Less than a week after Kiwi crew Hayden Paddon and John Kennard won First Citizens King of the Hill (KotH), spectators in their thousands flocked to Bushy Park Barbados on Friday, June 9, for the floodlit Sol SuperSpecial . . . and the two hours of non-stop action did not disappoint! Of the 82 cars which started Sol RB23 running head-to-head on the 2.5-kilometre Race Of Champions course, 2022 First Citizens King of the Hill winner Zane Maloney topped the times in a Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo. Home for a mid-season break from his FIA Formula 2 campaign, he was the rally’s first leader, ahead of Paddon (Hyundai i20 R5) and his uncle Stuart (Fabia Rally2 evo).

His lead did not last long, however, as he speared off the first 4.1-kilometre Dark Hole stage on Saturday morning and across some open ground into a ditch; while the 19-year-old and co-driver Kreigg Yearwood were OK, the car wasn’t, but they did return on Sunday to entertain the fans. Paddon won all Saturday’s stages, battling with the WRC Subaru of Dane Skeete for the overall win, comfortably leading the R5 class overnight.

Behind him, there was a cracking battle between the R5 Rally Championship regulars: with three stage wins, Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and Mike Fennell Jnr (Fabia Rally2 evo) were ahead of Stuart Maloney by 2.38 seconds by the day’s end. Maloney won four stages, while Jamaica’s Kyle Gregg, with local co-driver Orry Hunte, won two after overcoming some pop-off valve issues with his Ford Fiesta Rally2 early. The new-for-2023 points structure splits Sol RB23 into three: Friday/Saturday, then Sunday, with bonus points for overall finishers. And that put Panton ahead of Maloney by two points.

Behind them, the UK’s Rob Swann and local Roger Hill had been swapping times and places in their Fabia R5s, while Josh Read (Fiesta R5) had been in the mix until a puncture became a flat on SS4 and lost him 90 seconds, the sort of time you can’t make up in the R5 class. There was worse luck for Mark Maloney (Fabia Rally2 evo), who left the road on the first Sailor Gully stage, and Paul Horton (Citroen C3 Rally2), who made heavy contact with a tree on SS10. While drivers and co-drivers were OK, only Maloney made it back for Sunday, with Horton’s car damaged beyond immediate repair.

Round 5 – Sol Rally Barbados, Day 1 & 2 (Barbados Rally Club)

Bushy Park, Dark Hole, Sailor Gully, Pickering – June 9/10

Results

1st Hayden Paddon – NZL/John Kennard – NZL (Hyundai i20 R5), 28m 31.74s

2nd Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 41.30s

3rd Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 43.68s

4th Kyle Gregg – JAM/Orry Hunte (Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 58.57s

5th Rob Swann – ENG/Tom Woodburn – ENG (Skoda Fabia R5), 01:05.27s

6th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Skoda Fabia R5), + 01:11.23s

7th Roger Duckworth – ENG/Stuart Loudon – SCO (Ford Fiesta R5), + 02:10.08s

8th Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Ford Fiesta R5), + 02:31.71s

9th Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (Ford Fiesta R5), + 02:34.50s

10th Ollie O’Donovan – IRL/Jack Morton – ENG (Hyundai i20 R5), + 02:41.35s

dnf Paul Horton – TCI/Matt Edwards – WAL (Citroen C3 Rally2)

dnf Mark Maloney/Justin Maloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)

dnf Zane Maloney/Kreigg Yearwood (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)

Championship points *

After round 5

1st Jeff Panton 52

2nd Stuart Maloney 50

3rd Kyle Gregg 43

4th Roger Hill 40

5th Rob Swann 22

6th Andrew Mallalieu 19

7th Josh Read 17

8th Mark Maloney 16

9th Paul Horton 15

* rounds 1 & 2 were non-scoring exhibition events