Ken Block wins Sol Rally B’dos

“This was one of the biggest challenges I have had in a while. I really enjoyed it. It was beyond what I expected.”

That is how USA’s Ken Block described the 2020 Sol Rally Barbados, in which he and co-driver Alex Gelsomino claimed a dramatic victory that came down to the wire.

“I didn’t expect to come away with the win, but I am happy about it.”

It was a challenging Rally Barbados, which was held later in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the issues with the rain and constantly changing conditions.

All this added to the competition as Block was also learning the newly built Rally 2 Ford Fiesta against a field which had three WRC crews.

“It’s my first time racing one of these Rally 2 cars. I had only driven one 16 months ago so I was being positive about coming here and trying to race and be competitive, but I didn’t want to be overly confident, especially coming here and racing against three WRC cars.”

Block mentioned that he and his co-driver put together some good notes as they had a lot of preparation, but it took some luck as well.

Looking over at the Fords of UK’s Rob Swann and Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton, Block said that “these two WRC cars had issues in the event so it took me to the last stage to finally pass them and it was a great challenge and great roads and I really enjoyed it.

“What struck me more was the atmosphere. It was brilliant with the competitors and all the fans.”

UK’s Rob Swann and Darren Garrod slipped back to an eventual second, their fourth in the island, in the Blue Sky Luxury/Marriott All-Inclusive raswann.co.uk Ford Fiesta WRC while Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton and Michael Fennell Jnr (Rubis/Sandals/KIG Ford Fiesta WRC) finished third, losing an almost certain sixth victory in the event to a broken axle three stages from home. Last year’s winners Dane Skeete and Tyler Mayhew, who were seeded at 1 in the Sol/CO Williams Sand & Lime/Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12, endured mechanical issues throughout, retiring from fourth place after 13 stages. Skeete had two broken axles, launch control issues and transmission issues among other things.

Despite frequent heavy rainstorms, which are common at this time of year, thousands of fans turned out over the weekend, their regular rally equipment – tents, chairs, barbecues, coolers – supplemented by gardening tools to cut back the stage-side bush that proliferates in the rainy season, and umbrellas used to shelter from the rain, rather than as sunshades. And they were treated to an epic competition, with five different rally leaders, six drivers setting fastest stage times and a final sting in the tail just a few kilometres from the finish.

Rainfall just half an hour before the start of Automotive Art Halton to Drax Hall, the first and longest stage, at 8.1 kilometres, had crews agonising over tyre choice at the Bushy Park Barbados Service Park. By the time the Car Zero, driven by RB05 winner Roger Mayers, entered the stage, however, the rain had stopped leaving slippery tarmac and patches of standing water.

Fastest on the opening test was Andrew Mallalieu, co-driven in his Terra Caribbean Ford Fiesta R5 by Geoffrey Goddard, four-tenths quicker than Skeete. The leading European driver of recent years, Swann was third, 1 sec behind Skeete and just over three ahead of island crew Stuart Maloney and Kristian Yearwood, who had won the FIA R5 class at Flow KotH in the Rock Hard Cement/Bushy Park Barbados Skoda Fabia R5. Fifth were Roger Hill and Graham Gittens in the Esso/MaxMeyer Paints/Motormac/DJ’s Fabia R5, with Block and Gelsomino sixth, leading Panton by six tenths; this was the stage (albeit last year on Sunday morning) on which Panton had a huge accident and he admitted later that he was finding it hard to commit on faster sections.

Mallalieu was fastest on the notoriously slippery 4.60km Dark Hole to Spring Vale, too, this time by a far greater margin (5.5secs) from Skeete, with Hill third, Panton fourth, Trinidad & Tobago’s David Coelho fifth, with local co-driver Barry Ward in the Subway/Motul Fiesta R5, and Block sixth. Panton claimed his first stage win on the 4km Wilson Hill to Malvern, but Mallalieu still led at the end of the first loop, as Skeete lost the Impreza’s launch control, costing time and leaving him 10th on the stage. Behind Mallalieu were the R5 Skodas of Hill and Maloney, then the three WRC class cars of Skeete, Panton and Swann, with Block outside the top six for the only time all rally.

While there had been more rain, the second loop started in better conditions and a determined Skeete got down to the task in hand, winning the Halton and Dark Hole stages to assume the lead, initially ahead of Mallalieu. Swann moved up to second by the lunch halt, 4.5s behind Skeete, with his first stage win of the weekend on the second Malvern, while an increasingly confident Panton was now third, within three-tenths of Panton; Malallieu, Block and Maloney completed the top six.

After the lunch break and more rain, Skeete brought his stage wins total to three on the third Halton, was fourth on the third Dark Hole, but disaster struck on the day’s final Malvern stage: an axle broke, costing time and dropping him to sixth, 18secs behind new leader Swann, who had won the final stage to lead Panton by 3.3secs. Block was now third, 11.3secs behind Panton, having won the third Dark Hole stage, but at the head of trio battling for R5 supremacy, just nine-tenths covering himself, Maloney and Mallalieu.

