Sleeper Forest Caribbean Car Culture Events Coverage - Sleeper Forest

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2020

Alexandre Haynes — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 03:57:24 +0000

It is quite difficult to say one can embody rally in one photo. Rally although being a spectator sport mostly goes unseen by the spectators. Cars blasting through stages at breakneck speeds are seen for barely a second if you aren’t caught off guard with your face in a beverage. Capturing this proved to be exceptionally difficult. Jody Forte and I (Alex) really persevered with this and tried to bring you images of our best experiences of Sol Rally Barbados 2020 this year.

Here is our gallery for Sol Rally Barbados 2020. We hope you enjoy it! Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom and if you can, relate how Rally was for you this year! We would love to know. That being said, enjoy the photos!

So until next time! Happy Motoring!

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We Gathering 2020 - King of the North

Alexandre Haynes — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 21:25:57 +0000

In Barbados we say “dat road hot” when it refers to boy racers making drag passes on public roads at night. Have you ever wondered though, what it would be like if those roads were opened for a day, and you could really have at it? No need to look any further, we experienced it first hand.

Here’s a gallery of our best images from the day, hope you enjoy!

Shutter Dragging and Wheel Burning

Alexandre Haynes — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 03:13:23 +0000

Earlier up this year, BARL put on another Wheels and Heels show. I took some time to experiment and try new things in my photographs, hope you enjoy the small gallery!

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CMRC 2019 IN 80 Photos

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 04:31:21 +0000

I’ve had the chance to go shoot the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship’s Barbados leg here at Bushy Park this year! I’ve made a Gallery of my favorite pics from the event I hope you enjoy! Happy Motoring!

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Rep Ya Ride 2019 by Vizionz.

Byron Morris — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 04:37:41 +0000

It's always cool when Alex calls me up and asks me to do a feature for Sleeper Forest. Now here's my take, my Vizion, yes pun intended, of Rep Ya Ride 2019! Action packed from beginning to end, excitement, beautiful cars, beautiful people and comradery; just after major success by the guys over at Street Predators and another win for the local car community!

Look out for Rep Ya Ride Part 2 on Saturday June 22nd, at Kensington Mall from 11am! See you there!

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Rep Ya Ride 2019

Alexandre Haynes — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:33:27 +0000

Barbados’ largest car show, happened in April, I know I’m late with this, but a lot has been happening outside of writing for the website. We have some really cool content coming and I’m excited for it. Car shows this large you’d have to be there to experience it, to fully understand it, but I’ll share my top 30 photos. Enjoy this Rep Ya Ride Gallery.

Hope you enjoyed the gallery! Happy Motoring!

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Wheels N Heels BEST 15 photos

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 08 May 2019 01:41:53 +0000

I always try to push myself to get better images, this time around, I took the time to put together what I thought is the 15 most interesting photos from the last Barbados Auto Racing League event! Feel free to download and use them as wallpapers, you can drop us a mail if you would something more Hi-Res, happy motoring!

New wrap on this evo was cool

New project hits the road

Old PROJECT still on the road.

Datsun 120Y with an sr20

high time for a selfie

Datsun 120Y Sideways

nissan cefiro making it’s rounds

CRT Movement at Rally Barbados Shakedown Stages

Alexandre Haynes — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 03:03:17 +0000

Rally Barbados has really started with a bang for 2019. The season builds up with some Shakedown stages, which build up towards the main event SOL Rally Barbados where most rally teams in the island really aspire to take part in and really make their mark for the year. This year, I had the privilege of spending some time with the Campbell Racing Team. They are often referred to as “The CRT Movement”.

This was my first time really covering a Rally here in my island Barbados, and it has its challenges as a photographer, being that having legs definitely makes me fall behind a rally car with my ability to get from place to place. This is why though, this unique perspective I was able to have made me so happy. I was covering the team from behind the scenes, this really allows me to see how tough rally can really be on the team, the driver, the co-driver, the engineers and other auxiliary members that provide support.

