Red265 Multimedia Group

Recently we have been getting a lot of suggestions from our many readers both local and overseas about archiving our Red265 written articles and we have made the step to do so.

What we are planning to do is: Keep the 3 most recent articles on this page and post the rest on our newly acquired blog spot. http://red265multimedia.wordpress.com/

Feel free to email us on this and any other suggestions on making Red265 Rally Media Better.

Red265 Multimedia Owner
Robert Simmons

2009/08/05
Article by Corey Reece ( Red265 Editor)

When we see a car, we may wonder who is the person driving, or who is the owner? When it is time for picture taking and features, we feature the car itself, or we feature the driver; the persons in the limelight. So often, we do not consider the persons behind the scenes, the persons without whom there would be no ‘well prepared machine’ for the drivers to drive. With this in mind, Red265 multimedia decided that it would be logical for us to look beyond the timing beam of Barbadian motorsport to have a chat with someone who contributes to the sport behind the scenes.  

Alias: Logic

D.O.B.:  1981 - 06 – 08

Damian Yearwood, known more popularly as ‘Logic’ in motorsports circles in Barbados, has been involved in motorsports mechanics for some 10-15 years. He had always wanted to be a mechanic and as such had his first job with Leeson Moe at Premiere motors. He established this link with Moe through his neighbor Erick Clarke who owned a Nissan March which was being prepared by Moe. In fact, it was working on the March which he recalls as his earliest memory of mechanics, often having to be summoned home by his mother long after sunset.

Determined to follow the path of mechanics, Logic enrolled in the Mechanics program at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic. He attributes a lot of the knowledge he has gained in mechanics and motorsports, from Leeson Moe. Through this association he gained friends who were acquainted with popular local racer, Paul Bourne. It was his connection with Bourne which helped to accelerate his career. Through Bourne, he met Brett Judd, a former Prodrive mechanic, whose knowledge he was also able to tap into. Through Judd and Bourne, he was able to establish contacts in the motorsports industry in Europe and was encouraged to broaden his horizons.

Making the difficult break through into Europe, he set about on a job search, which lead to the lowest point in his career. The going was tough as he tried to secure a job; he became discouraged as nothing would give, and he considered giving up to return home. A friend in time of need is a friend indeed and Brian Eeles, a former worker at a well known company in Banbury was able to source Damian a job at a workshop in the area. From there, he did not look back as he went onto work in Portugal, Norway and Ireland along with the UK, where he forged links with many persons at some of the biggest companies in European and World motorsports. With these contacts he has established a direct link to cars and parts for sale as well as technical expertise.

His local rap sheet of persons whom he has worked for include, but is not limited to; Lindsay Farmer and Neil Armstrong (Toyota Starlets); Paul Bourne and Brian Gill (Subaru Imprezas); John Powell, Graeme Finlayson, Brett Clarke and Stuart Maloney (Mitsubishi Evolutions) and he is currently the chief mechanic for Roger Skeete, running his Impreza S12.

To date, Damian says he is at the high point of his career; being respected in the motorsports industry. He also declared that it meant a lot to him to help save Paul Bourne’s rally at Guinea during the gravel rally last year. Today, his dreams may or may not be too far from reality as he dreams of working on a LeMans Prototype Car (LMP2), the Citroen C4 Rally car and would love to head a workshop dedicated to regional motorsport.

2009/07/28
Article by Corey Reece ( Red265 Editor)

A warm night under the stars in the north of the island saw hundreds of spectators gather at Pickerings on July 25^th for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) tarmac night sprint. The event was tipped to be an exciting one with 40 cars entered and the expected clashes with Paul ‘The Surfer’ Bourne (Subaru S9), Roger ‘The Sheriff’ Skeete (Subaru S12) and Roger ‘The Ninja’ Hill (Toyota Corolla WRC) in M8-WRC; Dean Serrao (Subaru N12), Geoff Noel (Mitsubishi Evolution IX) and Harold Morley (Subaru (N14) in Grp N; Ian Warren (Suzuki Swift), Sammy Cumberbatch (BMW M3), Josh Read (Toyota Starlet), James Betts (Opel Corsa) and the Watson brothers (Ford Escort) all in the 2WD classes.

Skeete, fresh from a win at Redland in the MCBI tarmac event continued his form in a car which is still relatively new to him. Despite being slower than Hill in the practice run, he was able to set the fastest time in each of the three official runs of the night, setting the night’s winning time 2:28.13, showing the superior braking and acceleration of the S12 over the cars of the competition. Bourne was out in his first event since Rally Barbados, having missed the Redland event. Bourne has found winning hard since Skeete switched to Subaru and the run at Pickerings was much of the same. He had to fight off the advances of Hill who is increasingly confident and consistent in the Corolla. In the end, Bourne was able to get ahead of Hill for second place, with a time 2 secs behind Skeete (2:30.13) and Hill third in a time of 2:30.74.

