 96 overseas drivers and co-drivers. A record 40 cars started in the four-wheel-drive classes, and there were a record number of female participants, 28, including three drivers for the first time.
 After a gruelling weekend, affected by weather on Friday night and again for part of Saturday, 76 cars were classified as finishers, including four Open Class and Open GT-R Class cars not eligible for overall awards. A further 15 were still running in the Sunday Cup, so more than 90 cars thrilled fans with drifts and donuts in Sunday’s finale.
 Speaking at the finish, Maloney said: “This is no comparison to last year, where I disappointed myself so much and this has been a total redemption drive. I went out relatively conservative at first and realised there was no option but to go maximum attack considering the pace of the others. It was tough at night with the lights and the depth they spot and Sunday morning Kyle showed me that I couldn't be conservative and I had to turn it up a bit in the afternoon. I want to thank Kristian for having the confidence to sit next to me after a huge crash and to this fantastic team and family who make it all happen.”
 Maloney and brother Mark, who last finished third in the island’s premier event 25 years ago in a Nissan Pulsar, were joined at yesterday’s (Monday) Prizegiving at The Boatyard on the outskirts of Bridgetown by nephew Zane, who had driven the spectacular Porsche 992 Rally GT in the Open R/GT Class: “It's my first Rally Barbados finish after crashing out on the previous two, but I'm 22 now and not 18, so knowing when to push and not to makes a big difference. It has been a great weekend for the family. I'm happy, and I did all I could and hope the crowd enjoyed everything this weekend.”
 After a major rebuild of his Ford Fiesta Rally2 following a roll at First Citizens King of the Hill, Gregg said: “Last week was unfortunate but when Brett said it was fixable I believed him. Fortunately, all the important bits came on time. The guys did a fantastic job. This weekend the biggest hiccup was stalling in SS1 to give away a few seconds. We tried to get Stuart but didn't have more in the tank, so hats off to him and Kristian.”
 Now in the same type of Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 as his brother, Mark Maloney was fastest in the Friday head-to-head SuperSpecial on the Race Of Champions course, with Stuart second. KotH winner Joe Cunningham (Fiesta WRC), was third, ahead of Adam Mallalieu (Fiesta Rally2), Dane Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) and Irish Tarmac Champion Aaron McLaughlin (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5).
 Having said ahead of the event that “the rally for me starts on Saturday”, Stuart Maloney took the lead after the day’s opening Automotive Art Padmore stage, despite the fastest time being set equally by Gregg and Rob Swann (Fiesta WRC), the latter moving up to second ahead of Mark Maloney, Cunningham, Skeete and Mallalieu.
 Stage wins on the first Venture and Inchcape Kendal gave Maloney a 7secs advantage after the first loop, with Mallalieu second, ahead of Swann, five-time winner Jeff Panton of Jamaica (Fiesta Rally2), Skeete and Gregg. Fastest on the first Padmore of the second loop, Gregg leapt up to second, 6secs off Maloney, with 22-year-old Mallalieu now a consistent third and mixing it with drivers of considerably greater experience.
 The top three remained the same at the end of the third loop of stages – the first bit of night-time rallying for some years – with Mark Maloney now fourth, Josh Read (Fiesta Rally2) fifth, having won the day’s final run through Kendal, and Panton sixth.
 On Sunday morning, while Skeete won the first Malvern and Cherry Grove, Gregg chipped away at his deficit, then set the fastest time on the first Automotive Art Three Houses to pull back nearly 6secs. But Maloney was paying attention and turned up the wick, managing the gap to the finish, with brother Mark third and the Fiesta Rally2s of Read, Mallalieu and Panton completing the top six.
Skeete won more stages during the day but had to settle for third in WRC behind Cunningham and Swann, ninth overall, with Mark Thompson completing the top 10 in his first Rally Barbados since buying the ex-Paul Horton Citroen C3 Rally2. In 14th, Ireland’s McLaughlin was the best-placed of the overseas visitors from the record 22-strong FIA R5 class, which also saw some strong drives from Jersey’s Darryl Morris (18th, Fabia R5), Ireland’s Conor Wilson (24th, Hyundai i20 R5), Jamaica’s Fraser McConnell (Fabia Raly2 evo, until the gearbox gave out) and England’s Stephen Pawson, who was inside the top 20 until the left the road in his Fiesta R5 a couple of stages from home, along with local crew Roger Hill and Graham Gittens who finished 13th in their newly-arrived GR Yaris Rally2, the driver’s first-ever finish outside the top 10.
 Thompson’s brother Kurt (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) looked set for a hat-trick of wins in Modified 4, before some differential issues and a spin in Macaroni village dropped him to fourth in class overnight, 30secs off the lead. Ahead were the Evo IXs of newcomers to 4wd, David-Anthony Balgobin and Savio Walcott, plus the Evo VI of Welshman Rupert Lomax, who came second to Thompson last year.
 Drivetrain problems halted Walcott and Lomax on Sunday, along with Britain’s Chris Shooter - Thompson’s brother Neil had already retired with gearbox problems on day one – while Jon Trenholme’s Impreza with a broken steering rack. Balgobin held on to win, despite Thompson halving the gap to 14secs – 22nd overall also gained Chloe Mustor the Highest-placed Female Co-driver award – with Kyle Catwell and sister Kayleigh (last year’s top female co-driver) third in their Audi TT-R.
 After taking home the Group N trophies last year unopposed in the class, Irish father and son crew Larry and Tommy Doyle (Evo VII) had some competition this year, but still prevailed. They beat two other returning British crews, veterans Dick Mauger and Liz Jordan – with a combined age of 152, they are still competitive, this year in a Subaru Impreza WRX – and Stuart Deeley and Andy Doano (Toyota Celica GT4 ST165).
