Rally fans and competitors assemble at Bushy Park for the closing ceremony of King Of The Hill. (Picture courtesy BRC)

Floodlit SuperSpecial to start Sol Rally

Article by Ezra Stuart

Sol Rally Barbados 2023 will start with a floodlit SuperSpecial at Bushy Park Race Circuit on June 9, the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) revealed yesterday.

The event will precede the daylight SuperSpecial and Rally Finish at the St Philip facility on the Sunday afternoon for the 33rd running of the blue riband event, with on-line entries closing on Friday.

In a continuation of its major commitment to the region’s biggest motor sport international, Bushy Park will also host Rally Central with secure storage and workshop facilities for visiting crews and their cars in the Pits Complex.

Once overseas crews have settled in, there will be testing opportunities available on the 2.01-kilometre international circuit. In addition, the Rally Show will return for a second year on Saturday, June 3, in the Festival Village on The Hill, with the service area for the following day’s First Citizen’s King Of The Hill also in the grounds.

After its June 8 start, Sol Rally Barbados runs over the weekend with special stages around the island to finish back at Bushy Park on the afternoon of Sunday, June 11.

“Once again, our working partnership with Bushy Park is proving really valuable to the event,” Sol Rally director Neil Barnard said.

“We are looking forward to returning to the venue, particularly as we have an exciting revised version of the stage which looks set to provide a thrilling new experience for the fans.”

Bushy Park’s operations director Amy Willis said they are really excited to be hosting both the start and the finish of Sol Rally Barbados.

“I can still remember the SuperSpecial last year – despite some very heavy rain, we had a terrific crowd who stayed on long after the stage action was over to enjoy the after party.

“This year, we get the chance to see the stage in daylight and under our all-arena lighting, so I think we’re in for a real treat,” she said.

Sol Rally Barbados is a tarmac rally, with around 20 special stages run on Barbados’ intricate network of public roads.

The King Of The Hill “shakedown” on June 4 features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage and the results will be used to seed the running order for the Sol Rally. (PR/EZS)