Next Saturday’s Auto & Rally Show, now in its third year at Bushy Park Barbados, is set to be the biggest yet. Rally fans have an unrivalled opportunity to pore over more than 100 cars entered for First Citizens King of the Hill (May 26) and BCIC Rally Barbados (May 31-June 2), while hundreds of patrons have already signed up for road car test drives offered by the island’s automotive sector, new for this year.
With extended opening hours, from 1.00pm to 6.00pm, the renamed Auto & Rally Show offers the only chance for local fans to see all the cars entered for the 34th running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event in one location. Competition prizes, giveaways, a display of classic cars and the Toddler Toybox Kids Zone will keep the whole family engaged while the ‘petrol-heads’ check out the rally cars and their crews or head off for their road car test drives.
The exhibition area has been expanded to the east behind the Clubhouse. This area will house static displays from local importers Ansa Motors, CAR (Caribbean Automotive Retailers), Courtesy Garage, Inchcape, Nassco and Platinum Motors, who have been signing up prospective customers for the past 10 days for test drives, which will take place on the northern half of the circuit. A separate layout using the southern part of the circuit, with safety barriers where needed, will be used for a small number of lucky winners of teams’ and sponsors’ social media competitions to a rally car passenger ride.
There will be branded coconuts and snowcones on new Rally Barbados title sponsor BCIC’s stand, along with Virtual Reality Racing with head-to-head competitions that are bound to draw a crowd. In addition to its tent, King of the Hill title sponsor First Citizens will be bringing along the ever-popular Tuk Band, scheduled to perform at 3.00pm.
There will be giveaways and merchandise on sale at Automotive Art, which is sited alongside CIBC Caribbean, sponsor of the Barbados Rally2 Championship, to allow all the R5 and Rally2 cars competing to be displayed together, while Spin the Wheel is among the attractions at Chefette.
The Rally Club stand is where patrons need to go for a free copy of the event’s 32-page Official Programme, with the Women in Motorsport booth next door furthering the Barbados Motoring Federation’s (BMF) efforts to promote more inclusivity in the sport. A record 24 female competitors are on the entry list for BCIC RB24 this year, with volunteers, crew members and taking the number of women involved in the event well into three figures . . . but there is always room for more.
The Main Stage, located backing Gaskin Road, will be the focal point of a series of interviews with drivers, special guests and sponsors, with the chance for fans to get closer to their idols and collect autographs. There are opportunities to meet drivers at the tents of individual team sponsors, too: these include Bajan Vending (Neil Corbin), GO ON Protein Bars (Andrew Jones), Kooyman (Barry and Roger Mayers), McBride (Caribbean) Ltd, Rentokil (Ireland’s Mick Smith), Republic Bank (Justin Campbell), Subway (Chris Hoad and George Sherman from the USA) and Vision Equipment (Mark and Stuart Maloney), while Britain’s Rob Swann will be on the Ocean Acres stand to encourage visitors to adopt a rescue dog from the shelter.
A wide range of food and beverage booths are dotted around the display area, including smoked meats and loaded fries from Bearded Hog, slushies and pizza from Happy Mill, a menu of tacos from Happy Tacos, burgers and hot dogs from Sammy Dessert and Santia’s Popcorn; over by Gate 3, there are wholesale meats from Farmers Choice, the Frosteez ice cream truck and bakery produce from Purity. On the south side, overlooking the circuit, Mike’s Rum Punch will not only be selling their own products but also running a fully-stocked bar.
Co-ordinator Maria Ramsay says: “Since The Rally Show first moved to Bushy Park two years ago, it has been evolving. We have increased exhibitor numbers again and, thanks to help from Bushy Park, have been able to introduce the road car test drives, further expanding the appeal of the event. The Rally Show is the place to be on Saturday.”
Pedestrian access to The Auto & Rally Show, which is laid out in the main spectator area on The Hill overlooking the Clubhouse Straight, will be through Gate 3 off Gaskin Road, with parking outside the perimeter fence; there will be no access through the Pit Gate. Admission is Bds$5 for adults, children 11 and under are free.
BCIC Rally Barbados (May 31-June 2) is a tarmac rally with around 20 special stages run on the island’s intricate network of public roads, under road closure orders granted by the Ministry of Transport, Works & Water Resources; the previous Sunday’s (May 26) First Citizens King of the Hill sprint, run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, the results of which are used to seed the running order for the main event.
For media information only. No regulatory value.
