Former Caribbean Junior Karting Champion Adam Mallalieu claimed his second win in the Barbados Rally2 Championship sponsored by CIBC Caribbean and Ace H & B Hardware on Sunday (November 17). With experienced British co-driver Steve McNulty, he finished second in the FIA class in the BRC Winter Rally to Stuart Maloney, who is not registered for points, on a day of challenging weather and tricky road conditions in St John.
At 20 years old the youngest competitor in the championship, which is administered by the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF), Mallalieu had previously won round four, which encompassed the Friday night and Saturday of BCIC Rally Barbados 2024, when weather conditions were similar to those of Sunday.
The Winter Rally had attracted all but one of the Rally2 Championship’s current points-scorers, Mallalieu’s father Andrew the only absentee, away as the Chairman of the Stewards for FIA FR World Cup in Macau. That put Adam in his father’s Ford Fiesta R5, with a very different set-up and feel to the sister car he has driven before.
After overnight showers, the two stage venues at Malvern to Wilson Hill and Stewart’s Hill to Society were already wet and dotted with areas of standing water before rain fell again around 10.00am as crews assembled for the start at Colleton Factory Yard. Nine three-kilometre stages were scheduled, five before lunch, four after, but an incident on the second Stewart’s Hill stage rendered it unusable for the afternoon, so a third reverse Wilson Hill to Malvern was added.
The Jamaican crew of Kyle Gregg and Mike Fennell Jnr (Fiesta Rally2) were fastest through the first Malvern to Wilson Hill, back in action for the first time since the rebuild following the roll at First Citizens King of the Hill. More than 2.5secs quicker than the field, led by Mallalieu, it was a good return for the Jamaican championship contender.
Britain’s Rob Swann and local co-driver Geoff Goddard (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) were 1sec back from Mallalieu, with Paul Horton of the Turks & Caicos Rally Team fourth in his Citroen C3 Rally2 with BMF Women in Motorsport rep Leslie Evanson. Checking out new wets on their Fabia R5, Roger Hill and Graham Gittens were fifth, with points leader Josh Read and Mark Jordan (Fiesta R5) sixth, down on power with turbo issues.
The eight crews were completed by America’s George Sherman, co-driven in his Fiesta Rally2 by Scott Pinheiro of Trinidad & Tobago, and winners of the last round Logan Watson and Barry Ward, whose Fabia Rally2 evo refused to go into stage mode at the start-line, so time was lost, leaving them last. Sherman was the day’s first major casualty, retiring on the first Stewart’s Hill stage after an argument with the scenery.
Mallalieu won that stage, but not by a sufficient margin to overhaul Gregg, while Swann overshot the same corner that caught Sherman out, dropping to seventh. Gregg then won the second Malvern, but an overshoot on SS4 cost around 15secs, as he couldn’t spin the car quickly because of a faulty handbrake, so Mallalieu was the new leader.
Now confident his new tyres would allow him to press on, Roger Hill was moving up the order, second after Gregg’s overshoot and just one-tenth off Mallalieu’s time on SS4. Despite losing time to a broken driveshaft on the last stage of the morning, making his Fiesta a rare 2wd R5, Mallalieu still led at lunchtime, 2.3secs ahead of Hill, with Watson now third, another 3.7secs adrift having been fastest on the morning’s final Malvern, the third different stage-winner of the day.
Nearly a full second quicker than Gregg, Hill made it four stage-winners on the first Wilson Hill after lunch and dislodged Mallalieu from the lead, looking set for one of his best results in the Championship. But everything went pear-shaped on the penultimate stage, when he aquaplaned of the road and couldn’t get back on, handing the lead back to Mallalieu. Gregg would finish second and Read third, fastest on the penultimate stage, his turbo woes cured, becoming the fifth driver with a stage win.
The final round is scheduled for Sunday, December 1, an eight-stage single-venue rally organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club (VRMSC), which will be scored for Championship purposes as a single-day rally.
Barbados Rally2 Championship
Round 7 – Winter Rally (Barbados Rally Club)
St John – November 17
Results
1st Adam Mallalieu/Steve McNulty – ENG (Ford Fiesta R5), 14m 26.91s
2nd Kyle Gregg – JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr – JAM (Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 07.62s
3rd Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Ford Fiesta R5), + 11.37s
4th Rob Swann – ENG/Geoff Goddard (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 22.24s
5th Logan Watson/Barry Ward (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 34.07s
6th Paul Horton – TCI/Leslie Evanson (F) (Citroen C3 Rally2), + 34.76s
DNF: Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Skoda Fabia R5)
DNF: George Sherman – USA/Scott Pinheiro – T&T (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Provisional championship points after round 7
1st Josh Read (Ford Fiesta R5), 132 points
2nd Kyle Gregg – JAM (Ford Fiesta Rally2), 113pts
3rd Logan Watson (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 105pts
4th Roger Hill (Skoda Fabia R5), 97pts
5th Rob Swann – ENG (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 95pts
6th Andrew Mallalieu (Ford Fiesta R5), 64pts
7th George Sherman – USA (Ford Fiesta Rally2), 64pts
7th Adam Mallalieu (Ford Fiesta R5), 61pts
9th Paul Horton – TCI (Citroen C3 Rally2), 37pts
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further information:
please contact BMF Vice-President, David Williams – e-mail: [email protected]
web site: https://bmf-fia.com/