In the Community

Roger ‘The Sheriff’ Skeete was in sublime form on Sunday, April 28^th as he powered his way to victory in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Shakedown Stages, now a traditional precursor to Sol Rally Barbados, the Caribbean's largest annual motor-sport International. 

Behind the wheel of the Sol/Michelin/Simpson Motors/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre Subaru Impreza WRC S12, Skeete was in a class of his own during the 10-stage event, winning seven stages outright over the five loops of Hangman’s Hill and Dark Hole. 

With co-driver Louis Venezia on the notes, the 12-time Rally Barbados champion finished with a total elapsed time of 26 minutes 58.50 seconds. He was more than a minute clear of runner-up Roger Hill, who posted a time of 28 minutes 04.47 seconds in the Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC. 

“It was an excellent day for us. We had some clean runs, and from there, we built on that confidence,” said Skeete. “We got the overheating issues from the last event sorted and we used today to experiment with some set-up changes to the car. It was a good outing for us."

Rounding out the podium, Josh Read (28m 31.32s) turned a stellar performance to finish third overall in the Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/SDRR/Weetabix/Royal Purple/ EZone Toyota Starlet. Winning group SM10, he was also the highest placed two-wheel-drive competitor. 

Neil Armstrong, at the helm of the Sol/Monster/Chefette/Digicel/Virgin Atlantic/Gunk/Hankook/Redline Fuels/Simpson Motors Suzuki SX4, had been an early challenger to Skeete, besting the veteran over the first two stages at Dark Hole.  

But with the SX4 developing an untimely misfire on SS 4, his charge to the sharp end was halted just before the lunch stop. Missing Stage 5, thus not featuring in the overall results, he then managed to return in the evening only to play second fiddle to Skeete over the last five stages of the rally.

"Roger drove beautifully the whole day, and it was wonderful to see the early duel between him and Neil," said Ezra Prescod, Country Manager at Sol Barbados Ltd. 

"We are proud to have both of these top drivers represent the Sol brand, and with Sol Rally Barbados just around the corner, these encouraging results can only serve to bolster the confidence that already exists in this dynamic duo."

Sol Rally Barbados will be contested over two weekends, starting with the Scotiabank King of the Hill on May 26th, followed by the 2013 Sol Rally Barbados main event the weekend of June 1^st and 2^nd.