Five top-10 drivers set to miss BMF Rally2

The 2026 Barbados Rally2 Championship could turn on its head this weekend, with five drivers from the current top 10 set to miss Saturday’s fifth round of the Barbados Motoring Federation Championship. The biggest name among the absentees is championship leader and 2022 champion Stuart Maloney, who will give up his regular driving seat to co-drive for his brother Mark when the rally of the Sun & Stars gets underway on September 12. Three different drivers have won the opening four rounds, while three others have added podium finishes, leaving the title race unusually wide open heading into round five. With just 30 points separating championship leader Stuart Maloney from his brother Mark in sixth, Saturday’s rally could dramatically alter the standings. The shake-up could be even greater with third-placed Jamaica’s Kyle Gregg and fifth-placed four-time Sun & Stars winner Jeff Panton also missing from the field. Second and fourth are 2024 Champion Josh Read and the youngest driver in the field, Adam Mallalieu. Read won this year’s opening round at the BRC Shakedown Stages, while Mallalieu is looking for his first Rally2 Championship win, after finishing second to Stuart Maloney during First Citizens King of the Hill earlier this year. The MCBI championship’s blue-riband event will cover 12 stages and 62 kilometres across St John and St George on Saturday. The action gets under way at 1:55 p.m. with the first of three runs through the 4.3-kilometre Society-to-Pool stage, alternating with three runs over the 6.1-kilometre Malvern-to-Sweet Vale stage. After a dinner halt at the Service Park at The Lodge School, the crews will tackle the stages in reverse. The first Sweet Vale-to-Malvern run is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the final Pool-to-Society stage expected to finish by about 10 p.m. MCBI President David Williams said: “Losing last year’s Sun & Stars was a big blow, not only in financial terms, but also for our competitors and volunteers. A lot of work goes into the planning of these events and it is disappointing for everyone when something out of our control means we can’t go forward. “It is encouraging to see such strong support from competitors again this year; with a couple of days before entries close, we are already in the mid-thirties — there are some close battles in the classes and just two double-header speed events to go after this, so the guys are keen to keep scoring points.” (PR)