SURPRISES IN STORE FOR CARTER’S PIT STOP STAGES

We are at T-5 for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) season opener, and there’s quite a buzz about it. The frenzy isn’t limited only to what happens on the stages, however. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make the finished product come together. We had a sit down with BRC PRO Neil Barnard for some perspective from the business and organizational side of the sport. We also sought to find out if he could shed some light on some juicy rumours surrounding the event.

The Carter’s Pit Stop Stages (previously known as the Automotive Art Shakedown Stages) is used as a dress rehearsal of sorts for SOL Rally Barbados. The name change of the title sponsor didn’t go unnoticed, so we wondered what brought this about. “Well our previous sponsor decided to take a step back, so we needed to find a new partner, really. So Carter’s Pit Stop stepped up. They were looking to diversify their approach to the sport a bit and were keen to sponsor the event.” When it comes around to actually getting sponsors to the table, does the club approach them, or are companies the ones to make the first step? “It’s a mixture really. The funny thing is, within the last two years we’ve seen a bigger interest by corporate Barbados across the board (both tradition and non-traditional sponsors) wanting to get involved in rallying in particular. We actually had a sponsor recently tell us that they have backed off from spending money in 20 different events, and have focused on five critical or ‘must do’ events, with rallying being one of them. What’s even more interesting, is that we’ve had another 2 sponsors tell us exactly the same thing. That speaks volumes for not just the Barbados Rally Club, but the media coverage (both print an electronic), the number of competitors being committed to participating in a championship, supporters and individual sponsors and support from marshals. It is very, very positive for the sport.”

The BRC has also improved its strategy with regard to stability of sponsorship. After all, it’s one thing to get a sponsor, but how do you get to keep them? “You have to be able to deliver on what you promise. If we go to a partner/sponsor with a proposal, we have to present something which we can deliver on, not just on a 1 year basis, but a 3 year basis. Actually, most of our partnership agreements are for 3 years. We’re in a re-signing phase right now, so Mark Hamilton and I have been busy working on re-signing partners and coming up with new ideas. For example, this year we are planning to have a sprint championship which will be held within the BRC’s general driver’s championship over 3 rounds, with 1 of those rounds being King of The Hill. Drivers in this championship will be competing for a separate set of prizes. We thought it was a good idea to bring on another sponsor, and also to reward drivers who might not want to do the full championship but wanted to do sprint events. This is pretty much like what we did with the Banks Super Sprint Series back in the 90s at Bushy Park, and that was pretty successful.”

Looking specifically at Carter’s Pit Stop Stages, this rally is shaping up to be packed with quality and quantity. Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and England’s Rob Swann are expected to be on the entry list. There might also be a surprise or two in store. “We have interest from two competitors – one of whom is European. Someone is coming from Europe to do the rally for the first time. I’m expecting at least a 40 car entry for the event, including at least a dozen overseas entries – overseas being regional and European.” So after that warm up-delivery, we followed with a bouncer. Is there any truth to the rumour that there will be an R5 spec car in rally? “I can neither confirm nor deny that (big grin).” Well played, sir.

Carter’s Pit Stop Stages will be contested over 2 venues: Malvern to Wilson Hill and Society to Pool, with 10 stages to be contested. SS1 will be Malvern, with the first car due around 9:55am. This is the last event before Flow King of The Hill on May 27th, so spectators should be in for quite a treat. Red265 Motorsport would like to thank Neil Barnard for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook for updates.