Twelve Days: From B to Clubman 1

After the monsters of Group B were yesterday’s focus, we now shine the light of the tamer machinery of the Clubman 1 class. Clubman is a nice place to get your feet wet in rallying, it’s also a group where you don’t have to break the bank to build a competitive car. This is because the cars are pretty much bone stock, with very limited choices when it comes to what can and to what extent it can be modified. Don’t let that fool you, though. The competition in Clubman is as close and fierce as any other group.

Fabien Clarke is an experienced campaigner in this group in his Suzuki Ignis Sport. He’s always in the hunt for taking group honours. England’s Howard Paterson joins the Clubman party with his Skoda Fabia. Howard has competed in Barbados before (1991 and 2010) and has quite the rallying CV, having competed in over 100 events. Can he draw on his experience from his 30 plus years of rallying experience to fight his way to the front? Jermin Pope is another driver who is always in the hunt for the group win. He drives his Honda Civic hard…sometimes too hard. With that said, however, he has won Clubman 1 in Sol Rally Barbados for the last two years. Can he make it a hat-trick in 2018? Local rally veteran Trevor Mapp is pretty much a permanent fixture in Clubman 1 with his Mitsubishi Colt RS. Having finished third in 2016 and 2017, will “Mappus” place one position higher or even dethrone Jermin Pope? The final entries in Clubman 1 are both Toyota Starlets, driven by Randy Reid and Ryan O. Wood. Randy had his first attempt at Sol Rally Barbados last year, while this year is Ryan’s first crack at it. It remains to be seen how they will stack up against the group regulars, and it will no doubt be interesting to see how things unfold.

Sure, they might not have sequential gearboxes or antilag, but Clubman 1’s excitement lies within the fierceness of the competition. With the absence of big budgets, it all places the focus squarely the individual drivers and their ability. Something really for the purist, as opposed to casual fan. This is not a group to be underestimated.