THE Montego Bay Motoring Club (MBMC) will host the first rally event of the year with the Lloyd’s of Montego Bay Raynor King Memorial Rally, in Frome, Westmoreland, tomorrow.

“The stages are ready, so everyone can come out with their coolers and dust masks,” Mark March, MBMC president, told Auto.

The highlight of the event will be the showdown between three big names in the sport, Jeffrey Panton, Doug Gore, and last year’s winner and current circuit racing champion Kyle Gregg. All will be contesting victory using Group N rally cars.

“This is just a shakedown for us as we prepare for Rally Jamaica at the end of the year,” Gregg explained.

For Panton, his return to local rallying is long awaited by aficionados of the sport. He will be driving a recently prepared Subaru Impreza STI, partnered by Michael Fennell Jr; the pair having taken Rally Barbados in May.

“I’m in it for the fun of it, because I’ve never driven the car before, so it remains to be seen how competitive the Subaru will be,” Panton said.

This is also part of a long-term strategy for Panton and Kingston Industrial Garage (KIG), local dealers for the Subaru brand, as they attempt to reinvigorate the sport. In 2016, the Impreza will be handed over to a young driver of their choosing. For Gore, he’s looking to rekindle his rivalry with Panton that defined a decade of local rallying in the past.

“We’re all in Group N, so it should be fun,” he said.

Mixed in with the top names are the likes of Nicholas Barnes, making his rally debut, and Jordan Powell, who is also making a return to the sport after injury. While the event retains its Raynor King name, there will unfortunately not be one in the rally.

“The Kings have previous obligations overseas, so none will contest the rally, but we will have a trophy on Daryl’s honour for the driver that looks the fastest on a stage to be chosen,” March said.

He added that the unusual Saturday date was due to the scheduling issues with the packed 2015 motorsports calendar and the fact that the cane fields are still active.

“Having it on Saturday means that the teams will no longer have to rush after the rally to get home,” he said.

— Rory Daley