European entry list rises steadily
Britain’s Kevin Procter, the latest European front-runner to confirm
his entry for Sol Rally Barbados 2009, will break with tradition this
year: for the first time since his debut in the island in 2003, he
will tackle the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) blue riband event in a
car he has rallied there previously.
He returns with the Procters Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7, in
which he set the overall fastest time at the Shell V-Power
Super Special at Bushy Park last year; he also finished third in the
Sunday Cup, after smashing a rear hub on the third Automotive Art
Canefield stage on Saturday morning and dropping out of overall
contention, while lying in fourth place.
His ex-works Impreza was campaigned by Subaru factory drivers
Toshihiro Arai and Markko Martin in the 2001 World Rally
Championship, the first season for the new, four-door car; along with
Petter Solberg, they were team-mates to the late Richard Burns, who
became England’s first World Rally Champion that year, having
finished runner-up in 1999 and 2000.
Procter’s co-driver will again be Dave Bellerby, himself an
accomplished driver; they started their preparations for Sol RB09
with an outing on the Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally, a British
single-venue tarmac event at the Croft motor racing circuit in North
Yorkshire in December; despite a strong late challenge from Impreza
WRC S9 of Paul Bird and Ian Windress, second-place finishers in Sol
RB08, Procter and Bellerby claimed the victory.
Having campaigned six different cars in Barbados between 2003 and
2008, Procter has collected a good haul of trophies; always among the
strongest challengers from overseas, he has been a top 10 finisher
three times, first in 2004, when he was fifth overall and highest-
placed overseas driver, co-driven in his Ford Escort Cosworth by Mike
Gilby.
The following year, again with Gilby, he was ninth overall and
highest-placed European driver in his rare Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4,
despite a fire during the early stages of Saturday; he repeated his
fifth place in 2007, when experienced local co-driver Stewart Gill
joined him in the ex-works Hyundai Accent WRC formerly campaigned by
Alister McRae.
He dropped out of overall contention on his first visit in 2003,
with Gilby the co-driver in the rumbling Ford Sapphire Cosworth, but
his only total retirement came in 2006, when a series of turbo
failures – four in all – on his Prodrive-built Group A Impreza
resulted in his retirement after the fourth stage of Saturday, while
lying in fourth place; that year was his first with Gill as co-driver.
Procter, who married his long-term partner Paula in Barbados in
2005, is looking forward to his return. With Britain currently
enduring its worst weather for nearly 20 years, he comments: “I say
it every year, but why wouldn’t you go back? Especially now, when you
look out of the window at snow as far as the eye can see!
“We have made so many good friends on the island in the past six
years, and the good time we have down there is matched by the level
of competition. It isn’t easy in Barbados, with so many good cars and
drivers, but it sure is fun trying to stay on terms with them. And
its one whole lot warmer than here, certainly at the moment!”
Procter’s name is added to a growing list of European competitors
confirming their decision to return to the event, despite the
challenging economic climate; the four-wheel-drive entry also
includes Steve Perez (Ford Focus WRC), while Andrew Costin-Hurley
(Ford Puma), Kenny Hall (Opel Corsa) and Martin Stockdale (BMW M3)
have all gone home Group-winners in the past.
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