British BMW battalion gearing up for BCIC RB25

Led by Martin Stockdale, who will compete for a record 23rd time, four returning British crews confirmed today (April 19) bring to 36 the number of BMWs entered for BCIC Rally Barbados 2025. Stockdale’s son Tom is back for a second year, going head-to-head with his father in the Open Class, formerly Group B, while Cheryl Spencer and Simon Nutter have both joined the BMW ranks for the first time.
  BCIC RB25, the Caribbean’s biggest motor sport international, will run from Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1. The Auto & Rally Show, where every car entered is on display in an annual celebration of island rallying, and the final shakedown and seeding event, First Citizens King of the Hill, fill the previous weekend (May 24/25).
  Since BMW first became the best-represented manufacturer in the entry list in 2017, the German company has only been knocked off the top spot twice, in 2018 and 2022, both times by Ford. While the introduction of the BimmaCup category sparked the initial growth, there has been a steady increase in competitors from the island and overseas using BMWs as a basis for the modified classes.
  Stockdale’s current Jaguar-engined 1M Coupe is the fourth different BMW he has entered since 2001, rarely heading back to the UK without a trophy. For the past two years, he has won Group B with co-driver Graeme Wood, but competes this year with Cameron Barclay, who has co-driven in the island previously in his father Ian’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI and Mick Smith’s Hillman Imp.
  As well as competing since 1978, Stockdale is a master engineer, having built many of the BMWs in this year’s entry list, including son Tom’s Compact 3V6, finished just in time for its first-ever event in the island last year. While he and co-driver Neil Chambers won Group B in First Citizens King of the Hill, engine failure saw them retire from BCIC RB24. With support from Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Drive A Matic, Sherwood Construction and Canems Engine Management Systems, the family hopes for an Open Class one-two.
  Tom, who was 13 when he first travelled to Barbados with the family in 2001, has rallied the car five times in the UK since then, developing a strong partnership with Chambers, who also returns this year. They have regularly run in the top 10 in rounds of the Circuit Rally Championship, although what Stockdale describes as “a few teething newbuild car issues” have resulted in a couple of retirements. Sixth overall in the Cadwell Park Stages last November, then seventh overall, a class win and top 2wd in the Dukeries Rally at Donington Park (March 16) are their best results.
  Cheryl Spencer returns to compete for the 10th time with husband and co-driver Barry, but now with a 2.8-litre BMW Compact entered in Modified 3, replacing the Vauxhall Astra GSi, which had grown unreliable, causing retirements over the past three years. With five overall finishes before that – 35th in 2014 is her best result – Spencer is determined not to retire this year, although is finding adapting to her larger and more powerful car "interesting and challenging on all levels”.
  She says: “Everything about the BMW is different to the Astra and I’ve had to learn a whole new driving skill. When you have turned 63 and you are only used to a little two-litre Astra you can’t imagine how daunting it is, but I’ve taken this beast on and intend to keep pushing to be the best I can.”
  With four events under her belt, some tricky weather conditions making her switch from front to rear-wheel-drive an even steeper learning curve, and after some mechanical updates for the car, it was launched on Thursday (April 17) at the premises of her principal sponsor Poole Accident Repair on the UK’s south coast. As well as support from ARM Automotive, GTR Autobodies, A1 Bodytechnical and Wrap’d & Tint’d in the UK, Spencer has formed island partnerships with companies such as the Dover Beach Hotel, Harlequin Restaurant, Marco Polo Bar and Grill and Stoutes Car Rentals.
  Simon Nutter and wife Fiona Udale, both former Middle East Rally Champions, return for the first time since an accident on the Kendal stage destroyed their Toyota Corolla in 2022 and meant a lengthy period of recovery for Nutter. Their newbuild BimmaCup car, entered in Clubman 2, will be driven in anger for the first time at First Citizens KotH and adds another manufacturer to the list of cars previously campaigned by Nutter, including Ford Escort RS1700T, Peugeot 309GTi, Skoda Fabia and Subaru Impreza.

Rally Barbados 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; the previous Sunday’s King of the Hill ‘shakedown’, run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, the results of which are used to seed the running order for the main event.

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