Caribbean rally driver Neil Armstrong won this weekend's King of the Hill Rallysprint in the Simpsons Motors Suzuki SX4 WRC rally car, built and prepared by MML Sports. The traditional precursor for the Sol Rally Barbados, the win means Armstrong will carry the coveted Number 1 on the Suzuki next weekend on the famous Caribbean event.
Wet weather threatened but in the end, the rain stayed away for the three runs that constituted the event. Following a practice run, almost 90 crews tackled three timed runs over the 2.5Km Luke Hill course at St Lucy with the winner being decided on the fastest of the three runs.
Armstrong was third-fastest on the practice run, as well as the two first official timed runs of the event. However, the local put in a storming time on the final run of the event, a second faster than the nearest driver, to claim the fastest time of the day and with it, the overall win, his first in the MML Sports-prepared Suzuki.
The King of the Hill event not only serves as an exceptional warm-up to the Sol Rally of Barbados but determines the seeding for the event, which attracts crews from around the world. As the King of the Hill, Armstrong and co-driver Barry Ward will start this weekend's event as car No. 1.
Commenting, Armstrong said; "We had a really good time today and were definitely pushing hard from the start. It was a bit of a task, when we saw early on that we were about two seconds off Paul Bird on such a short stage, but we knew where we could regain some of that time and we worked on it."
MML Sports Managing Director, John Easton, said; "I am delighted that Neil claimed the win on the King of the Hill. He bided his time and didn't allow himself to get fazed by posting the third-fastest times on the first two runs. He then pulled out a superb performance on the last run, having worked out where he could improve his pace.
"We knew that it was only a matter of time before Neil and the Simpsons Motors SX4 WRC took its first win and we are obviously hopeful that he and Barry can take this performance forward to the coming weekend and the Sol Rally Barbados, the region's most prestigious and well-attended event."
