To win the British Rally Championship in the days when the series represented serious, world-level motor sport was no mean achievement. Winning it no fewer than five times during that period makes Scot Jimmy McRae the most successful rally driver in the British Isles. On three of those championship wins (in 1981, 1982 and 1987), Jim was co-driven by slim, straight-talking, northern Englishman Ian Grindrod.Now in his late 50s, McRae's enthusiasm for competing in rallies is undiminished. He is determined to improve on his second place in last year's inaugural Barbados Historic Rally Carnival - to the extent that he's convinced Grindrod to accompany him on this year's Caribbean motorsport spectacular. Convincing Grindrod was, McRae reports, not a difficult task...
A wealth of anecdotes surround the talented McRae/Grindrod partnership: things like the big shunt on an Epynt military range stage during the 1982 Welsh Rally. They tackled a lefthand bend in their Opel Ascona 400 too fast and the right rear wheel found the grass on the outside of the corner. The car was launched into the scenery, rolled into the ditch, then went end-over-end twice, finishing up sliding along the ditch on its roof.
In the process, Grindrod's full-face crash helmet: "Seemed to scoop up half of south Wales in its aperture."
He adds: "When we finally came to a stop, still upside down, I managed to scramble out of my door and was crawling around on the grass. I could hear Jim shouting to the quickly gathering spectators; 'I've blinded him, I've blinded him!' and to all those gathered around, that's just what it must have seemed, with me scrabbling about on the grass with the front of my helmet full of bits of scenery: 'It's OK,' I shouted back. 'I'm looking for my fags; they must be out here somewhere!' He never forgave me for that."
McRae will again be driving a Tuthill Porsche 911 in this year's Historic Rally Carnival, as will company founder Francis Tuthill. Other competitors joining them from the UK, Ireland and Europe will be driving a variety of historic rally machinery.
Garage owner Andy Allen first visited Barbados in 2006, with Laurence Gibson and his rallycross MG Metro 6R4 for the Vaucluse Raceway RallyCross; he's been back six times since. This time, he's bringing his 1984 Group B Audi quattro, to run at the front of the field as Zero Car.
Pip Coulson brings his 1980 Talbot Sunbeam 1600Ti. Put into dry storage 23 years ago (as was Pip's rallying!), with just 14,000 miles then on the clock, the car has done 14 rallies in the past two years. Pip was a class winner in the Northern Ireland Historic Championship in 2009, and again in 2010.
For the first time this year, the Rally Carnival will have a category for pre-1968 cars. Neil Revington from Somerset runs a TR specialist operation ] and is bringing a top-notch TR5. It's done various rallies around Europe and some racing. "My wife Sue is navigating. Many of the regularity rallies I have done over the years have been with Sue navigating. Sue does not, as she puts it, 'do crash hats', but I was not going to be allowed to go to Barbados without her, so now she apparently 'does do crash hats'!" The Category One class will also include John Everad in an Alfa Romeo GTA and David Rayner in a V8 Sunbeam Tiger. All three drivers are on their first visit to Barbados.