The team consists of Rayson, Dwight, Jim, Leandre, and Keron as mechanics and engineers as well as Aryton Bannister, the co-driver and Justin Campbell, the driver of their car. They work hard to maintain a BMW E46 M3.

Ups & Downs

I picked up the rally day mostly into it’s second half, coming in just about at the break for lunch and service bay intervals. Lunchtime didn’t really mean it was a chance to have a break though, because while drivers would have a chance to debrief and rest up, the engineering team would talk and see how the car was faring in the stages. This first rally shakedown brought it’s woes for CRT but, it’s better it happens now than it happens later on in the season.

It’s never a good sign to see your team’s car coming back into the pits on the back of a wrecker. Unfortunately with CRT this event, despite starting strong and being on the leader board of their group, they were affected by some electrical issues and they were out of the rally early into the day.

A good team can really shine through when facing difficulty. Justin and Aryton communicated the issues they were facing so they could quickly assess the situation and determine a course of action to start repairing the issue with the car. The car was still starting on it’s own, but stalling under load they determined it was a problem with the voltage of the battery, but replacing the battery didn’t help, so it ran deeper than that, it was the car’s alternator that was giving the issue.

BMW S54 Engine

The alternator of the car would have to be replaced if they needed to use the car for the rest of the stages that were coming after the lunch break. For this to happen on time, everyone would need an assigned job and they would need to really communicate well, so things fall in place and they can make the deadline. For these guys, it was child’s play.

“This really has shown me that Rally is definitely not about having the fastest car, or the being the most skilled driver. It’s a cumulative effort, from a well-oiled team. ”

In all of 15 minutes, the alternator was changed, and the car was ready to be fired up to test. Fortunately the car started right up and everything was finally in order. They were going to compete in the rest of the rally, starting the afternoon off at Sailor Gully, then to Lamberts in St. Lucy.

Pushing through

What are the consequences of something like this happening to a team though? Missing a stage, meant that for the rest of the rally no matter what times they would’ve set with a working car, they would still finish the rally with a DNF (Did Not Finish) rating. This disappointment didn’t deter Justin and Aryton from trying to achieve the best stage times possible. They were not racing for that solely for that day, they were using the times they gathered as a yard stick of types so they would know where in the rankings they among the rest of their competitors.

On their way to the next stage, both Justin and Aryton were in high spirits, having in full confidence in their car after the service stop. They took some time to honor their team tradition to say a small prayer before being hitting the tarmac again asking for a safe return and praying for tons of grip.

Team Spirit

The CRT Movement, is moving pretty quickly, by the look of things this season. I am incredibly grateful for the chance to capture their work behind the scenes, in this Shakedown Rally, I’m hoping this isn’t my only chance. The team really has a chemistry, something that really binds them together, for sure it’s love of machine and it’s for the love of the sport itself, some things I can see for myself. They were never daunted by challenges they would’ve faced. They were incredibly sportsman-like at the end of the day as well, Justin and Aryton made their way over to the other teams, congratulating them for a rally well completed. Rally in Barbados, is one really good way to explore the love and commitment persons have for the sport and for cars here in the island.

CRT has the hardest part of the rally already covered, having a good team, for them the future of the rally season will bring more of it’s Ups and Downs, but once they can stick together, they will accomplish a lot more than they have already.

This is Alex, until next time, Happy Motoring!

Gallery

Wheels and Heels the BEST 15 Images

Alexandre Haynes — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 02:41:43 +0000

Here are my best 15 from the last Wheels and Heels Event, editing and leaving images on the cutting floor this time around was difficult. I’ll let the images speak for themselves. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Motoring!

Wheels & Heels GYMKHANA EDITION

Alexandre Haynes — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 16:00:00 +0000

The spotlight of drifting was shown once again here in Barbados, at the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium Sunday afternoon for an event of gasoline, smoking tyres and a whole lot of fun! Drifting is a serious adrenaline rush, for both racers and spectators.

