LINTON BROTHERS TAKE ON THE WORLD!

[Red Dawg]

Barbados crew head for Wales Rally GB

Double Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Champion Adrian Linton and his brother Jonathan will share centre stage with the world's top rally drivers next weekend (December 1-3), when they proudly carry the flag of Barbados into battle in the 16th and final round of the World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB.
They will drive an Opel Astra OPC sponsored by Ravensden, a British company which has supported the family's domestic rally programme for the last three years, and Carib. The Carib backing comes through its British distributor, Global Brands, whose managing director Steve Perez has twice competed in Rally Barbados and finished fourth in his Vodka Kick Ford Focus WRC this year.
And, as usual with the Lintons, it's a real family effort: Adrian and Jonathan will be joined by their wives, Jackie and Alecia, and father Denis, while the team will be completed by UK-based Bajan mechanic Damien Yearwood. Jonathan, who is currently working in Europe, sourced the left-hand-drive car in Germany; preparation has been under way for some weeks, and he was due to arrive in the UK by ferry today (Friday).
Before leaving Grantley Adams International Airport this afternoon to join his brother, Adrian said: "We are all really looking forward to this adventure, and have to thank Ravensden and Carib for helping make it possible, and the Barbados Tourism Authority for providing some warm clothing!
"The week leading up to the rally is going to be hectic. There are wheels to be collected on arrival in the UK, tyres to mount, camera mounts and associated in-car wiring to set up. There is scrutineering to attend, and the recce to be done, and we have to put the livery on the car . . . but this has to happen after the recce. We have our service area to set up and sort out, spare parts to source and collect . . . and the list goes on. Apart from anything else, I won't drive the car until I get there, and will have to get used to it being left-hand-drive."
The ceremonial start of the Cardiff-based event on Thursday evening (November 30) will be followed by three days of competitive driving over Forestry Commission and military roads in south, mid and west Wales, finishing back in Cardiff mid-afternoon Sunday. There are 17 special stages, totalling 350 kilometres - the longest is 28.89kms; including transit, the total rally distance is just over 1200kms.
While familiar stages such as Epynt, Resolven and Rheola will attract spectators in their thousands, the highlight for many is Saturday evening's 1.1-kilometre stage in Cardiff's magnificent Millennium Stadium, which went into the record books last year as the WRC's first indoor speed test. In 2005, it was enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience of 22,000, but additional seating is being made available this year and event organisers are optimistic of a significant increase in spectators.
Linton added: "We've had a lot of support and encouragement from people in the island, and the media, so we're going to try and find time each day to keep them updated by posting our progress on zhaust.com."
There are two other useful web sites for Bajan fans - the official World Rally Championship site is www.wrc.com, while Globecast Radio, which is providing WRGB's Rally Radio and on-stage commentary, can be found on www.0157.org.
In his most successful season to date, Linton won Modified 7 and Overall title in the 2006 Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship, finished third overall, highest-placed two-wheel-drive car and highest-placed crew including a female competitor (his wife Jackie) in the Texaco BRC Rally Championship. In June, he was crowned King of the Carnival for his outstanding performance on the two events comprising the Barbados Rally Carnival.
Entries for Wales Rally GB have been accepted from 118 amateur and professional teams from 32 countries, the biggest entry in this year's WRC; the Lintons will compete in the N3 classification.


Courtesy Robin Bradford
For further information, [email protected]
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[Plex]

good infor..