ZiNG Caribbean – May-June 2019

58 | ZiNG CARIBBEAN http://www.liat.com |May-June 2019

‘coolsuits’are
commonkitthese

days,withpiped

chilled

waterthrough

anundershirt.But

thenI’veseen

adriver

collapsegetting

outofaracecar

atSnettertonin

Norfolk

[England]during

aparticularlyhot

raceday.”

Also,theregion

hassomeclass

driverswithsome

class

cars.“Ittakes

ayearortwofor

thevisitorsto

understand

theroadsurfaces

andstagesused,”

Bradfordadds.

“Island

drivershavecompeted

throughoutthe

regionregularly,

somehavingalso

ralliedfurther

afield.”

JeffreyPanton

isonedriverwho

hascompeted

outsidetheregion,

andreckonsthe

sporthascome

a

longwaysince

hebeganhiscareer.

“WhenIstarted

in

Jamaicaat^14

yearsold,rallying

wasnotabigsport

inthe

Caribbeanatall.

Butthechanges

havebeenoverwhelming

• Ihavewatched

theSolRallygrow

fromasmallregional

eventtoamassive

internationalevent

thatcanrivalany

intheworld.”

RogerSkeete

agrees,addingthat

interestgrewquickly

inmotorsports,

takinghimand

manyofhisfellow

driversto

othercompetitions.

“TravellingtoJamaica,

Guyana,Trinidad

&TobagoandMartinique

wasalwaysagreat

challenge,and

offeredtheopportunity

tomeetmany

newpeoplein

the

sport,manyof

whomremaingreat

friends.”

ECONOMIC

EFFECTS

TheBRC’sown

researchhasindicated

thattheSolRally

hasamassive

effectonthe

island’seconomy,

bringing

inaroundUS$2

millionduringthe

rallyeachyear.

That’sthanksto

theestimated

350 friendsand

family

memberswho

travelwiththe

participants,plus

the

boostintourism

• around4,000

touristnights

• which

iswelcomeduring

theisland’sslower

season.

“Overthepast

20 orsoyears,

ithasbecome

abucket-

listeventforcompetitors,

particularlyfrom

mainland

Europe,”Bradford

pointsout.“The

combinationof

the

relaxed‘club’atmosphere

withanevent

that,thesedays,

is

runtothehighest

standards,plays

amajorpart.Whenever

Iamatanevent

intheUK,SolRally

Barbadosisatopic

ofconversation;

wordofmouth

isamassivelyimportant

wayinwhichthe

eventhasgrown.

Ithasnowhosted

approaching^500

overseascompetitors,

manyofwhom

comebacktime

andtimeagain.”

Pantonhaswatched

theeventgrow

overthe

yearsandisin

nodoubtabout

itsstatus.“Ithink

the

Bajangovernment

willagreewhen

Isayit’sextremely

important!”he

says.“Theby-product

oftheeventis

the

internationalexposure

• showingoffwhat

Barbados

hastoofferas

acountrywith

itsbeaches,personalities,

food,andsoon.

Theincreasein

additionalforeign

exchangeand

hoteloccupancy

duringtheperiod

is

significant.”At

leasttwoentrants

fromtheUKhave

boughtproperty

inBarbadosas

aresultoffalling

inlove

withtherally

andthelocation.

PEOPLEPOWER

Ofcourse,nothing

canhappenwithout

thehardwork

andexpertise

ofawell-drilled

team.Volunteers

arevital

tothestagingof

anysportingevent

andtheSolRally

Above: Spectators

cheer on the fearless

drivers on the Sol

Rally Barbados 2018

Opposite, top:

Tom Preston with

number 7, and

Jon and Alison

Trenholme drive 31

Opposite, middle

left: The top-placed

teams celebrate

in style

Opposite, bottom

:

Competing (and

often winning) at Sol

Rally Barbados raises

a smile for Jamaica’s

Jeffrey Panton

NICHOLAS BHAJAN; COREY REECE; HIMAL REECE; JEFFREY PANTON

MOTORSPORT