Two drivers were entered in M8-A as Martin Atwell and Michael Worme shared the Evolution III of Graeme Finlayson. Atwell finished 4^th overall and beat Worme whose car was damaged as a result of mechanical failure, by around 5 secs.

The action was much closer in Group N with Serrao and Noel being neck and neck throughout the night. Serrao was Mr. Spectacular on the night, showing that there was fun to be had in the Group N cars. He was faster than Noel in practice and the first two runs, however, Noel, who knows how to win Group N was able to muster a faster time than Serrao’s in the final run to take the group win by less than 1 sec.

 In the 2WD Classes, Ian Warren won SM10 convincingly, beating Rhett Watson by over 10 secs, earning him 5^th place overall. In SM9, Josh Read was able to shake off his main rival this year, James Betts by around 5 secs. SM (BMW) 11 was much closer at the top with the battle between eventual winner Jonathan Still and challenger Sammy Cumberbatch. They swapped times throughout the night, despite Cumberbatch winning the sound off, it was Still who was able to come out on top by less than 1 sec. Edward Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) won M6 ahead of Jamal Brathwaite (Mitsubishi Colt) and Freddie Gale  took M7.

In any discipline, a father beats his chest with pride when a son decides to follow in his footsteps. No doubt that when the timesheet was posted in service that Roger Skeete was elated to see the placing of his son Dane. Dane has risen through the ranks of karting and was able to comfortably set faster times in his production car than those of seven competitors with machinery which was comparable or more powerful to his. For the sake of our local motorsport, here is the hope that more karters make the progression to the stage so like Dane Skeete; they can be the Red265 Driver of the Day.

Teams get a few weeks now to reFocus for the next road event, the MCBI Rally of the Sun & Stars which could be as explosive as C4, as our local drivers battle for class and championship points.

(Scroll back to the top and count the S’s in the title!)

These times are PROVISIONAL and maybe subject to change over time.

Click picture to make it larger

2009/07/22
Article by Corey Reece ( Red265 Editor)
Pictures By Himal Reece (Justbajan.com)
Redland Video By Robert Simmons (Red265 Multimedia) Youtube
Redland Photo Gallery By Jason Prescod (Just.J Photos)

The Motoring Club Barbados Inc. (MCBI) held its Redland tarmac speed event on Sunday July 12^th. The Redland stage in St. John, passes through the lush fields at Redland plantation which produce tons of sugar cane along with some vegetable crops. The water retention ponds and the greenery surrounding them make the area quite picturesque, and the fact that most of the canes had been cut made spectator viewing very easy.

The entry list was impressive for the first road event following Rally Barbados, as some 31 drivers entered. This event saw a return to competition by Brian ‘Iceman’ Gill driving the BMW of his brother Raymond Gill. Also present was honorary Bajan, Scotsman Graeme Finlayson. Finlayson’s car remained in the island after he and Navigator/ Driver Martin Atwell had a miserable time in Rally Barbados. With the problems rectified by local talent, he and Atwell had better fortunes in the Redland event. Notable absentees from the lineup were Paul Bourne and Trevor Manning who were reportedly off island.

Bourne and Manning’s absence from the lineup gave Roger ‘The Sheriff’ Skeete an almost free reign in the event, as he clocked the fastest times in two out of the three official runs of the day, missing out on the third due to a stall on the start line. He clocked the day’s best time of 1:20.06 in his third run. Skeete prevailed on a day where age could have been significant; it was old versus young; not driver age, but equipment age. The newer S12 of Skeete was chased all day by the older Toyota Corolla of Roger ‘The Ninja’ Hill. Hill capitalized on the Skeete’s stall in Run 1 but could only stop the clock at 1:21.02 in response to Skeete’s third run time. Closing out the Top 3 was Atwell in the rejuvenated Evo III, recording an impressive 1:23.79 in the old Group A spec car, less than 4 secs off the leading WRC car.

Sammy Cumberbatch was the fastest 2WD car on a day where BMW’s were the Best (2WD) Machines Working – three out of the top four 2WD cars. S. Cumberbatch (1:25.89) got the BMW home ahead of the usual 2WD leader Ian Warren (1:26.18) who had encountered problems on the practice run.

