Xtreme Degreez Sports Magazine

The inclusion in the coming weekend’s Digicel Williams International Race Meet (August 28/29) of five drivers and four race cars from England and Ireland, a record number of International competitors for Bushy Park since 1975, heralds the start of a new chapter in the life of the Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) . . . and, if all goes to plan, also of the St Philip racetrack, which will celebrate its 40th Anniversary next year.

Founded in 1997, BARL ran its first Williams Industries International in 2003, since then the Club has played host to 45 competitors from six countries in the region, for the past two years featuring the second round of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC); emphasising a rivalry dating back to the 1960s, nearly half of these competitors have been Guyanese . . . and that is reflected again this year, the regional representation being 10 from Guyana, which leads the CMRC Country standings for the first time, and four each from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

In the 1970s, competitors from further afield were always part of the mix in a series of International race meets in Barbados and Guyana, particularly those each November, during the UK ‘off-season’; regional competitors relished the challenge of competing against well-known characters of the British racing scene, such as Dave Brodie, Mike Crabtree, Alec Poole, Gordon Spice and Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams, and BARL’s current management aims to revive the tradition . . . and its decision could prove timely. Read the rest of this entry »

The region’s leading race car drivers will share centre stage at this month’s Digicel Williams International Race Meet (August 28/29) with their two-wheeled counterparts, as the clubs behind the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) work towards expanding the scope of the regional series to include a wider range of competitors.

BARL’s pre-event build-up continues tomorrow (Friday) with the final weekly after-work lime opposite H & B Hardware at Warrens, St Michael; cars will be on display from around 4.00pm, refreshments will be on sale, and there will be a chance for fans to hear what Barry and Roger Mayers think about the upcoming International.

Heading the motorcycle entry multiple Superbike race and title-winner, Canada’s Kevin Graham, one of the prime movers in developing the regional championship; winner of more than 40 races at South Dakota in Guyana – and the lap record holder – he made a big impression at the Dover Raceway in Jamaica, with two race wins on the Sunburst Orange Juice Yamaha R6, and a new lap record. Read the rest of this entry »

One of England’s most successful sports and saloon car drivers, with more than 500 career wins, will compete in the Digicel Williams International Race Meet slated for August 28/29, bringing to five the number of European entries, a record for Bushy Park since 1975.

By July 18 this year, Rod Birley had clocked up no fewer than 515 outright or class victories at 16 road race circuits and 13 hot rod ovals, and won countless class and overall championship titles, most recently last year’s Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship, which he won in his Ford Escort WRC.

Delighted by the response from Europe, Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) Chairman Adrian Mayers said: “Attracting a driver like Rod is a feather in the cap for Barbados motor racing, and the island – I am told that the ‘500’ Club doesn’t have too many members. Not only is he one of England’s most successful drivers, but he is also a regional Chairman of the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC), Britain’s top race organisation. From our initial contact, we believe this is a relationship that can grow, as the cars that compete in championships under his remit are well suited to our regulations.”

The BARC has been involved with Bushy Park in the past: its Executive Director Dennis Carter conducted training sessions for marshals and officials in advance of the reopening of the circuit in 1992, while the Club’s recent international commitments have included providing the 350 officials and marshals necessary to run the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, all still under the direction of Carter. Read the rest of this entry »

A multiple sports car Champion from England and a current front-runner in the 2010 Irish Touring Car Championship are the first two International drivers confirmed by the Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) for its Digicel Williams International Race Meet at Bushy Park, St Philip, slated for August 28/29.

England’s Adrian Beer has been racing in the MG Car Club’s BCV8 Championship since he was 17, following a family tradition of involvement with the iconic British sports car; his debut season in 2001 was impressive, finishing second overall in the title chase, Class Champion, highest-placed Novice and highest-placed Young Driver in the Top 10. He has since won the overall championship twice, a class title in each year that he has contested a full season, and holds lap records at five circuits, including the high-speed former airfield circuit of Castle Combe, where the average speed approaches 100mph.

Although he has competed outside England before, in two-driver endurance races at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit at Spa-Francorchamps, the trip to Barbados will be his first campaign outside Europe. While his MGB GT, powered by a 450bhp 4.1-litre Rover V8, may prove something of a handful around the tight confines of Bushy Park, the 26-year-old is looking forward to the challenge: “The thought of taking my car to an unknown circuit outside Europe where only a handful of British drivers have taken their cars fills me with tremendous excitement, however I am not in any way overwhelmed by the prospect.”

