On his final event in a rally car, VK Vent Axia rally driver Paul Bird bowed out in style with a superb runner up position on this weekend's SOL Rally Barbados.
 
Driving the Subaru WRC, the Penrith driver had enlisted his 2005 ANCRO Championship winning co-driver Ian Windress for the two-day event and after a cautious start, the pair were soon inside the top ten on the opening day, ending up third overall behind Kris Meeke (Toyota WRC) and Gary Gregg (Ford Focus WRC), despite losing the spotlights on the latter stages.
 
With typical style, Bird - who was keeping one eye on his World Superbike team's exploits in the USA at the same time - continued his charge and after setting an unprecedented fastest time on the Kendal South stage (SS15), he set about reeling Ulsterman Meeke in.
 
Nearly a minute adrift at the final service, Bird ended up less than thirty seconds behind the eventual winners after the twenty-two stages around the Caribbean island and declared at the finish that he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself:
 
"What a fantastic event and a great result for us, I'm delighted to have finished second behind a world class driver such as Kris Meeke but I'm even more thrilled that I beat my old mate Steve Perez, especially seeing as though I used his old tyres! We got some serious air over the jump on the Superspecial and I could hear the crowd cheering, it was superb. The only downer is I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket when I went swimming in the sea earlier in the week but despite that, the champagne will taste even better tonight, seeing as though Steve is buying yet again!"

Despite a heroic drive, Kick Energy rally driver Steve Perez just missed out on the podium for the third time in as many years when he had to settle for fourth place on this weekend's SOL Rally Barbados.
 
Driving the Ford Focus WRC, the Chesterfield driver along with Welshman Howard Davies on the maps, got off to a steady start by posting ninth fastest time on the opening Canefield North stage but by SS5, the pair had climbed to fifth overall on the opening morning.
 
A gallant charge up the leaderboard saw them climb as high as third during the afternoon but at the overnight halt, the pair held fourth place amidst a titanic tussle with friend and rival Paul Bird (Subaru).
 
Sunday saw Perez attack but despite a string of fast times on the final loop of stages, he couldn't improve and as a result, he had to settle for his third, fourth placing on the event.
 
"I have to say I'm disappointed, especially having to concede a podium to Birdy, seeing as though I've helped him no end over here. It all started when he tried to wipe me out on the recce, crashing into the back of me and re-injuring my neck, and then I had to bale him out as he'd not brought enough tyres with him so he ended up using some of mine. But seriously, I'm happy enough with the result, we'll just have to come back next year and by-pass the podium, I'm going all out to win here!"
 
 
2008 SOL Rally Barbados - Results
 
1 K Meeke/P Nagle (Toyota Corolla WRC) - 0:57:02.56
2 P Bird/ I Windress (Subaru WRC) - 0:57:23.83
3 G Gregg/H Hutchinson (Ford Focus WRC) - 0:57:41.01
4 S Perez/H Davies (Ford Focus WRC) - 0:58:11.23
5 S Gill/MCummins (Suzuki Swift) - 0:58:38.43
6 T Manning/D Edwards (Mitsubishi Evo 8) - 0:58:49.17
7 R Hill/J Gittens (Toyota Celica) - 0:59:21.99
8 R Champion/C Thorley (Mitsubishi Evo 8) 0:59:59.97
9 G Noel/K Yearwood (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 1:00:11.07
10 J Still/H Hazell (BMW) - 1:00:56.39