IRISH TRIO RETURN FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Airline and hotel deals confirmed for overseas visitors

Ireland will be well represented when Sol Rally Barbados 2010 (May 29/30) marks the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) International All-Stage Rally; among the 15 overseas entries already received on-line are three Irish drivers returning to join in the celebrations.
While Glenn Campbell is making only his second trip to the island, for Peter Gallagher and Martin Taylor, 2010 will mark their fifth participation in Rally Barbados, although it will present a different challenge, as each is bringing a new car.
On his previous four visits, Taylor has campaigned his Dublin Crystal-sponsored Proton Satria, twice each in Modified 6 and Production 2; in 2003 & ’04, Gallagher was his co-driver, replaced by Taylor’s wife Janet for their visits in ’07 & ’08, once Gallagher decided to switch to the driver’s side of the car. Taylor’s 100 per cent overall finishing record includes a class win in P2 (‘04), with 33rd (‘03) his best overall result.
Dublin-based Gallagher also has a 100 per cent overall finishing record and a class win to his credit – P3 in ’08 – when he finished 33rd overall in his ex-works Dublin Crystal/Peter Gallagher Design Peugeot 306 S16; on both his visits as a driver, he has been joined on Rally Barbados by local co-driver Dario Hoyte, who is listed to sit alongside Gallagher again in 2010 . . . but this time it will be in a Peugeot 206 in M6.
Taylor’s change of machine is rather more drastic, as he is switching from front- to rear-wheel drive: between entering on-line in mid-December and an e-mail to the Rally Office last week, Taylor has acquired a BMW 325i, previously used in the increasingly-popular BMW Challenge rally series in the UK. His change of car brings the number of BMWs already entered for Sol Rally Barbados to six – the Bavarian marque is currently second equal with Ford in the league table of makes entered, Toyota leading with nine.
Ulsterman Campbell’s first visit was last year, the former Northern Ireland 2wd Champion making an immediate impression in his Nissan Micra; with co-driver Anthony Concannon, he finished second in Modified 5, as Scotland’s Kenny Hall collected his third Group win. For his second visit, Campbell, who is yet to name a co-driver, will be sponsored by Campbell Motorsport Electrics, Dyno Tune, Burn Road Trade Sales, Motorcare, MotoGlass, Agnew Recovery and Graham Curry Photography.
Last weekend in Ireland, Campbell and fellow-Irishman Graham Curry collected the Class 3 Driver and Navigator Awards respectively at the Mid Antrim Motor Club’s annual awards dinner; photographer Curry was another first-time visitor to Barbados in 2009 and has provided enthusiastic and valuable coverage in Irish magazines.
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Quiksilver ISA World Junior

Surfing Championship

Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
January 20, 2010
Mission Bay, Auckland, New Zealand

ASRs posted on-line as entry list reaches 30

Jamaica’s Gary Gregg is the second previous winner to sign up for Sol Rally Barbados 2010 (May 29/30), which celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) International All-Stage Rally; he is one of 12 overseas entries among the total of 30 already received on-line, which also includes 10-time winner, local ace Roger Skeete.
Gregg and co-driver, fellow-Jamaican Hugh Hutchinson, won in 2006 in their ex-Carlos Sainz Ford Focus WRC02, then went on to become the first – and, so far, only – crew to win Rally Barbados and Rally Jamaica in the same year. After going on to win RJ07 in the older car, Gregg debuted his recently-acquired BD Gregg & Bros/NG Racing Ford Focus WRC05 on RJ09 last month, claiming his third win in four years on his home event.
In addition to their victory, Gregg and Hutchinson have twice finished on the podium in Barbados in the Focus – third in 2005 and 2008 – with fourth place in their previous Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI (2003) also to their credit; the following year, that car was destroyed in a major accident on the Saturday morning, while they also recorded a DNF in 2007 when the Focus failed to restart on Sunday morning with suspension damage.
Gregg has won more than 20 motor sport titles in his home country in recent years, in a wide variety of machinery, although much of his early rallying was done in Barbados, where he also learned to drive. Absent from Sol Rally Barbados last year, Gregg’s return will be welcomed by his many fans in the island.
The total of on-line entries is already at 30, three weeks earlier than that mark was reached in 2009. Once again, the entry level is capped at 90 starters, and Rally Chairman Barry Gale is cautiously optimistic that a close-to-capacity entry might be achieved: “To be honest, if you had suggested we’d have 30 entries by the second week of January, I’d probably have laughed in your face! Bearing in mind the financial climate is making things tough for everyone, this is a tremendous endorsement of our event and very encouraging for the Club, as we continue our discussions with sponsors. Read the rest of this entry »