Sunday brought more of the same weather – downpours on the Bawdens to Rock Hall, Automotive Art Mt Brevitor to Four Hills and Lamberts to Mt Poyer stages making stage set-up for marshals and access for spectators a huge challenge, resulting in the start time from the Greenland Agricultural Station being put back by 15 minutes. Panton was more settled on these more technical stages, winning the first two by three-and four-second margins, then finishing third on Lamberts to lead by 20s after first loop. Block was at the sharp end, too, moving up to second behind Panton, with Skeete also now ahead of Swann, who made a few errors, the gap to Panton now 23secs.

Disappointed with slipping back, Swann got his head down in the second loop, winning the first two, albeit not by huge margins, to move ahead of Skeete, whose rally ended on the second Mt Brevitor with a puncture and second axle failure. Panton claimed his fourth stage win on the last stage before lunch, leading by 18secs, with Block now 7s ahead of Swann.

The final Bawdens stage was abandoned to claw back some time lost to earlier incidents, so just three stages remained. On the third run through Mt Brevitor, Panton’s Fiesta WRC broke an axle, costing him almost his entire overall advantage, Block starting the penultimate stage six-tenths behind Panton, 7s ahead of Swann. Panton, who mentioned he did not have a spare axle, lost more time to his damaged car on the last Lamberts, promoting Block into the lead and Swann to second, before the final 2km dash from Dukes to the Vaucluse Raceway, Block winning the last two stages.

Mallalieu and Goddard were the first local finishers in fourth place, with Hill claiming his 22nd top 10 finish in the island’s premier event.

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2020

Official results

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): ENG – England; JAM – Jamaica; T&T – Trinidad & Tobago; TCI – Turks & Caicos; USA – United States of America; WAL – Wales

1st Ken Block - USA/Alex Gelsomino - USA (FIA R5 Ford Performance/Monster Energy/Hoonigan Racing Ford Fiesta Rally2), 56m 03.19s

2nd Rob Swann – ENG/Darren Garrod - WAL (WRC Blue Sky Luxury/Marriott All-Inclusive raswann.co.uk Ford Fiesta WRC), +09.48s

3rd Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr (WRC Rubis/Sandals/KIG Ford Fiesta WRC), +35.59s

4th Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (FIA R5 Terra Caribbean Ford Fiesta R5), +01:01.69

5th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (FIA R5 Esso/MaxMeyer Paints/Motormac/DJ’s Skoda Fabia R5), +01:09.78

6th David Coelho – T&T/Barry Ward (FIA R5 Subway/Motul Ford Fiesta R5), +01:20.64

7th Paul Horton - TCI/Matt Edwards - WAL (FIA R5 Java Island/HO2 Construction/Sky Motorsports Ford Fiesta R5), +03:05.29

8th Suleman Esuf/Justin Campbell (FIA R5 Express Imports/SY Adam & Son/Prosales/Y Esuf Auto Clinic Ford Fiesta R5), +03:41.53

9th Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/Bushy Park Barbados Skoda Fabia R5), +04:46.15

10th Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington (F) – ENG (SM2 Herr’s Chips/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Kepro Veterinary Solutions/Gales Agro/Weetabix/Java Island Coffee/Weetabix/The Shore Club Turks & Caicos/Hankook Ford Escort MkII), +04:50.03

11th Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (SM1 Nassco/Jason Jones/Emtage Electric/Auto Solutions/Valvoline Toyota Starlet), +06:16.45

12th Jamal Brathwaite/Dario Hoyte (M2 Java Island/Consumers Guaranteed Insurance/Automotive Art/Valvoline/Caribbean Auto Glass/809 Design Associates /TEC Barbados/Stylez Auto Spa/Ellsemere Quarries/Chicken Pen Racing Honda Civic Type-R), +08:29.92

13th Wayne Archer/Moishe Steinbok (H2 Arrow Woodworking/Arrow Construction/D & A Air Conditioning/Archers Hall Design Center BMW 325), +09:18.72

14th Sacha Soodeen/Dwayne Forde (C2 BimmaCup), +12:39.74

15th Howard Paterson – ENG/Sean Kukula – ENG (C3 Little Bristol Beach Bar/Paradise Surf School/Rallydrive Automotive Mazda RX-8), +12:54.86

16th Jonathan Still/Andrew Croney (SM2 Suga Apple Swimwear/Executive Auto Center BMW M3), +13:01.60

17th Nicholas Morley - ENG/Joshua Plaza – T&T (C2 Globank/Spectrum X BimmaCup), +13:07.93

18th David St Hill/Ian Grimes (M3 Tropical Touch/St Hill & Sons Garage BMW M3), +13:59.41

19th Chris Surman - ENG/Zowie Boiston (F) - ENG (GpN Warmstyle Motorsport/Top Performance Services/Ignition Motor Sport/Syvecs Subaru Impreza), +16:32.85

20th Jason Downey/Kristina Pinto (F) (C2 BimmaCup), +16:51.30

21st Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (SM1 Empire Building & Construction/Giovanni Exquisite Car Rentals/Bovell Auto Repair/RCR Tours/South 7 DJs Suzuki Ignis Sport), +25:07.71 Type-R), +08:29.92