It is one of the fastest growing global and cultural phenomena. Some would say it's far more exciting than regular car racing but, for a fact, we know its been highly successful in polarising opinions in the motoring community! There's nothing like seeing a car slide around a corner or in this case barrels.

Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) as we know is one of the leading auto racing leagues in the island, they have been a bit under the radar for a few years but it's nice to see them making a comeback. With their recent track attack, track day at Bushy Park, we were treated to another event from them, this year's other dexterity event Wheels & Heels - Gymkhana Edition.

Most auto enthusiasts would agree that drifting is very much a spectator sport, and picking up from where they would have left off in August it's good to see things are still going strong and drivers are showing a high level of commitment to the sport here. Unfortunately, they were a bit fewer drivers coming to the venue this time around, but this did not serve at all to dampen the spirit of the event!

Stefan Hinds, Chairman of BARL taking them through the course.

The venue this was a bit smaller than last time and it favoured smaller cars like RWD Starlets and Charmants this only added to the excitement when it came to timed runs around the course. Keeping marshals busy with their clocks.

Per usual it starts off with a recce of the course drivers walk through it to see where the turns are and where any particularly challenging spots may show up. Stefan lead the way designing the courses, with some input from more seasoned drivers.

Over the few months we have been blogging about car culture here in Barbados we've been making friends, running into people the likes of Marlon, Ryan, or Bob is always fun seeing them getting up shenanigans in the pits.

After the walkthrough, some warm-up runs were started, and drivers were able to get a feel for what the course would be like. Taking the car back the pits and fine tuning it for the timed runs that were coming later that night. This little starlet was really in form. Horsepower doesn't matter as much here it's a matter of skill.

That's never a good sign.

The driver of this Skyline, Marlon got into a little accident on his way to the event, we all thought he was down and out. Instead, it turned into something pretty amazing to watch in real time, as they were able to find the source of the damage and rectify it.

“Seriously, who finds a control arm and tie rod for a Skyline, on a Sunday afternoon, surely someone has to be looking out for him.”

Team work makes the Dream work!

He was soon out on the course, having a blast with the other drivers!

We had a bit of fun with the spectators. The drivers took along a spectator, so they could experience what going sideways in a car is like. This is actually an amazing idea, what better way to ignite the love for driving than a full on rush of adrenaline.

With community outreach like this, it helps bridge the divide between bystander and driver, it helps to raise another generation of sideways fanatics.

As the sun started to go down, timed runs started and this is when things really get intense. Drift and Dexterity events push the drivers and their cars to the limit.

The course the cars competed on was a two car course, they started at one end and drove to the other but there were barrels along the way that they had to either dodge or drift around.

It lead to some very close racers as the faster turbo-charged cars would get the lead initially but the slower more nimble cars could hold a tighter drift around the barrels so they would often catch up or even win. It really came down to skill. The winner of each race would then advance, till the last two cars are standing.

Climbing to the top of the fray were four competitors in the dexterity event. They were Jerun White in his green turbo charged SR20 swapped Charmant, Robert Daniel in his turbo charged SR20 swapped Charmant, Dario Brathwaite in his 3SGE beams swapped Charmant and Anderson Richards in his RWD starlet.

The drift event on the other hand, when the smoke cleared were Marlon Bell in his R33 Skyline, Dario Brathwaite in his 3SGE BEAMS swapped Charmant, Jerun White in his green SR20 swapped Charmant and Robert Daniel in his turbo-charged SR20 swapped Charmant.

The event was an overall success and we'd like to congratulate all the competitors and also send a special thank you to everyone that attended the event. From watching Marlon's car come from being out of the event to burning rubber in the drift event and seeing the adrenaline rush of the ride along the spectators were allowed to experience, this really sums up the event as more than a drift event, its a celebration of everyone who loves cars and burning rubber! Hope you find you at the next one.

Congrats Anderson Richards!

Until then, Happy Motoring from Sleeper Forest!

Launch Control

Alexandre Haynes — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 03:25:36 +0000

"Man, I'm faster than you!"

