THE pair of Jeffrey Panton and Michael Fennell Jr continue to prove their world-class worthiness as they took a commanding victory in the Motoring Club Barbados Inc’s Williams Industries Rally of the Sun and Stars held recently.

“The car was still in Barbados after Rally Barbados which was staged earlier this year, so we decided to enter this event,” Fennell told Auto.

The Jamaican team were able to extract revenge for their sixth-place finish from Rally Barbados, three places behind perennial rival Trinidad’s John Powell, who finished the Rally of the Sun and Stars in third.

“The event used stages from Rally Barbados, but a few different ones, so it was the typical short, fast stuff with no room for error,” he said.

Panton and Fennell took their Ford Focus WRC06 to the top step of the podium after claiming the fastest time on 10 of the 12 special stages and ending with a margin of one minute and 44.28 seconds to second-place finisher Bajan Roger Skeete in his Subaru Impreza WRC S12.

“We had no major issues during the day sections, but there was some caution on the night stages. It is always great to rally in Barbados as there is always keen competition around, whether it is in the WRC group where we are or the challenges coming from the competitors in the other classes,” Fennell told the Bajan media.

Fennell’s words held weight as fourth place went to Bajan Andrew Jones driving an MK2 Ford Escort while Cliff Roett rounded off the top five in his Toyota Starlet.

Panton’s car will stay in Barbados for one last speed event scheduled for October 12 before making the return trip back to the island for Rally Jamaica at the end of the year.