 After electing to miss part of Saturday to attend his daughter’s graduation at Codrington College, so dropping out of the overall running, Brian Gill won the Sunday Cup in his Fabia Rally2 evo, fastest on all but one of the eight stages. After issues om Saturday, the roaring BMW M3 of Justin Campbell (lost a wheel) was second, with Britain’s Nigel Worswick (Ford Fiesta S2000T) third after getting stuck off-road.
 The seventh 2wd win did not come easy for Mayers. In his first Rally Barbados, ESports Champion Mark-Anthony Hinkson (BMW M3) was top 2wd at Friday’s Riddara Bushy Park SuperSpecial, when intermittent showers made track conditions tricky. Of the usual suspects, former 2wd winner Andrew Jones (Ford Escort MkII) was the first casualty, an electrical gremlin dropping him out of the overall running on Saturday morning.
 While Ireland’s Declan Gallagher (Toyota Starlet) won the day’s opening Padmore, four-time BRC 2wd Champion Rhett Watson (BMW M3) assumed the lead after the first Venture, on which Mayers claimed the first of five back-to-back stage wins to lead at the dinner halt. Gallagher was fastest on Padmore again, easing ahead of Watson by just 1sec, but the local driver lost two spotlights and distance lighting for the last two evening stages, the gap to Gallagher growing to 15secs, before a suspension failure on Sunday’s second stage put him out for good.
 With two more stage wins, Mayers was 16secs ahead of Gallagher at bedtime, a lead he started to extend from Sunday’s first Malvern and built to 37secs ahead of the day’s final timed stage, Cherry Grove 3. A broken rose joint cost him 20secs, but the cushion to Gallagher was sufficient for the win, with Hinkson third after a mature debut drive.
 The Kelly Motorsport MkI Escort of Ireland’s Barry McLaughlin was fourth, combining speed with significant crowd entertainment, with Modified 2 winner Neil Corbin (Toyota GT86 CS-R3) and Mark Kinch (BMW M3 Compact) completing the top six. Michael Worme was in the top six from mid-way through Saturday, but last year’s Car Zero faltered a couple of stages from the finish; he still claimed the M3 class in, however.
 Mayers said: “It’s been a long weekend, the car held together well, so we were able to push on Sunday morning and keep ahead of Declan from Ireland. It’s a pity that this is the first 2wd win without a top 10 result, but the time lost dropped us to 11th.”
 Gallagher was elated: “This is something else. It's a class experience to come and mix it with the guys in SM2 and Stephen [Bell] has done an amazing job on the notes on the weekend and the run up to the rally. The fans here have motorsport in their blood and the roads are similar enough to home but the grip is hard to judge.”
 Hinkson hopes a point has been made: “Honestly, I know that many people don't believe in sim racing and this is my goal to show that it is a pathway. This is the first rally car I've ever driven and I had to believe in myself, my car and team. For my first time to podium in 2wd overall is fantastic.”
 The top three in 2wd were also the SuperModified 2 podium, with Corbin followed home in M2 by Jermin Pope (Honda Civic) and Sean Corbin (BMW 318ti Compact), while Worme beat last year’s BRC M3 Champion David St Hill (BMW M3) and the spectacular E30 BMW M3 of Scotland’s John Marshall, which landed in the island midweek on a Virgin Atlantic flight after he had been competing in his home country the previous weekend.
 It was business as usual in SM1, until 12-time class-winner Eddie Corbin’s Daihatsu Charmant engine blew on the first stage of Saturday’s evening loop, promoting English brothers Ben and Andrew Wilkinson (Peugeot 106 Maxi). They remained in control to the finish, beating the local Toyotas of Andre Corbin (Corolla) and Darren Lashley (Starlet).
 In Modified 1, Carlos Edwards (Citroen C2R2 MAX) kept Scotland’s Richard Stewart (Peugeot 208 Rally4) at bay as he had last year, although the gap was considerably smaller this time round, while Stewart’s fellow-countryman won the hearts of hundreds of fans with his quirky but immaculate 1966 Saab 96, the lone entry in Historic 1.
 In the Clubman classes, Luke Cozier (BMW 325is) won C3, beating the similar cars of Kevin Armstrong – pleased to finish after a DNF last year – and Kamal Quimby. Ryan Wood headed Greg Cozier and Sebastien Thompson in the battle of the BimmaCups in C2. For the third year, C1 went to Kyle Gill (Mitsubishi Colt), ahead of the all-girl British crew of newcomers Debby Goodband and Clare Berrisford (Suzuki Swift Sport).
 Mark Huggins won the Open Class in his Daihatsu ‘Charmonster’ with some solid times and entertaining driving, with 2024 BRC Rookie of the Year Chadane Holder (Starlet) second. Jamaica’s Horatio Brown (BMW M3) was happy to finish, the third-placed trophies and finishers’ hats some recompense for the catalogue of dramas he and co-driver Leslie Evanson had endured in the past fortnight.
 Among the Special Awards, Britain’s Cheryl Spencer was Highest-Placed Female Driver, while there were two Spirit of the Rally Awards: the event’s youngest crew, 16-year-olds Daniel Ullyett and Hailey Brathwaite, daughter of the late Jamal Brathwaite, competitor and former Rally Club Competition Secretary, and Britain’s Rob Swann, who faced a tough weekend focussing on the task in hand after his father passed away last Thursday.

BCIC Rally Barbados (May 29-31, 2026) is a tarmac rally with around 20 special stages run on the island’s intricate network of public roads, under road closure orders granted by the Ministry of Transport, Works & Water Resources; First Citizens King of the Hill (May 24), run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, with the results used to seed the running order for the main event.