Having the right to not just say that statement, but the right to brag it, is what we chase after after among our friends. For some persons they have "grown up and out of it", but for many of us the only way to settle the debate is on the strip.

Daring speed and audacious wings, that's what it's about.

This is what "Launch Control" is all about, hosted at Bushy Park Raceway by the Barbados Association of Drifters and Dragsters (BADD). For articles like these I like to try to capture the energy of the event through my photographs, enjoy the gallery down below!

Traversing the pits, I found cars ranging from all out dragsters to dailies modified and prepared just for the event. Wide body modifications to accommodate the larger tyres, wider tyres mean more grip at launch, but they also look pretty fierce.

Go check out a first hand experience from Launch Control from the Life in Tenths Blog Here

This really clean Nissan Almera got my attention for sure.

With just the right amount of cosmetic modification. It was really well put together, I'm hoping I can track down this car again to do a proper shoot of it.

The brief driver's meeting highlights the safety rules to be followed and the area of the track specified for the event. We actually don't have an official 1/4 mile strip here in Barbados, it's around an 1/8 mile that we use.

Widebody 86, gets loads of love.

Mechanical problems go hand in hand with a day of drag racing, with immense stress on the cars from launch to the end of the run. This Pulsar had bit of issues with its induction kit, but those were soon fixed and some advice from the tuner given.

He was back out on the track laying down the rubber.

A Westfield community is really getting some traction here as well, as we can see the kit being used in it's different applications, this one here was fully electric, and it's scary fast.

This green one here was built with a Hayabusa engine and turbo charged.

This isn't the last Launch Control event for the year. As we follow the action be sure to check with us to stay up to date.

Until next time, Happy Motoring! - Alex

Classic Car Show July 2017

Alexandre Haynes — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 03:01:10 +0000

It's time for the Classics to come out again in all their glory. Sagicor's Classic Car events helps to keep us abreast with a portion of the Classic Cars in the island of Barbados, granted the owners turn up, and turn up they did. There's a wide cross-section of cars filling up the venue, ranging from the 1950's all way down to the 90's, I know many of wouldn't really consider some 90's cars classics, but they fall into the 25 years and older age now, and have qualified. In our events feed, we really just want to capture all the cars in the show for your viewing pleasure, so enjoy the show !

The Track Day Experience

Alexandre Haynes — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:00:00 +0000

While motorsport is a firm staple of Barbados, the track opens only a few times to the general public to put their performance - or lack thereof - car through its paces in a true track environment. Bushy Park, originally opened in the ‘70s, has cemented its status in the hearts of petrolheads with its rich racing heritage and international appeal over the years, and will continue to do so for generations to come with its recent redevelopment. Once only a dirt track set in the south-eastern parish of St. Phillip, a complete circuit upgrade commencing in August 2013 has been the product of support from the Government of Barbados, Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF), Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and group of local investors who shared the dream to turn the venue into a world class track.

Nine months later, when the first phase of the redevelopment was complete, Barbados hosted the Top Gear Festival in May 2014, followed by Race of Champions later that same year after second phase of the plan was executed. The current laundry list of upgrades include a 2.01km International circuit which meets FIA Grade 3 requirements, CIK Grade A kart circuit, a one-eighth mile drag strip, and a rally-cross track, with further development expected to include luxury car suites, a Country Club, and Museum which I’m particularly excited to cover when it is finally completed.

A tropical wave approaching the island brought menacing skies which threatened to put a damper on the activities, and this article could have gone quite differently had the skies not ceased their onslaught; thankfully they did, and I made my way to the track. As I arrived, the road cars were just about to make their way out of the pits and onto the track, and I scrambled onto track to get the first session of the day.

Being an open day means anyone who pays the registration fee can bring their vehicle of choice and have at it on the track; that being said all manner of road cars made an appearance such as this lone Toyota Altezza/Lexus IS200, proudly displaying its trident on the windshield - Bajan Pride!

