On August 23, the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) hosted its highly anticipated Double-Header Summer Sprint, a event that doubled as the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2026 BRC Driver’s & Class Championship, delivering edge-of-your-seat competition that ended with Mark Maloney and Dane Skeete sharing top honours after an exceptionally close battle across the event’s two directional runs.
A field of 46 competitive entries gathered at the St John and St George stages for the weekend’s racing, with pre-event proceedings opening with a respectful minute of silence held at the Colleton Plantation Yard service area. The moment of remembrance honored three beloved figures of the Barbadian motoring community—Dave Crawford, former Motoring Club Barbados Inc chairman Glyne Greaves, and Harold ‘Doc’ Morley—all of whom passed away in the weeks leading up to the event.
The first leg of the sprint sent competitors racing from Kendal in St John to Ellesmere in St George, where Maloney delivered a blistering run that saw him cross the line eight-tenths of a second ahead of Skeete to claim the round 7 win. When the route reversed for round 8, however, Skeete bounced back in dramatic fashion, edging out Maloney by a razor-thin margin of just eight hundredths of a second to take the second leg victory.
The event saw no shortage of standout performances beyond the top two overall contenders. Jamaican driver Kyle Gregg secured a third-place finish in round 7, while Stuart Maloney, Mark Maloney’s compatriot, worked through early technical challenges to climb to third place in round 8. Mark-Anthony Hinkson, the highest-placed two-wheel-drive competitor across both legs, turned in an impressive consistent performance that saw him crack the overall top 10 in both the first and second runs, a feat that earned him widespread praise from spectators and fellow competitors alike.
Speaking to reporters after the final results were posted, Mark Maloney reflected on his successful day, crediting focused preparation rather than luck for his strong results. ‘I know I have the ability and I just have to make sure my head is clear. I know it’s not luck,’ he said, noting that Stuart Maloney’s morning power steering issues kept him from mounting a tighter challenge at the top of the leaderboard. ‘Unfortunately Stuart had power steering issues in the morning, as I’m sure he would have been much closer but the day was impeccable for me.’
Full official results for round 7 of the 2026 BRC Driver’s & Class Championship are as follows: 1. Mark Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 2 minutes 26.63 seconds; 2. Dane Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) – +0.82 seconds; 3. Kyle Gregg (JAM, Ford Fiesta Rally2) – +1.13 seconds; 4. Josh Read (Ford Fiesta Rally2) – +1.34 seconds; 5. Mark Thompson (Citroen C3 Rally2) – +1.82 seconds; 6. Stuart Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) – +2.50 seconds; 7. David Husbands (Ford Fiesta R5) – +8.26 seconds; 8. Brian Gill (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) – +8.89 seconds; 9. Kurt Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) – +9.19 seconds; 10. Mark-Anthony Hinkson (BMW M3) – +10.43 seconds.
For round 8, the official finishing order was: 1. Dane Skeete – 2 minutes 24.34 seconds; 2. Mark Maloney – +0.08 seconds; 3. Stuart Maloney – +0.70 seconds; 4. Josh Read – +2.07 seconds; 5. Kyle Gregg (JAM) – +2.59 seconds; 6. Mark Thompson – +4.55 seconds; 7. Brian Gill – +6.01 seconds; 8. Kurt Thompson – +6.23 seconds; 9. Mark-Anthony Hinkson – +6.24 seconds; 10. David Husbands – +8.26 seconds.