SUNDAY’S JEEP® Jamaica Off-Road Challenge (JORC) Navigational Rally is shaping up to be serious business as the organisers have enlisted the assistance of the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club (JMMC) and talents of Michael Fennell Jr.

The event is scheduled to start at Manor Centre in St Andrew.

Fennell Jr is known in the motorsports community as the route-setter for Rally Jamaica, the JMMC’s largest annual rally, for over a decade now.

“We wanted the JEEP® JORC navigational Rally to have some integrity as our long-term plan is to have it at an international level where overseas competitors can come and participate,” Craig Powell, event co-organiser, told Auto.

Fennell Jr brings his vast experience in navigational rallies to the table and promises fun for everyone.

“I recognise that not every would be familiar with the standard rally notation, so I’ve tried to make something that’s simple but yet challenging,” he explained.

The JEEP® JORC navigational Rally is the second such event being held by JORC and will follow a slightly different format from the first held in January. Instead of a scavenger hunt and two off-road challenge courses, there will just be two sections, a navigational rally across Kingston/St Andrew and then an obstacle course at Irie Racing Off-Road Park, Temple Hall in St Andrew.

“We wanted to concentrate the entertainment in one place this time around,” said Powell.

Currently, the entries are capped at 20 teams of up to four persons. There are three classes: Stock, Modified and Dealer. The latter is where the action is expected to be as Team Kingston Industrial Garage (KIG) led by rally driver Jeffery Panton, overall winner at the first event, will once again face off against Team Toyota Jamaica, fielding the latest Toyota Hilux for a rematch.

“KIG through our JEEP® brand are title sponsors, so we won’t be using the Ford Ranger like we did last time out,” Panton explained.

Unlike last year, there will be no overall winner, just class prizes and an overall in each of the two sections. Fans can gather at Manor Centre at 9:00 a.m. to watch the technical inspection after which the first vehicle should be off at 10:00 am.

“The obstacle course at Temple Hall will be run twice, once in the opposite direction,” Powell said.

The venue provided the spectacular finale between Panton, and Gregory Brown, Toyota Jamaica’s service manager that had fans on the edge of their seat.

The teams are scheduled to make it back to Irie Racing Off-Road Park at 11:45 am. The general entry fee is $500, with children under age 11 free. There will be a special tailgating section for those wishing to park in the venue for an additional $500.