Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Co-ordinator

Gary Gregg, the defending champion of the Barbados Rally, hopes to retain his title this weekend. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Following their test run on one of the special stages last Thursday, the Jamaican drivers know exactly what they will have to do if they are to take the checkered flag in the Barbados Rally, which ends today.

The two-day event was won last year by Jamaica's Gary Gregg and Hugh Hutchinson. Among the names on the list of Jamaican entries this year are Jeffrey Panton, Justin Morin, Tarik Minott and Jordan Powell, who is representing the Jam Speed team.

"The cars are running good and everybody is O.K.," Panton told Automotives on Friday. According to him, the two-day event, which covers over 441 kilometres, has so far taken the competitors across the length and breadth of Barbados. "After the test on Thursday, we now know what to expect,"said Panton, who arrived in Barbados on Tuesday with his nine-member crew.

While he is hoping to finish in the top-five, Panton said Gregg was the man they would all have to beat. Gregg is one of seven drivers competing in a World Rally Car (WRC) in this year's rally, which has been dubbed one of the Caribbean's Premier Motorsport events, attracting competitors and spectators from Britain, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Scotland, Spain, Holland and the the United States of America.

Panton won this event more than 10-years and believe this is the best he has ever prepared for an event in Barbados. He is competing in his Jamaica-built Mitsubishi Evolution IX.

"We intend to be as competitive as we can possibly be against the WRC machines, but at the same time we will thrill the spectators," said Panton.

"The Bajan roads are quite slippery and some degree of caution needs to be exercised when competing there. However, if we are to even have a chance against the WRC machinery, all caution needs to be thrown to the wind and we need to be at 150 per cent from the start," added Panton.