SAFARI WINNER CHAMPION FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS

Ryan Champion, who became the first British winner of the East African Safari Classic Rally last November in a Porsche 911 with owner Richard Jackson, is today confirmed for Sol Rally Barbados 2018, following a successful shakedown at the Chris Birkbeck Rally School yesterday (Monday). Sol RB18 will run from Friday to Sunday, June 1-3, with The Rally Show and Flow King of the Hill (KotH) the previous weekend, May 26/27.

Champion was among a number of Sol RB18 competitors heading south today, as Geest Line prepares to load approaching 30 cars on Sunday (May 6) at the south coast port of Dover, in the shadow of the famous ‘White Cliffs’, to ship across the Atlantic to the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport International.

For his fourth trip to compete in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event, Champion is reunited with the Ralliart-built Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX which he campaigned in the 2006 British Rally Championship, as his prize for winning the previous year’s Evo Challenge; that was his third one-make title, having earlier won the Peugeot Junior (1994) and Ford Puma (2002) titles. He also returns with co-driver Craig Thorley from that BRC campaign, in which they notably won Champion’s home event, Rally Yorkshire, beating three-time champion Mark Higgins in the process.

Both have history in Barbados, together and separately. Together, they finished eighth overall and won Group N in an Evo VIII in RB08, but retired the following year when they returned with Champion’s ex-Piero Liatti prodrive-built GpA Subaru Impreza 555. Champion finished 19th overall, fourth in Group N in 2001 in an Evo III, the same year that Thorley finished fifth overall, as co-driver for Chris Mellors, the first driver to campaign a World Rally Car in the island, his Ford Escort WRC. While on holiday as a spectator a few years later, Thorley was unexpectedly called up as co-driver for Trinidad’s John ‘Pentti’ Powell, finishing fourth in a Subaru Impreza WRC S12B.

Champion’s victory on last year’s biennial Safari Classic in Jackson’s 'Welcome to Yorkshire'-supported Team Tuthill Porsche came at the couple’s third attempt, fastest on 10 of the 21 competitive sections, all driven by Champion; the win was shared with the Triumph TR7 V8 of Kenya's Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop, due to a disputed competitive section, which proved unpassable on the prescribed route.

After some searching, Champion found his former Evo in Ireland last year, although it had been changed from its original spec; he and Thorley looked set to win last year’s Riponian Rally, until a rear cross member failure dropped them to third. Since then, a more comprehensive refresh has brought the car up to speed, Champion having enjoyed a successful shakedown at the Chris Birkbeck Rally School on Monday this week. For the Sol RB trip, the car is supported by Courtesy Rent-A-Car, Omologato, GPM and Speedline, while Champion continues to promote the ‘Rallying for Down Syndrome Awareness’ campaign.

For media information only. No regulatory value. For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com