This 2-door Suzuki Baleno hatchback may look tame on the outside as it joined in the fray but its driver put the 20 year old car through its paces, squeezing it to redline on the straightaways; the owner of which managed to track me down after his first session to see if I managed to catch him in action.

Even the US-imported Volkswagen Fox proudly owned by a fellow Sleeper Forest shooter pumped out a few triumphant laps. It wasn’t the fastest or the prettiest but it sure had character, wearing its age valiantly like a badge - rust peppering the bone stock bodywork. While longitudinal mounted 4-cylinder gasoline engine powers this modest looking machine what’s really interesting is that it shares blood with the Golf - that’s right, the iconic hot hatch.

As the first set of cars made their way through their first laps, this cleared the way for the more powerful machines to warm up their tyres, and that they did in flamboyant fashion. Most of the cars in Barbados come from either Asia or Europe, which explains the myriad of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) machines you'll find present on the island.

A 1JZ-GTE power plant inside this Toyota Cressida was more than ample to get the rear end out as it powered into the first corner out of the pits, setting the pace for the RWD machines in tow.

The next machine out the pits was this Nissan Skyline GTS-T powered by none other than the RB25DET and outfitted with a screamer pipe, this is the same firebreathing Skyline highlighted at Wheels N Heels: Fully Broad Edition. While there are numerous GTS models of the Skyline on the island, you'll be hard pressed to find a Skyline GT-R on the streets with so few examples of the performance coupe - Godzilla is as elusive in reality as in the movies.

This Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R, one of my dream cars, was like poetry in motion, her voice a raspy baritone that crescendoed into a tenor, accentuated by a shrill BOV chirp. The HKS Silent Hi-Power exhaust mated with the SR20DET under the hood of this beauty was a symphony to my ears.

Adding to the list of icons, the ever identifiable boxer-engine made an appearance in the heart of this hawkeye WRX STi, another car on my must-have list, but the fun couldn’t last forever as it would lose a gearbox by the end of the day.

A few games of cat and mouse ensued, giving the drivers a feel for their machines and the track as tyres reached their optimal operating temperatures and engines warmed up to prime efficiency. The 4WD machines seemed to be more focused on precision and speed than just flashy driving, where the RWD machines went side ways in almost every corner - form versus function.

One of the many icons of the 90s, the Mitsubishi Evolution VI, negotiating a pass on the Altezza as it exits the ICBL W’s. Despite its undeniable rally heritage, the Evolution has managed to make itself more than at home on the track; if I had to build a dedicated track car I would definitely start with an Evo.

Two for two, as this Evolution V sprints down the straightaway into the Courtesy Dipper.

Reigning Autocross champion Chris McFarlane in his Evolution X, took a moment to give me a thumbs up before getting down to business.

Representing for the Honda team, this naturally aspirated Honda Civic Type R (FD2) was no slouch, holding firm against the forced induction machines, powering through the bends, and screaming down the straights as VTEC kicked in and the K20 hit its redline - a truly purpose built machine, you would be hard pressed to deny this vehicle's performance capabilities.

Once the road cars had their fun, these thoroughbreds took to the track and though I had seen them in action before, they're never any less impressive than the last time I saw them. The Radical Motorsport SR3 RS, powered by a 4-cylinder 1340cc variant of Suzuki's GSX-R motorcycle engine with a 10,500 redline, is good for 220HP fed through a 6-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox resulting in a 0-100km/h time of 3 seconds - faster than Porsche' 911GT3.

Sean Maloney thunders out of the pits, and is soon joined by David Simpson in his identical SR3 albeit in different livery.

No sooner had these high-revving machines exited view into one corner of the track, they would reappear from the other direction, down the straightaway in front of the pits. The precise, no-nonsense focus of these machines allowed them to make quick work of the track in what felt like mere seconds; I look forward to covering one of the championships which pits these amazing beasts against each other.

When the Radicals headed back in and the track lay empty in the midday sun, I took the opportunity at the end of the first session to get off the track and briefly revisit the pits that I so hastily whizzed by upon arrival - I wanted to see some of those eargasm inducing machines up close.

