Today’s tenth anniversary running of the Subaru and Lucky Horseshoe-sponsored Barbados Historic Rally Carnival will be contested at the Bushy Park racing circuit similar to the way it was done at the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas. Member of the organising committee and co-founder of the event, Spencer Hutchinson, told the SATURDAY SUN that the event would start and run in an anti-clockwise direction on the circuit. He said: “When the cars leave the pit exit, instead of continuing on to the left as accustomed, they will turn right and proceed to the start line which is situated midway between the pit entrance and the pit exit. “At the start, both cars will continue along the circuit in the same direction, with one car veering off onto a cut-section of the infield which was done to specifications. Both cars will eventually head up the straight and proceed to the starting section, when they will swap lanes. “All things being equal, both cars should meet at the exit of the in field circuit just coming out of the hammer bend and sprint all the way back to the chequered flag at the start line.”Hutchinson also explained how the event would be conducted.“Historic Rally cars are usually divided into three categories. Category 1 is for cars manufactured up to 1967, Category 2 from 1968 to ’74, and Category 3 between ’75 and ’81. “However, because of the limited number of local competition cars built prior to 1974, this year’s Barbados Historic Rally Carnival will be contested in two categories – post-historic and classic. The post historic category will be for cars manufactured up to 1974, and the classic cars, from 1975 to 1981.” This means cars like Starlets, Escorts, GSR Lancers, Toyota Corollas, Datsuns and Daihatsu Charmants will be eligible to compete – cars that are cheaper to build and easy to maintain. What makes this type of rallying even more exciting, Spencer said, was the fact that all of the historic cars were rear-wheel drive, which always created major excitement for the fans. It also gave people who are interested in rallying but don’t have huge budgets the opportunity to compete at the top of the historic classes.Hutchinson further explained that no modern-day modifications could be made to these cars. “Expensive components such as fuel injection, turbo or super chargers, sequential gearboxes, remote-reservoir shock absorbers and so on cannot be used on these cars. “Only parts and accessories equivalent to those produced between the years the cars were manufactured can be used, so fans can expect to hear lots of ‘Weber snorting’, double clutching and gear raking as the drivers try to change gears as quickly as possible.” The Rally Sprint will be based on the popular knock-out system. It will get underway at 1 p.m. with the qualifying rounds. It is open to all vehicles and classes currently competing in Barbados but only the historic cars will be eligible for the King of the Carnival prize, an all-expense paid entry in the Killarney Historic Rally in Ireland in December.
