ENTRIES CLOSE FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
As entries for Sol Rally Barbados 2012 (June 9/10) closed yesterday (May 14), the last first-timers from Ireland were confirmed as Matt Shinnors and Catherine Levis. Asked how he heard about Sol RB12, Shinnors, whose previous experience includes one outing in the World Rally Championship, said: “I was raised on a diet of rallying; you couldn’t but know of one of the ‘Meccas of Rallying’ like Sol Rally Barbados.”
He started competing in a 2-litre Fiat twincam-powered Ford Escort MkII in autocross events in 1995, then won his class in the Munster AutoX Championship in ‘99, before turning to forest rallying with the Escort on its way to Barbados. He was Best Rookie in the 2003 Irish National Forestry Championship, also nominated for the Billy Coleman Award (Irish Young Rally Driver of Year) in ‘03 & ‘05.
Shinnors’ trip to Barbados will not be his first overseas competition, having already spent time ‘down under’ as a rally tutor, where he enjoyed his one WRC drive: he finished 35th overall in Rally New Zealand 2006 in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI – those ahead of him included Matt Wilson in a Ford Focus subsequently driven by Paul Bird. Shinnors and Levis finished in the top three in class in the Irish National Forestry Championship in 2010 in the Escort, also the National Night Navigation and Munster Night Navigation championships over last winter in their Vauxhall Astra.
Shinnors said: “We ended up joint class winners in the Munster Championship, only to lose on a tie breaker. All a good craic! Old-school rallying at night with a simple map! Can’t beat it.”
The Mk II Escort, sponsored by www.vetcar.ie, Ireland’s first ever motoring website targeting the veterinary profession, was built from a shell for forestry events in 2001; lacking recent tarmac experience, Shinnors contested round four of the Irish Hillclimb Championship in April, where he finished fifth in class of 13 starters.
He said: “The Ballyallaban Hill Climb was an ideal venue to test the Escort in tarmac trim. Having not driving competitively on tarmac since 2004, I was looking forward to the event. Not having Catherine telling me where to go – on the road – was difficult, and adjusting to relying on memory was something different!”
Before becoming co-driver for Shinnors, post-Primary teacher Levis had first competed in 2007, driving a Toyota Corolla with her sister co-driving; by the time she switched sides the following year, she had claimed a class win, and numerous Best Ladies Crew Awards. Co-driving in a Group A Ford Puma with Eamonn McCafferty, Levis also won class titles in the 2009 National, West Coast and Midlands East championships.
Adrenaline Sun
Adrenaline Sun is a new-media action sports magazine that gets inside the world of Caribbean extreme sports to bring you every thrilling event through original content, videos, e-publications and social media. We don’t focus only on the biggest sporting events. We engage regional and international fans and athletes in key action sports niches including skateboarding, paintball, BMX, and off-roading. We also attract a highly enthusiastic local fan base that includes avid sailors, surfers and motorsports junkies.
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