With expectations and excitement growing, fourteen crews will contest the FIA R5 class in Sol Rally Barbados next month. It is a record for the island, and significant growth from the three in 2019, then seven in Sol Rally Barbados 2020, when America’s Ken Block won the most recent running of the event overall in a Ford Fiesta Rally2. The numbers have been boosted by an entry for Barbadian FIA F3 racer Zane Maloney in a Skoda Fabia, two new registrations for the island’s R5 Rally Championship presented by First Citizens and a strong challenge from the United Kingdom.Sol Rally Barbados 2022 is slated for June 4 and 5, with King of the Hill the previous Sunday (May 29) sponsored for the first time by First Citizens, each event counting towards the R5 Rally Championship with the results of King of the Hill used to seed the rally. With 60 points on offer for the win, this year’s event is the highest-paying of the 13 rounds, representing more than one-fifth of the season’s available points, but it is also the most challenging. And unlike the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Championship, R5 points will be awarded solely on the two-day result, whereas each day is a separate round of the BRC Championship.Maloney, who won the British F4 Championship in 2019, enjoyed his first experience of island closed-road rallying in March in the Fabia R5 owned by his uncle Stuart on a break from his FIA F3 campaign with Trident Motorsport. The 18-year-old is the only driver this year to have beaten the older Maloney, current leader of the R5 Rally Championship in his newer Fabia Rally2 evo. Anticipation in the island is high for the battle ahead, particularly with an additional family rivalry at play, between experienced brothers Kreigg and Kristian Yearwood, co-driving for Zane and Stuart respectively.