Neil Armstrong gave his immaculate Toyota Starlet it's first taste of competition at this event.
The first tarmac event for the year, organised by the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc. (MCBI), was held under overcast skies at Dark Hole St. Andrew. With local cars which took part in Rally Trinidad still awaiting shipment from that country, the field was unexpectedly small for this highly anticipated event. However, since most crews had opted not to contest the two gravel events at the top of this year’s motorsport calenda,r it was the first time that many of the entries were seen being driven in anger for 2010.
There was fierce and entertaining competition among the 27 cars and drivers entered. I was pleasantly surprised by the speed and commitment which a number of drivers displayed in attacking this notoriously treacherous course; maybe I had become too accustomed to “gravel” speeds over the last few months.
The rain threatened all morning but only became a factor in the third and final timed run of the day. At the end of the day Roger Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) triumphed over Roger Hill (Toyota Corolla WRC) with Josh Read (Toyota Starlet) finishing in a well deserved third place.
Robert at Red265 Rally Media has posted a copy of the full results.
Jeremy Gonsalves was impressive in his Suzuki Swift
Highlights for my day were:-
- Roger Hill – taking the fight to Roger Skeete despite having a less advanced WRC machine
- Roger Skeete – showing that he is not afraid of the awesome power of the Subaru Impreza WRC S12.
- Josh Read – the Starlet is well sorted out and he gave me brief reminders of Barry Mayers in a similar car
- Owen Cumberbatch – represented the Cumberbatch clan well, with a steady drive to finish fourth overall.
- Carlos Edwards – obviously comfortable in the Starlet, took the fight to the great looking Pit Bull Starlet of Neil Armstrong
- Dane Skeete – following in his father’s footsteps with committed driving, he beat quite a few of the more powerful cars.
- Edward Corbin – one of the most underrated drivers in Barbados; he’s extremely quick without being too flamboyant in the RWD Charmant
- Marc-Lee Bascombe – a newcomer to the sport who displayed a level-headed demeanor and resisted the temptation to slide that nice RWD Starlet all over the place.
This event saw the competitive debut of Neil Armstrong’s Toyota Starlet, Harold Morley’s Porsche GT3 and new driver Marc-Lee Bascombe in an ex-Tristan Gibbs RWD Toyota Starlet.
Armstrong, arguably one of the most talented young drivers in Barbados, will have to bring all of his skills to the start line to challenge Josh Read’s current form; Morley will need more seat time to come to grips with the GT3; and I hope that Bascombe continues his disciplined driving so that he can improve his skills over time rather than following the “drifting” route which so many youngsters, with RWD cars, seem to be opting for these days.
Finally, Dane Skeete’s result should have quite a few competitors rethinking their motorsport strategy. The youngster drove the wheels off that production car and went home with a few highly modifed scalps. Good show!!
That’s it for Dark Hole. With Bourne, Powell, Hamilton, Warren, Wood and White joining the fray for the next tarmac event, the class battles should be even more exciting for the Automotive Art Shakedown Stages Rally on April 25th 2010..
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 Marc-Lee BascombeToyota Starlet |
 Roger Skeete - Subaru Impreza WRC S12 |
 Owen Cumberbatch - BMW |
 Josh Read - Toyota Starlet |
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 Harold Morley - Porsche 911 GT3 |
 Roger Hill - Toyota Corolla WRC |
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Click on any of the photos in this post to see larger images at my Flickr site. Click this link to see all of my published photos for this event. It goes without saying that I retain full copyright of my images; Drop me a line if you want to use them in any way.
Photos…
It was a good morning of motorsport and a good day for shooting. I had not shot at Dark Hole since upgrading my camera and lenses a few years ago and the slightly overcast conditions gave me softer light conditions than would normally be expected at this time of day.
I shot two runs; slightly moving my position to get a different angle of the same right hander. Overall I was pleased with the shots given the limited opportunities I had at that single location.
While I am getting to know my E3 alot better it is clear that the continuous autofocus is not as robust as it could be to produce tack sharp shots for every frame of a continuous sequence. Still I love my E3, especially after recovering from my near disaster at RJ08 when my camera settings were totally wrong for capturing motorsport. Thanks to the advice gained on the Olympus Forum at dpreview.com that is now behind me and the quality of my shots since 2009 show a definite improvement in quality. There is however still a lot of room for improvement!!!
I actually find tarmac rallying shots to be more challenging since the loose stuff affords so many opportunities to get action shots.
Ian
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 consent from Ian Nicholls. Please use the Contact Form to email your request for permission.
Photos and Motors 
