The Isle of Man Historic Rally and Barbados Historic Rally Carnival have teamed up to offer winners reciprocal free entries, including travel expenses.
Competitors in the Isle of Man Historic Rally, run this year between the 27th and 29th October, will have the opportunity to win a rally trip of a lifetime for two weeks under the Caribbean sun at the end of July next year.
A similar deal applies for the winner of this year's Barbados "King of the Carnival" prize, which has been in place since 2002 - if the winners are Europeans, they get to return to the coral island in 2012 for more of the same; if the winners are local competitors, they're off for asphalt adventures this October on the challenging roads of the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man Historic Rally celebrates its Silver Jubilee 25th anniversary this year and is the finale to this year's Dunlop/Wanago British Historic Rally Championship, one of the best-supported in the world. The Historic Rally runs alongside the Isle of Man International Rally, first held in 1963, and features 150 miles of challenging tarmac special stages.
Alan Teare, the Isle of Man Historic Rally Clerk of Course is delighted with the association.
"It's very much a natural fit for Rally Isle of Man," he says. "As the longest standing historic rally in the British Isles, we are all about promoting a high quality event that offers competitors from around the globe the chance to compete on our fantastic roads. We look forward to welcoming the winners of the Barbados Historic Rally Carnival to our island and are delighted to be able to partner with such a high-profile event. Our climates may differ, but the welcome for visitors will be every bit as warm! The reciprocal prize of an expense-paid trip to the Barbados Historic Rally Carnival will certainly add interest, and maybe pace, to our Historic classes."
Barbados Historic Rally Carnival organiser Greg Cozier also enthuses about the opportunity:
"For many years, we've had various prize exchange programmes with events in UK and Ireland; the Rally Carnival is a hugely social event and we promote it mainly through social interaction. To be teamed up with a legendary asphalt event like the Manx Rally is a great opportunity for us as organisers, as well as our local competitors, who have a chance to win the prize to contest one of the best asphalt rallies in the world."
