CARIBBEAN CAPERS

As well as competing throughout the UK, and taking his Escorts to the Jersey Rally for many years. Pete has recently started to compete in what must be one of the most glamorous events in the worldwide rally calendar — Rally Barbados, hence the Barbadian trident flag on the car’s roof.

“I’d not done Barbados before, as when you put your car on the boat to take it to the event, you lose it for around 12 weeks,” he explains, “too much time when you’re competing seriously. But in 2015 I was set to retire from the sport and figured it would be a great finale to do Barbados and join in with the other 30-40 UK and Irish crews that visit each year.”

“It’s an incredible event, brilliantly organised by the Barbados Rally Club, with massively knowledgeable and friendly locals in huge numbers competing and spectating — to the point where it has overtaken cricket as the most spectated sport on the island!

“Your car goes on the boat in mid-April, and the fee of approximately £3000 includes that shipping, secure storage, race entry and road insurance. Basically, all you need to do is turn up add, fuel and tyres, and drive.The whole package isn’t so much more expensive that doing an event like Jersey… and the weather is usually a lot warmer than the Channel Islands in October.

“And it was this trip, plus quite a bad health scare that ended my retirement plans,” Pete adds. “Firstly, I wanted to return to Barbados as it was such an excellent experience, and this year will be my third trip with my daughter Maria, who is an experienced navigator, in the co-driver’s seat. And the health scare made me realise that I wanted to keep driving for as long as possible, because you never know what’s around the corner, do you?”