Updated: 2010-08-07
Congratulations to Roger Skeete and Louis Venezia on their victory in Sol Rally Barbados 2010.
Roger Skeete / Louis Venezia (Subaru Impreza S12) at Cliff, St. John
Sol Rally Barbados 2010 has come and gone and it has taken me more than tent weeks to finally prepare an entry for this blog!
To say that I have been busy since the end of May would be an understatement; in fact I have been extremely busy at home and at work and most importantly, I have been using what little free time I have to get much needed rest and relaxation. But I should have known better… I fell into the trap where I put too many things on hold to cover the event properly and that then resulted in me taking a lot longer than I anticipated to get back things back in order before I could get back to my blog.
Hopefully I have learnt my lesson…If this blog is to continue I will have to manage my expectations so that I do not allow myself to feel pressured or overwhelmed by my coverage of any motorsport event… it always has to remain fun!!!
Back to the rally…
With the rally long gone, there are numerous sources which have reported on Sol Rally Barbados 2010, including the official Rally Barbados site, Red265 Rallymedia and Zhaust. These sites have done an excellent job of recording the details and facilitating discussion of the drama surrounding the epic battle that was Sol Rally Barbados 2010; a battle which saw Roger Skeete hold off strong challenges from Paul Bourne and Paul Bird to record his second Rally Barbados win and in the process he completed his 11th victory in the history of Barbados’ annual International Stages Rally.
 Paul Bird - Ford Focus WRC |
 Paul Bourne - Ford Focus WRC |
Coming so late in the game, I though it would therefore be better if I focused this post on my experience as an accredited photographer for this event.
Given the realities and responsibilities of life, the coverage of Rally Barbados is a big challenge for a hobbyist like myself. With a starting field of over 90 cars, each run through a special stage is like shooting a a regular speed event.
Added to that is the detailed planning required to ensure that I will have enough power and storage to shoot an entire day in the field and most importantly that I have decided on my location for each run so that I can could park, shoot from good angles and have the freedom to change location at my convenience to meet my planned photographic objectives.
If you haven’t guessed it by now, we photographers have to do our own recce of the stages just like the rally crews, especially if stages are new and reconfigured. To further compound the issue, all of this preparation for Rally Barbados comes on the heels a few hectic days following the King of the Hill weekend were you force yourself to process hundreds of shots to get them published and seen on the Internet before those photos become lost in the deluge of images which are widely available within hours of the finish of Sol Rally Barbados.
Despite being out of the island for most of the week between KOTH and RB10, I managed the pre-event planning with ease; KOTH pics were processed and posted, the press pass was organised, my equipment was checked, charged and cleaned and I spent Friday afternoon checking the stages and was pleased with the number of interesting locations which I found for the weekend’s shoot.
So with a good night’s rest. I left home on Saturday morning with the plan to take in the atmosphere before the start at the Andrews service yard, then on to shoot the first Canefield stage at the Content junction. I then planned to go to Hangman Hill to catch one run in each direction (with a bit of a planned break during one of the runs), then on to Redland-Malvern for the Gutter Road jump, followed by the last stop to shoot at Malvern Wall.
With the exception of the disapointment of the cancellation of the last Malvern run, my Sol RB10 Day 1 plan came together well as I managed to achieve almost all of my objectives.
My first stop at the Content junction was a bit challenging for a number of reasons; the light was not ideal due to the shadows from the large trees, my slightly elevated location was not optimal and my decision to shoot long rather than wide was a bit limiting for the location. Conditions were not helped by the driver’s unfamiliarity with the particular corner as evidenced by some of the unpredictable lines taken through the corner. I am sure that I would have have had better shots there if I had stayed for another run since I would have adjusted my location, probably shot wider, and the drivers would have provided better photo opportunities as they gained more confidence through the stage.
 John Powell |
 Ian Warren |
 Owen Cumberbatch |
 Eric Allamby |
Hangman Hill going north was quite predictable since I have shot from this location in the past..At this location you are guaranteed decent action shots at the popular hairpin.
