BRC (B'dos Rally Club) History

[NarendZORCE]

Taken from: http://www.rallyclub.com/history.htm

Sometime towards the end of 1956, David Massiah and Maurice Hutt were on a bird watching drive to Long Pond. On the way back to Sion Hill, by way of Rock Hall Hill, they conceived the idea that Barbados had some prime rally country, and it could be quite possible to organise a rally.

Later that night over drinks at Sion Hill, David and Maurice were joined by Bill Mallalieu and Sam Ward and discussion of a rally became serious.

Early in 1957, a group of 12 met at the Hotel Royal and began serious planning. The 12 were:


Maurice Hutt History Teacher - Harrison's College. Part time Ornithologist
Hazel Hutt Housewife
David Massiah Engineer Builders Ltd.
Wilfred Massiah Teacher - Lodge School
Sam Ward Planter, Manager - River Plantation
Bill Mallalieu Estate Agent
Dennis Bannister Manager - ABC Motors
David McKenzie Manager - McEnearneys
Frank Hutchinson Chelsea Garage
Graham Wilkes Teacher - Lodge School. Later Founder and Principal of Mapps College
Geoffrey Manning Planter - Golden Grove
Fred Mallalieu Banker - Barclays Banks

Eventually the rally was held over 110 miles, starting at Applewaites factory and finishing at Vaucluse. It was highly successful. It must be noted that there were no cell phones or communication of any kind. Every detail of the rally had to be planned in advance and timed to the second. The calculation of the results was a major undertaking.

The roads and the cars in those days were so different to now, that Rock Hall Hill was seen as a major obstacle. A Land Rover was stationed in the hill to tow anyone who could not make it. In fact, no one was towed but all the Fords overheated and had to stop halfway to cool off!

There were 68 cars entered, with a wide variety of vehicles - Jaguar 2.4, Borgward, Rover 75, Morris 8 series E, Morris Minor, Porsche 356, Vauxhall Velox and a 1934 Ford V8 to name a few. The winners were DeLisle "Junior" Jones and Donald Wiles in a Standard Vanguard (both were still students at Harrison's College). Sam Ward and Norman Hunt were second in a Standard 10.

Immediately after the rally, a meeting was called for everyone who competed, and it was decided to form a club. Thus, the Barbados Rally Club was born. All those involved were automatically members on paying the agreed subscription. From then on a rally has been held every June.

In the early years, navigation was by a route coloured on the only road map available. This was barely adequate. When the new ordinance survey map became available this was then used, and the routes set related strictly to the map.

The BRC devised their own navigational system, which lasted for many years and was copied by many motor clubs in the region, and around the world. Several years later we introduced the Tulip system, which had been used successfully in Europe for many years.

In 1967, we became ambitious and organised a 500 mile June rally. The rally was sponsored by Esso, and started at Holborn at midday on Saturday June 17. This was also the first rally to include "special stages". This was very well received and generated tremendous interest. As a result of this, the next year we invited Jamaicans to participate, and shortly thereafter we traveled to Jamaica to compete in their rally. They were all navigational rallies. Special stages were not introduced for several years. Jamaica first organised special stages on the roads of the bauxite mines and a speed event at Caymanas Park race track.

In the early 1960s the club introduced dexterity tests on the parking apron at the airport. Airline traffic was so limited, that we could have the airport for an entire Sunday afternoon. The first event was a failure because the organiser - Brian Burt - decreed that the competitors could not watch, as it would give them an unfair advantage. The result was a most boring afternoon for the drivers. This changed from the next event.

Dexterity tests have been held in many locations, including:-

The Regional Police Training School, Spartan Cricket ground in Queens Park (unfortunately this was on a wet day and considerable damage was done to the field), Porters factory playing field, Walkers Savannah St. Andrew, and Carrington Factory yard.

It is interesting to note that from the outset, the club had third party insurance for competing cars through the RAC, for a cost of 2 shillings per car! This came to an abrupt halt when the RAC discovered that for such a paltry sum, the insurers were at risk for a BOAC Viscount aircraft parked at one end of the parking apron while the cars were gyrating nearby.

The club introduced Mobil Economy runs. These were very popular events. In the first event, coasting was permitted and some unbelievable results were achieved. Ralph Branch was known as the expert on coasting through Major Road stops. This was dangerous, so the rules were changed. We then put an independent observer in each car, to see fair play and prohibit coasting. The result - even long gear changes!

Eventually, another innovation was introduced. This was the result based on ton/miles per gallon. The actual MPG was multiplied by the all up weight of the car in tons. All cars were weighed at some point in the event. This also produced some questionable results but it did level the playing field for the larger cars. Paul Pilgrim and Dobby Douglas filled every body cavity of their Jaguar with sand. This made tile car so heavy, that any gain in Ton/miles per gallon was lost by the extra work the engine had to do to drag all that sand around.

A clever innovation for rallying was the use of "Boxes". These were red post office type boxes placed all around the island, into which competitors had to put an identifying card to confirm that they had passed that point. No time was involved, only adherence to the route. This was quite an effective system.

From the inception of the club, there was a yearning for actual racing. We had acceleration tests on Yorkshire road and Thickets, but we still wanted a circuit. Eventually, we got the use of a wide area next to Chancery Lane swamp. Roger Manning bulldozed a dirt track and we had one very enjoyable day's sport. This only increased the desire for a track. Bizzy Williams and his family then offered an area at Bushy Park. This was a perfect site and as we know, is still in use. Bizzy, as the main driving force along with numerous members, put in hours of physical work building fences etc and preparing the track.

In the early days a most enjoyable event was the treasure hunt. These attracted a very large entry and involved whole families. It was really a social event and created a tremendous club spirit amongst the members.

Hill climbs were introduced in the early 1960s. The favourite was Spa Hill. This was very steep and winding. Unfortunately it has fallen into disrepair and is no longer usable.

In the early 1960s, the BRC promoted the formation of the first Barbados Road Safety Association in conjunction with the BAA and the JCs.

Other points of interest

Members started going to Trinidad to rally under the tulip system in 1980.

The first Barbadian team to win an overseas rally was Allan Wilkie and Wayne Clarke in a Suzuki Swift GT in Jamaica in 1987.

The first Barbadian team to rally in Europe was Phil Talboys and Michael Atwell in a Jaguar XK150 in 1991 finishing with zero penalty points for the road section.

MORE TO COME...