Lots of fuss has been made over Rally Barbados 2006,
if the public service announcements weren't enough you may still be left
thinking, wondering… What exactly is Rallying?
If you are considering going to 'Rally Barbados 2006', a Rally
later this year, or one of the Sunday morning speed events;
knowing a bit about rallying both locally and internationally and
the drivers who make rallying what it is can boost your enthusiasm
for the events.
Rallying is a motorsport event that takes place on the public roads; as a
result these roads are closed for a period of time to facilitate the
event. Rallys are broken down into special stages in which
each driver has a timed run over the stage. These time are
then added to determine the overall Group winners and Overall winner
of the Rally. |
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Competitors compete in their respective classes based on
specific modifications made to their engines.
These groups range from production class, where cars of any make compete with
almost show room specs to fully modified 2WD and 4WD and WRC spec
machines. |
"groups can range from production
class where cars of any make compete with show room engine specs to
fully modified 2WD and 4WD" |
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There are also some other variations of rallying such as rally
sprints and speed events. Rally Sprints are what we are accustomed to at our very own Vaucluse Raceway where drivers go head to head on the same
mixed-surface course; with a designated
crossover where the cars change lanes. Speed events are our
traditional Sunday morning event where the drivers contest a closed
public road course
individually, where the same timing regulations that
pertain to rallying are employed. |
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INTERNATIONAL RALLY HISTORY
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Rallying has travelled through the time tunnel leaving its mark
wherever it touched. Most of us have read about or have watched
some footage from the 70’s and 80's where renowned names such as Ari
Vatanen, Henry Toivonen, Walter Rohl and Hannu Mikkola were
highlighted. |
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"names such as Ari
Vatanen, Henry Toivonen, Walter Rohl and Hannu Mikkola . . .
more or less gave the rallying fraternity the respect that it
commands today. How can you forget the ever sideways 250 bhp Ford
Escort MKII’s of Ari Vatanen and Hannu Mikkola" |
All of these more or less gave the rallying fraternity the respect that it commands today. How can
you forget the ever sideways 250 bhp Ford Escort MKII’s of Ari Vatanen and Hannu Mikkola, or Ari once
again in the Opel Manta. All these ex dear devils not only made a name for themselves and the sport,
but paved the way for many reputable car brands such as Ford.
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| No car won more rallies than Ford back in the 1970’s. Not only were they racing
against themselves mostly, but face it the cars were damn well reliable and still are to this day!!
As we move at foot flat speed through the time tunnel we then
crash into the 1980’s and 'boy oh boy' did the sport start this
stage with a flying start. This was categorised by the Group B era
or better yet cars that were made for those with 'balls of steel'.
You see these were not your ordinary 300 bhp WRC car (if I can
call a WRC car ordinary), these cars at sometimes were well in
excess of 400 bhp with loads of accompanying torque. Not only was
it a monstrosity to the drivers as talented as they were; but
imagine the poor navigators reading something like 20 words every
10 seconds and the driver one corner ahead. |
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Cars such as the Peugeot 306 T16, the Audi Quattro S4 and the Lancia
Delta stands out in the rally enthusiasts mind. These three cars
dominated in the 80's and were probably the most beautifully engineered cars of this era.
Unfortunately all good things do come to an end and Group B came to
a sad one upon the deaths and near deaths of many drivers. |
"the
Peugeot 306 T16, the Audi Quattro S4 and the Lancia Delta stands out
in the rally enthusiasts mind." |
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Henri Toivonen was one such driver who suffered one of rallying’s
most horrific accidents and died after his car rolled and exploded
on the Tour de Course Rally of 1986. Both he and his navigator
Sergio Cresto died. After this the sport took a different turn.
Still keeping the all wheel drive concept in mind, the sport then
moved to what we currently know today as the WRC.
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HISTORY OF RALLYING IN BARBADOS |
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Moving from the international scene to the local scene, the sport is
growing in its popularity. Just like International Rallying we in
Barbados do have out local stalwarts of Motorsport.
Only a lad of 25, I can only speak about who I have
jumped up in the air and shouted in enthusiasm for after completing
some watermelon balls sized stunt. Names such as the late Richard Roett in
'Flo Glow' (Damn I loved that starlet!!!!), Mike “the
Samurai” Gill, Roger “The Sheriff” Skeete to name a few.
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" Sideways Kings" |
| These guys hold a special place in every rally fans'
heart. Over the years many more have been added to our list. With
the influx of drivers from the region such
as Jeffrey Panton and Gary Gregg and international drivers such as Martin Stockdale we have all created even more space for our
passion and extended our list of favourites especially when it comes to the ever sideways Ullyett in the T10 monster and Jones in the MK II
escort.
These guys have made Rallying what it is for us 'bajans'. Rallying for a Bajan fan is just “pun anudda level.”
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This Sport will NEVER die!!!!!!!!!! Look out for more in our next issue . . .
Written by: Jason Clarke
Interested in making a comment about this article or suggestions on future articles email us at
comments@bajanrallying.com. |
