THE Drivers Rallysport Club (DRC) will open its DRC/Tru-Juice Sprint Championship series on Sunday at Bybrook in Bog Walk, St Catherine, by paying tribute to two of the motorsport community’s recent losses.

The action will start at 11:00 am.

“We’re planning various tributes to Orville Bloise and Daryl King at the event,” DRC president Conrad Burns told Auto.

Bloise, a veteran in rallysport, died on April 1 at age 50, while King, 30, passed on April 9, both from complications related to long-standing medical issues. There will be one minute of silence for both men, along with tribute stickers for the vehicles and T-Shirts.

Burns is expecting a big turnout.

“We’ve had up to 22 verbal confirmations from drivers and teams that are interested in participating,” he said.

However, in addition to news of the tribute is the fact that Joel Jackson could kick-start his DRC 2015 Sprint Championship season with an easy victory as fellow rival Kyle Gregg confirmed he would not be in attendance. Gregg, who secured a second-place Group N victory in Barbados, will see his car remain in that country until after May’s running of the Sol Rally Barbados. While Jackson has yet to collect his new Subaru Impreza STi from Rally Trinidad & Tobago, he still has his original older Impreza, which he will use to compete.

Jackson has extensive knowledge of the venue, having battled Gregg on it on several occasions and driven on it when it has been used as a rally stage.

“We are already preparing the track,” Burns added.

— Rory Daley