Rally Departs Downtown

Lack of funding, sponsorship lead to shift in final leg

Chad Bryan , Gleaner Writer

This year's staging of Rally Jamaica will not end in downtown Kingston as previous stagings had done which provided onlookers with the thrills of high-powered cars doing tyre-smoking manoeuvres on the city's streets.

According to chairman of the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club (JMMC), Peter Clarke, the guaranteed crowd-pleaser will not happen this year because of a lack of funding and sponsorship.

Instead, Tru-Juice will organise the final leg of the competition at its Bybrook Orchards in Bog Walk, St Catherine, on December 1.

The JMMC will host the annual international rally over the weekend starting November 29.

However, Kingston will not be left out totally. Prior to the competition, the JMMC will have a ceremonial launch of the rally in New Kingston on Friday. The actual racing starts the following day at Lydford Mines Factory Yard in St Ann.

Several overseas entrants from parts of Central and South America will be participating in the rally which forms the final leg of the North American Central American Motoring (NACAM) Rally Championships.

"There will be about 13 or 15 overseas participants from Trinidad, Barbados, Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Suriname, and Venezuela," Clarke said.

Clarke also said between 27 and 29 drivers have already confirmed their participation, with more streaming in as entries are still being accepted.

Brand manager of Tru-Juice, Rojah Thomas, is thrilled that the company is hosting the final leg of Rally Jamaica 2013. There is a proposed special celebrity race-off and special celebrity appearances are scheduled to happen, but the participants are yet to be confirmed.

"It is still being planned. It's a little bit shaky but it's something we're currently working on," Thomas said.

Tru-Juice has improved the spectator experience. "We created a new viewing area; as opposed to last year, it's on a hill and then we have decorated two flatbeds as well. So it's already elevated on the hill and then we've elevated it some more. We've placed it in a position that gives you a great vantage point to see more of the cars driving, so you will experience much more of the race," Thomas said.

Tru-Juice is also using this segment of the event as a charity event, as part proceeds are scheduled to go the Bybrook Basic School, St Ann.

"It's really in our backyard and we at Tru-Juice really want to take the initiative to give back. It's a school that we help to maintain and we just thought that if the event goes well then this is just another opportunity to give back - which we have already been doing anyway," Thomas said.