Accidents,?they say, will happen, but there is no accident that the name Trevor “Electric Micey” Manning will be on the tongues of motoring fans again.
Manning, who will be seeing action in Sol Rally Barbados for the first time since 2009, will team up with Derek Edwards in a BMW M3.
Manning replaces the injured Logan Watson, the reigning Barbados Rally Club (BRC) two-wheel drive champion in the car nicknamed “Crackers”, a rear-wheel-drive BMW M3 that ideally suits Manning’s style of driving. The car is one of two being run in support of the Little Pink Gift Foundation.
After a test drive this week, Manning said the rally would be an exciting challenge and he was looking forward to getting back on the stages.
“I’ve already complained to Rhett [Watson] that there was too much grip, and I couldn’t get the back out too much,”?he said. “But we were on some pretty grippy tarmac, so that didn’t help.
“I think it’s going to be exciting, and Derek and I are certainly looking forward to it. As before, Sean Lashley will be crew chief.”
Still recuperating from a non-motorsport accident in Canada, Watson explained that this year, the car was to be going sideways and driven very flamboyantly, so “Crackers” was a name to suit.
“I was lying in bed all bandaged up, thinking of what to do as I wouldn’t be able to drive, so the sponsors and, more important, the Little Pink Gift Foundation would get less coverage than they were supposed to,” he said.
Watson’s brother Rhett has taken over the two-door car handled by Logan last year – that one’s nicknamed “Cookies”, as the principal sponsors are Oreo and Chips Ahoy.
Manning and Watson will also contest Scotiabank King of the Hill on May 26 and one other event in preparation for the Caribbean’s biggest annual motorsport international on June 1 and 2.
There will be an official team launch in aid of the Little Pink Gift Foundation at the Carlton Supermarket car park, Black Rock, St Michael, today from 5 p.m., with Rhett, Manning, “Cookies” and “Crackers” all scheduled to appear.
Manning won the rally in 1999 in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V, having tied for third in an Evo III with Doug Gore the previous year. He had a further four further podium finishes: second in 2000 and 2001, third in 2004 and 2006.