 Roger Hill |
 Josh Read |
 O. Cumberbatch |
 Harold Morley |
 Andrew Skeete |
 Gary Thomas |
 Dean Serroa |
 Gary Gregg |
I moved location to get shots of the north run from two different angles and stayed for part of the reverse run going south in order to get to Gutter Road in time. I had seen a shot taken by Lindsay Farmer at RB09 showing Kris Meeke making a great recovery at the Hangman Hill hairpin and I was hoping that I would get a similar shot this year. I did not have to wait long as Paul Bird provided my photo opportunity and I grabbed it!!!
 Barry Gale |
 Sean Gill |
 Roger Mayers |
 Geoffrey Ullyett |
 John Powell |
 Roger Skeete |
 Rob Swann |
 Jeff Panton |
Paul Bird - Hangman Hill Hairpin (Downhill)
Next stop was the Redland Stage at Gutter Road to join the line of familiar photographers at the jump. The plan had been to watch the first cars do the downhill Canefield then leave in time to catch the entire run at Gutter Road. However a slight delay in transit to Redland meant that I missed the first 12 cars. I however managed to shoot most of the field from that location and snagged one of my best shots of the rally when I got everything right for Sammy Cumberbatch’s pass through the stage; focus, exposure and timing were spot on and the driver did the rest!!
Sammy Cumberbatch flying low at the Gutter Road jump
 Dean Serroa |
 Justin Campbell |
 Kenny Hall |
 Jamal Brathwaite |
I had to wait for another run to capture the top of the field but it was worth it!
 Roger Skeete |
 Sean Gill |
 Paul Bourne |
 Geoff Ullyett |
Day 2
After a hectic Day 1, I left home on Day 2 knowing that fatigue was sure to cause a modification of my plans sometime during the day. I was scheduled to take in a run at Stewart Hill, one at Cliff, maybe Kendal at the Duck Pond, a series of bends near Ellsemere and the Superspecial at the end of the Rally. However after enduring a HOT and HUMID morning at my first stop, I was in no mood to be running around too much for the rest of the day.
Despite this change in plans the day didn’t turn out too badly. I had two sessions at Stewarts Hill and two runs at Cliff before heading down to the finish at Simpson Motors
My first shoot was at Thicketts corner where I expected to shoot a wide angle lens. Fortunately this part of the course remained dry for the entire run despite the wet conditions which existed a few hundred meters further along the course and made for treacherous conditions at the bottom of Stewarts Hill.
 Graeme Manning |
 Sean Gill |
 Brian Gill |
 Dwayne Johnson |
Second stop was Three Houses. Unfortunately, the course was wet for the top of the field and the usually dramatic approaches to the corner at the end of the long straight were understandably slow and cautious. I still managed to get a few worthwhile shots here but by the time the run was over, what had started out as a noticeably warm day was becoming uncomfortably hot
 Mark Hamilton |
 Frans Verbaas |
 Andrew Jones |
 S. Cumberbatch |
I then moved on to the “esses” near Cliff Plantation House for my next shoot. I had heard about the speed which drivers carried through this location but I had never shot photos from there. I was pleasantly surprised with the location which turned out to offer good photo opportunities but by the time had I endured the first run there, I felt that I was on the verge of heat exhaustion. Despite copious amounts of water and a few Gatorades, the hot and humid conditions knocked the wind out of my sails and forced me to take it easy for the rest of the day. Therefore a move to the Duck Pond or Ellesmere was out of the question.
 Barry Mayers |
 Ian Warren |
 Jeffrey Panton |
 Neil Armstrong |
 Sean Gill |
 Geoff Ullyett |
 Wayne Manning |
 Graeme Manning |
Although I had regained some of my energy by the time I reached Simpson Motors for the Superspecial, my enthusiasm for shooting had waned a bit. For the previous eight years, my Rally Barbados experience had become an enjoyable, relaxing social occasion centered around camraderie and the action on the stages, and as Day 2 was coming to a close I realised that I had really missed that aspect of the Rally weekend. However I pressed on and with only the superspecial left, I found the energy for one more round of shooting.