I managed to snap just a few of these legends when the announcement for the next road car session was announced; not wanting to miss the next session I headed over to the pit exit to capture some more of the cars as they took to the track once more.

Heading back to my previous stake out position on the track, which was good vantage point where I could capture the cars through the first corner and down the straight, I felt the urge to find new perspective.

Eventually I followed my gut and decided to change locations, taking refuge behind the tyre wall of the first corner right as the R33 slid past me through the apex of the turn as I scrambled to stabilise myself.

This proved to be an equally good spot as I could see the cars coming down the home straight into the corner, giving me more opportunity to track them through the corner from a closer distance.

A spin out in this corner almost spelled disaster as the R33 lost traction in the apex of the turn coming to rest in the path of the Silvia. I caught the sequence as it unfolded, the S15 managed to avoid the collision, negotiating around the Skyline and giving a twitch of the rear end out of the corner and into the straight. Once the coast was clear, the Nissan made its way back onto the track for some more fun.

After events almost went awry I changed locations, heading to a more elevated part of the track hoping to get new perspective before the session was over.

While I stood perched behind the tyre wall snapping away in the afternoon sun, I barely noticed the heat nor when the clouds from before had gone. I sensed a comradery lingering; drivers and spectators alike had cast their problems aside and come out to enjoy what will hopefully grow to be a more frequent pastime. We all were living only in the moment; a lesson in life perhaps - no matter what problems you might encounter, life is bigger than us all.

As the last car made its way around the track for the ultimate time and I gathered my final thoughts, I could feel an air of gratification - the love of motorsport is the thread that binds us.

Randi Bowen

Instagram: r.and.i
randi.sleeperforest@gmail.com

Wheels & Heels Fully Broad Edition

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 00:01:52 +0000

Drifting, a sub culture of self expression, started out with some youths who were trying to find themselves in a system made to stomp out individuality. Drifting has become a sport, but the essence of its origin is hard to lose, and ignore.

The same way drifting came from a repressed culture, we could say the same about drifting here in Barbados, this form of self expression, is sweeping through the car culture scene here and with that, Wheels and Heels plays a huge role in helping to legitimise it. It brings this subculture into the spotlight, and man, did these drifters have something to say.

Start of the warm ups before Dexterity.

I was happy to be working with Randi, for the first time in an official capacity as part of Sleeper Forest, an amazing photographer in his own right. We were ready to get down to business, looking for the best angles to get up and personal with the action to come.

The event consisted of a dexterity competition, followed by a drift course, into a freestyle drift competition and, it crescendos with a burnout competition.

The dexterity competition requires the racers to compete head to head through an obstacle course, drifting around posts and cones, they are timed, and the racer with the overall best time is declared the winner.

Drivers slid, drifted, and yanked their cars around the course trying to get the best times they could.

These really close quarters push drivers to their limits or their machine's limit, its so amazing to see the wide range of cars though, from old school JDM cars to junkyard worthy Fords still laying down amazing times and giving crowds something to jump and shout about.

This Ford Sierra was absolutely mental!

SR20 CHARMONSTER driven by Mark vs 1jz swapped Cresta

Rawr

This Green Charmant, a Toyota chassis on the outside with an obnoxious wing and the guts of a Nissan, this SR20DET swap was dubbed the "Charmonster" it was so aggressive!

BIGBOB

Winning this Competition with best overall time was Robert "BIGBOB" with his Daihatsu Charmant, with an SR20DET swap, it was pretty awesome to see him in action again, I met him before at Vaucluse Raceway in previous drift event and it was nice to see him doing well with a new engine for competiton.

After the Official "Main" event was finished, it was really time to start the main event, that's where the drifting really got going. This is what many persons really came for and these guys couldn't wait to paint the lot with rubber.

As the sun went down on the event, the energy only built up and up as these guys kept the action going. By now everywhere smelt like burnt rubber, I'm pretty sure I did too. It really was a spirited performance, the passion filled the air from both the drivers and the spectators.