The weapon of choice for Ireland’s Barry Rabbitt could hardly present a greater contrast to the mighty MG, as he will be competing in a Honda CRX entered by the Dublin-based Tuning Factory. Run by two Chinese Honda experts, Andy Mo and Ping Won, this company is the Irish agent for J’s Racing, the Japanese firm which built the CRX to showcase its products.

Like Beer, Rabbitt has been racing since 2001, winning the Irish Fiat Uno one-make championship the following year; he subsequently switched to the even more competitive Punto series, winning races, although never had sufficient budget to challenge for the title. Since 2008, he has been the ‘works driver’ for the Tuning Factory: he holds the Irish Time Attack lap record at Mondello Park in the CRX, won the 2008 Irish Saloon Series in the company’s Integra Type R, and is currently second in the Irish Touring Car Championship with a new Integra.

Of the CRX, which is small, nimble, and produces just 220bhp from a slightly-modified B18 Type-R engine, Rabbit notes: “it has myriad little things that, when added up, make it very fast. It is the most sorted car I have ever driven in terms of handling prowess.” Read the rest of this entry »

Two of the leading brand names in the Caribbean, Digicel and Williams Industries, have joined forces to further the development of circuit racing in Barbados and across the region through co-sponsorship of the Barbados Auto Racing League’s (BARL) eighth annual international race meet, slated for the weekend of August 28/29.

Feature event of the Digicel Williams International at Bushy Park, St Philip, will be round two of the 2010 Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC). The programme will also include the CMRC Motorcycle Championship, the first round of which was contested between Guyana and Jamaica in May, and the first of two rounds of a new ‘Mini’ CMRC Group 2 Championship between Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.

In welcoming Digicel’s commitment to join long-term sponsor Williams Industries, BARL Chairman Adrian Mayers said: “This additional support has given the Club the resources to bring quality, quantity and variety to this year’s International – the addition of CMRC races for 600cc bikes and Group 2 cars is an important part of the steady expansion of the regional series, but there are other ‘added extras’ for fans to look forward to.

“We have more announcements to make during the coming weeks, as we are still awaiting the final names of the regional teams, but I can confirm that a number of competitors from England and Ireland have accepted invitations to compete. The first International was run at Bushy Park in 1972, in the days when legendary British drivers such as Mike Crabtree, Alec Poole and Gordon Spice used to race here and in Guyana.

“With the plans to upgrade Bushy Park to an internationally-licensed circuit currently under discussion, BARL decided to act early in reviving interest from Europe, so we could start to develop relationships as close as those of nearly 40 years ago.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) has started the build-up to its Digicel Williams International Race Meet by announcing the Barbados team for round two of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC), feature event of the Bushy Park fixture slated for August 28/29.

The Club has also confirmed that fans will again have a chance to mix with BARL competitors and inspect race machinery at close quarters at weekly after-work limes opposite H & B Hardware at Warrens, St Michael. Starting this Friday (August 6), and continuing on August 13 and 20, cars will be on display from around 4.00pm, refreshments will be on sale, and there will be entertainment and driver interviews once spectator numbers start to build.

BARL Chairman Adrian Mayers said: “We tried the Friday-night promos last year, and were pleased with the response. As well as giving the fans chance to meet the drivers in a relaxed atmosphere, it’s also a great way to hype the meeting as hundreds of people drive past on their way home from work . . . so we may attract some new supporters.” Read the rest of this entry »

Fans enjoy rare spectacle of night-time rallying

Roger Skeete (Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Michelin/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12) carried the momentum of his memorable 11th victory in the island’s premier event in May through to yesterday’s (Saturday, July 24) Karcher Summer Stages to record another dominant victory.
With co-driver Louis Venezia, Skeete outpaced a strong field, to win round eight of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Virgin Atlantic Driver’s and Class Championships by more than 27 seconds. Eleven stages were run at Pickerings and Turner’s Hall, where hundreds of fans enjoyed the increasingly rare sight of night-time rallying, with the occasional shower adding further spice to the action. Read the rest of this entry »