John Powell's SOL Rally Barbados preparations stepped up a gear on Sunday May 6th at the Valvoline Shakedown Stages. Driving his Dom Buckley Motorsport prepared Subaru S14 WRC he took second overall in the event behind Roger Skeete in an S12 Subaru WRC.

Having competed in Mexico a couple weeks ago in a Group N Mitsubishi John adapted well to the step up in power and the change of surface as this event was tarmac and the Mexican event was gravel. Setting 3 fastest times on the day, John finished only 10 seconds behind Skeete who has won SOL Rally Barbados for the last two years.

This is a very encouraging result for John and shows how close he is to last years winner and will give him great confidence leading up to the main rally.

Also in the event in a Dom Buckley Motorsport prepared Ford Focus WRC was Paul Bourne. Paul finished runner up on the main event last year and will be looking to go one better this year. Despite some Launch Control problems with the Focus Paul finished 5th overall and will be looking forward to the main event in June.

Check our events section for information on the SOL Rally Barbados