23/04/2013
Armstrong Third Overall on Debut in Barbados
After our Rally Trinidad adventure the team had only 48 hours after clearing the SX4 WRC from the Bridgetown Port to ready the car for the Motoring Club of Barbados’ sprint event on the 14th of April. Dubbed ’Hammertime’, the 5 kilometre course in the parish of St. John attracted 30 competitors including two of the Barbadian WRC frontrunners - Paul Bourne and Roger Skeete.
The Suzuki SX4 WRC was completed at 2.00AM on the morning of the event having been converted to tarmac specification. With very little seat time in the car on tarmac, team driver Neil Armstrong’s approach was one of caution. The first official timed run was affected by rain, but on the second, Armstrong recorded an excellent 2 minute 49 seconds putting him a full four seconds ahead of Roger Hill in his Toyota Corolla WRC and only 2 and a half seconds behind second place Roger Skeete. On the third and final run Armstrong narrowed that gap to a mere 8 tenths of a second finishing an excellent third overall with a best time of 2.46.
Neil had this to say: “I’d say we had a very good first event. In the first two runs we struggled as it was our first time driving the car competitively on tarmac and it didn’t help that it rained halfway through the 1st official run. This made for a fairly interesting moment as the car started to push in a corner near Colleton and we barely made it out. We pressed on throughout the afternoon as the course dried and definitely made progress with two solid runs. Obviously we still have some way to go as I get more time in the car, but to finish 2 seconds off event winner Bourne and on the same second as Skeete was a good result. I will now be working hard to find that extra time and I know where to look. The Team thanks our sponsors - Monster, Sol, Chefette, Digicel, Virgin Atlantic, Gunk, Hankook Tyres, Redline Fuels, Simpson Finance and Simpson Motors. The next event for the Suzuki SX4 WRC team is the Barbados Rally Club’s Valvoline Rally on the 28th of April."