The notable mentions of the day were Dane Skeete and Conor Roach who shared a car and were consistent in their runs. Justin Campbell also impressed on the day with consistent times and tidy lines which saw him reach the Top 10. Andrew Skeete and Eric Allamby overcame problems to satisfy the sideways thirst of the spectators. The Red265 Multimedia driver of the day is Martin Atwell for his committed driving in a relatively ‘outdated’ car to be less than 4 secs off the lead WRC car.

Eyes, spectators, drivers and cars are now Focussed north, with the running of the Barbados Rally Club’s night sprint at Pickerings in St. Lucy where the entry is expected to be as healthy as the Redland entry, with more WRC cars. Will the Sheriff’s shotgun –The 12 gauge – prevail? Can Paul Bourne get focused; will he ‘Imprezz’ his fans? Can the Ninja’s virtue of patience help him in this short event? Will the cause (be) worth the trouble of mouse? Saturday night like Miss Cleo, will ‘tell all!’

See you in St. Lucy!

These times are PROVISIONAL and maybe subject to change over time.

Click picture to make it larger

2009/05/25
Article by Glenn Beckles ( Red265 writer)
Pictures By Jason Prescod (Just.J Photos)

Roger “The Sheriff” Skeete proved himself to be a cut above the rest, as he took first place in the V-Power King of the Hill event today at Stewart’s Hill. Even the event came to an early conclusion due to a major oil spill on the stage, Skeete behind the wheel of his ex-Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC S12 posted the fastest time of 1 minute50.95 seconds .The Sheriff looked quite comfortable as he rocketed through the three-kilometre stage, posting the fastest time on the practice and two official runs. The much-anticipated battle between Skeete and Meeke never materialized, unfortunately.  He was forced to retire after limping through the practice run. This was due to clutch problems on his Subaru Impreza WRC S9.

Paul “The Surfer” Bourne was second, his Subaru Impreza WRC S9 stopping the clock at 1:52.84 for his fastest time. Even though Bourne was his clean, quick and committed self, he simply had no response to the times Skeete was laying down.  Coming off of his win in the Automotive Art Shakedown Stages, Roger “The Ninja” Hill had to settle for third place on this occasion, with a time of 1:53.97.

Steve Perez took the honour of being the highest placed European entrant as he finished fourth. His colourful Ford Focus WRC 05 got him from start to finish in 1:55.44. Perez also provided spectators with one of the most spectacular moments of the day.  Making his way across the long straight from Thickett’s junction to take the 90 left up the hill on the second official run, Perez was absolutely flying. On approaching the turn, Perez produced a sublime demonstration of the art of late braking, and turned left and proceeded up the hill. Did I happen to mention he left 2 symmetrical lines of rubber to tell the tale of his rapid approach and outrageous execution?

Kevin Procter piloted his Subaru Impreza WRC S7 to sixth overall. His best recorded time was 1:56.93. Proter looks once more like a contender for the Rally Barbados overall crown, as he didn’t put a wheel wrong all day. Barry Gale in his Mitsubishi Evolution 6 claimed seventh place. Having driven his car only once so far for the year, he certainly didn’t take long to get into the swing of things. He was quick throughout the day, mixing it up with the rest of the high powered machines in Group M-8 WRC. His fastest time was 1:58.12.

After his hiatus last year, two-time Texaco International All Stage Rally winner Jamaican Jeffrey Panton returned to Barbados. He was the highest-placed regional competitor, his Ford Focus WRC 02 breaking the timing beam with his fastest time of 1:56.75. This was good enough for fifth place. Ian “Wee Wee” Warren seems to have taken up the mantle of 4WD-killer. His fastest time of 1:58.91 secs was good enough for ninth place. His Suzuki Swift placed higher than a number of four-wheel drive machines.

Cliff Roett in his Toyota Starlet rounded out the top ten. Cliff looked to be in fine form, steering his powerful, rear-wheel drive machine through the stage, in final preparation for the battle this upcoming weekend. His quickest time was 1:59.13.

Even though the V-Power King of the Hill Ended prematurely, there was still loads of action, thrills and spills. What’s more, is that drivers can now fine-tune their cars and make adjustments which they feel will make them have a competitive edge in Sol Rally Barbados which comes off this weekend. Rally Fever is now at its highest yet, that is, until May 30^th and 31^st roll around. The masses need not fear, however, as the high-revving, anti-lag popping, euphoria inducing action are a sure tonic to remedy the situation.

Results Top 10 PROVISIONAL

Roger Skeete    1:50:95
Paul Bourne      1:52:84
Roger Hill          1:53:97
Steve Perez      1:55:44
Jeffrey Panton   1:56:75
Kevin Procter     1:56:93
Barry Gale          1:58:12
Trevor Manning  1:58:36
Ian Warren        1:58:91
Cliff Roett           1:59:13