Many of the drivers slid into their zone, as they traversed the drift course and did their freestyle runs, not holding back on their engines, they were lead footed pushing the car, and about 2 of them met their ends. Two cars were pulled off the course after their engines said they had enough, one engine actually blew completely, with the connecting arm coming right out the block.

Marshalls ascertaining the status of the car, before pushing it off the course.

Once that was cleared up the action started again.

Check out this R33, I don't believe I will get over how insane this build is, especially with the screamer pipe installed and a "BARL to de bone" driver at the wheel, it really became a fire breathing Godzilla.

Finally it was time to top everything off, the burnout competition came, the tyre smoke ensued when they assembled in front the crowd, well more like backed the crowds so they could be showered in smoke and bits of rubber.

Doubtlessly this wrapped up the event for sure, and I would say the event was a huge success! We at Sleeper Forest are looking forward for more events from The Barbados Auto Racing League in the near future.

Until next time, Happy Motoring.

Alex - Photography, Writing

Randi - Photography

Sideways is Life

Alexandre Haynes — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:10:02 +0000

BARL stands for "Barbados Auto Racing League" and we had the privilege of hanging out with them this weekend, meeting the drivers and their incredible builds.

This weekend's forecast - Smokey with a chance of backfire! Things are really heating up as we get closer to the BARL Wheels & Heels Event.

It's great to see persons this enthusiastic about any form of racing really. BARL has 23 years of history as a auto racing group here in Barbados and they are doing their upmost to keep the discipline alive.

There's a wide range of machines in the group, from really old school JDM to some euro's to some more mordern rides.

Cars are a platform to build on, sometimes persons are really innovative in the way they try to achieve their goals, whether it be big on power, or just lots of fun to drive. Check out that Charmant with a 3SGE BEAMS, its crazy !

Or this one with more driver oriented mods instead, and "weight reduction", I absolutely love how much character it has.

No sideways event is really complete without your everyday Godzilla showing up to cause some chaos, this rwd R33, with a screamer pipe certainly does the trick.

The driver Marlon, is almost always in front my camera at different events constantly tweaking and fixing his car to get it right, he said he installed the worlds most expensive handbrake for this event.

A massive spanner, it's definitely unique and insanely cool.

This cressida,driven by "Blackboy" or "Sicky Back" is a 1JZ swap, coming right out of the 1JZ alley, we wrote about a few months ago. I am looking forward to seeing him tear it up (in a very responsible way of course).

One incredible driver, I think everyone in Barbados knows this guy by now, but if you haven't its because he's actually really modest about it.

We can without a doubt say these guys are "BARL To De Bone"

Here are a few more cars that showed up for some fun, feel free to download images use them as wallpapers whatever you like.

We hoping the event goes really well this weekend, and everyone enjoys either being in the drivers seat, or watching from the sidelines. We want to see you there.

Alex - Until next time, happy motoring.

Chefette Shakedown Lime 2017

Alexandre Haynes — Sat, 20 May 2017 05:43:35 +0000

Chefette Restaurants has a long history in Barbados of sponsoring and supporting Motorsport. This Shakedown in association with Rally Barbados, was a great opportunity to see see 3 incredible machines that will be going into the Sol Rally Barbados events.

Enjoy the gallery down below.

Feel Free to download and save these images for either your phone or computer wallpapers.

Scrutineering, Rally is Off to a Great Start!

Alexandre Haynes — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 17:50:23 +0000

Rally is on ! Saturday April 22nd, 2017, was the official "scrutineering" of the rally cars, a final check up to make sure any problems are in order and any modifications and upgrades are logged.

Rally in Barbados is actually one of the biggest Motorsport events of the year, and we see many drivers locally and from overseas showing up to take part.

The vibe was pretty amazing as well, with racers and car enthusiasts mingling and having a great time. Enjoy these images from the event.

We wish all the drivers and co-drivers all the best in the upcoming rally stages - Happy Racing !

For more information click "Here"