Special Motorsports Event - Moon/Davies Best In Barbados

Barbados, August 7, 2011: Darren Moon and Eurig Davies powered their Ford Escort RS to victory on the Barbados Historic Rally. Held on 23 July, it was the second motor sport event in the 2011 Barbados Historic Rally Carnival, the first round being the warm-up International RallySprint on 14 July.

Moon and Davies' aggregate performance over the two events also netted them the prestigious 'King of the Carnival' prize, a free entry to the 2012 Historic Rally Carnival and a chance to defend their win.

Between the two motorsport events, all crews had five days of unlimited recce for the rally; befitting the Rally Carnival ethic, however, much of this time was taken up by the event's considerable 'social calendar'.

Last year's rally winners and top-seeded local team was Greg Cozier and Jamie Marsh in their Mk2 Ford Escort RS, with last year's runner-up, five-times British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae seeded at number two. This year, McRae had seasoned co-driver Ian Grindrod sitting next to him in a Tuthill Porsche 911. Seeded at number three, due to an excellent RallySprint result, were Francis Tuthill and Llinos Davies, from the UK in another Tuthill 911, followed by Darren Moon and Eurig Davies, also from the UK in a Ford Escort RS1800. Austrians Josef and Gertrude Pointinger rounded out the top five in their Mk1 Escort RS2000.

The rally was run over three asphalt stages, starting at noon on Saturday; three times over each stage heading north was followed by a dinner stop at 6.30pm and then twice over each stage heading south in the dark, finishing at midnight. Total competitive distance for the rally was planned at 90km, shortened marginally due to heavy tropical rain and flooding at one stage venue.

From stage one, the pace was hot, with all contenders holding nothing back. On stage three, Cozier and Marsh's Escort RS was forced out of overall contention through clutch failure, but still in the event under local 'SuperRally' regs. Heavy downpours created all kinds of excitement for crews, with the notoriously slippery Bajan roads keeping everyone alert; almost everyone reported 'near-misses' trying to keep ahead.

Moon brought his Escort home first, 24 seconds ahead of McRae, who placed second for the second year in a row. Three seconds behind was the local father and son team of Nigel and David Reece in their Mk1 Escort, followed 20 seconds later by locals Stuart McChlery and Julian Goddard in their Mk1 Escort Twink (which started its rallying life in 1972, but is now powered by a 2-litre Vauxhall twin-cam). Rounding out the top-five were Tuthill/Davies; 19 seconds behind the Escort in their 911.

The rally finished at midnight in the usual Bajan fashion, with a barbeque and cooler party in the service area for crews, marshals and officials. The prizegiving on Sunday was held on the Jolly Roger pirate ship at noon, but finished somewhat closer to midnight than some might remember.