After a disappointing open to the 2022 Drivers Rallysport Club (DRC) sprint championship, Kyle Gregg took top honours at the second round recently held in Bog Walk, St Catherine.

“My car ran reliably all day. It felt good to be back at Bog Walk also. I’m glad to now be in the championship hunt after missing out last meet,” Gregg told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.

At round one, in Lionel Town, Clarendon, on Sunday, May 15, Gregg, while leading all day, suffered a mechanical failure that took him out of the important points scoring championship run.

“My Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX broke an axle,” Gregg explained.

This allowed Lee Vaz the opportunity for victory in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI. For round two, Vaz was missing in action, allowing another driver who had also not scored any championship points in round one to do so, Thomas Hall. Hall kept Gregg on his toes finishing just under a second behind. Demar Lee secured the final podium position in third, improving on his fourth-place finish at round one.

Also, not present from the opening round was Fraser McConnell. McConnell was second overall at the first event, but his overseas motorsport duties saw his Subaru Impreza WRX STI being driven by veteran Jeffrey Panton. Panton completed the event in fourth while Joel Jackson, also in another Subaru, rounded out the top five points finishers. The fastest two-wheel drive car went to Bobby Marshall.

“For the most part, the response to the rally sprint championship has been good. The competitors have been supportive and making the effort to turn out for events. Support from our long-term event sponsors have also been good. Most have signed back on giving support in cash and, or kind to help us to be able to put on the events,” Marcia Dawes of the DRC told Auto magazine.

With the sudden restart to the motorsports calendar earlier this year, the DRC is looking at 2023 for rally sport to be fully revived, but is committed to 2022.

“For 2022, the aim is just to complete the calendar as we have planned. We are currently on a two month break after Sprint #2 to the next event which would be the Rally of Kings. For 2023, the aim is to increase the number events with the aim of having at least ten events for the calendar year,” said Dawes.

However, the DRC isn’t averse to trying new things this year as it attempted to bring the sport closer to Kingston with an event through the iconic cane fields surrounding the city.

“There was some initial miscommunication and the property owners advised that due to crop-cutting activities, which wasn’t factored initially. The DRC couldn’t use the venue for the date we had for the Sprint in June as their operations run for all weekdays until the crop reaping exercise was over. The plan is to utilise the venue for an event once cane cutting season is over,” explained Dawes.