Having not properly surveyed the entire route of the superspecial, my first location was chosen without the thoughtfulness which went into my earlier planning for the rest of the weekend. It was clear after a few cars had passed that the location which looked like a high speed transition into a series of bends was awful for action shots as the drivers straightened the transition and made my location on the outside of the second bend in the series, quite a dangerous place to be standing. In the middle of the run I repositioned myself to a true slow speed combination of bends which provided excellent shots, especially of the flamboyant crews driving rear wheel drive cars.
The Big Screen at the Simpson Motors Super Stage
 Stuart McChlery |
 Andrew Jones |
 Eric Allamby |
 Barry Mayers |
 Paul Bourne |
 Karl Waterman |
 Gary Gregg |
 Sean Cox |
 Wayne Manning |
 Justin Campbell |
With the rally over and the provisional results declared, I now faced the daunting task of reviewing over 2700 images and processing 500-600 for publishing on my Flickr site. To my credit, I managed to get the photos out there relatively quickly as I got Day 1 and Day 2 up on my Flickr site in less than 10 days. It’s this entry which I put on hold and never got the time to complete until the beginning of August!!!
Roger Skeete moments before his last run through the Super Special Stage
Closing Notes on the rally
- This rally had a number of captivating twists and turns which kept my interest piqued from start to finish. I had always hoped to witness a RB battle that went well into Day 2 and launch control problems, flat tyres, wet/dry stages and incorrect tyre choices conspired to afflict various crews and helped to carry this one down to the wire. At the end less than 2 seconds separated Roger Skeete and Paul Bourne …once again Congratulations to Roger Skeete!
- I was very happy with the performance of Paul Bourne over the two weekends of Rally Barbados. I had known before the Rally that this was possibly the last time the Focus would be running in Barbados and so it was good to see that Bourne was able to finally drive to his potential and seriously challenge for the victory.
- The modified route has been a source of a lot of comment. I liked the changes but missed the night stages, even though I realise what a logistical nightmare these have been in the past. It is also ironic that in it appears that persons who moved around got more enjoyment out of the rally than the persons who camped out at the regular locations. I know that discouraging the practice of moving from stage to stage has become one of the cornerstones of recent Rally Barbados planning but it must be getting a bit tedious to be spectating from the same location for a whole day, year after year.
- I was really happy to see the Mayers brotherrs in a rally car again. I can only hope that they find a way to make more frequent appearances on the rally scene.
- The class battles were captivating. Even though there were no big international names present, the local/regional/European “club” drivers kept it close at the sharp end of the field. In addition, Ian Warren’s tussle, with first, Josh Read and then the Group N cars, Mark Hamilton’s Ford Escort against the BMW’s and Jamal Brathwaite’s spirited fight with the more experienced Kenny Hall kept the rally interesting and entertaining.
- Live timing and Twitter. The combination of the official timing provided by Sol Rally Barbados/rallyscoring.com, and the creative use of Twitter by Robert Simmons (Red265rallymedia), brought a new dimension to the Rally Barbados 2010 experience. Through his twitter feed and “correspondents” on the stages, Robert was able to supplement summaries of overall rankings and stage times with on-stage reporting of accidents and other events. I see no reason why this technology could not be used to keep fans up to date with times at regular events. All it takes is a twitter account and someone to spend 2 minutes to compose a tweet of top ten times after the times are posted in the service park!!!
I have posted over 600 photos of this event on my Flickr site. Please take the time to have browse and drop me a comment.
Note: All images appearing in this post are owned and copyrighted by Ian Nicholls, unless otherwise credited. Images may not be reproduced (including on a website or in print) without specific written consent from Ian Nicholls. Please use the Contact Form to email your request for permission.
Later,
Ian Nicholls
