On Sunday June 27th the Jamaica Motoring Club held the first in it's series of Stages Rallies for 1999. The event was organized by the Montego Bay Motoring Club, and it's main sponsor was Tony's Pizza, who is also located in Montego Bay.

The rally was a Tarmac pace note event, using 5 stage locations. Some of the stages were to be used more than once, and one was run in the reverse direction. A total of 11 stages would be used to the event, the first at Ironshore in Montego Bay.

There were only two teams competing from Kingston. The first was the team of John Ralston and Stephen Gunter, driving John's Mazda 323 GT-R, and the second was the team of Chris Shim and Anthony Ayoub, driving Chris' Toyota Starlet GT Turbo. Having built the engine in Chris' Starlet, Gunter Automotive was represented by the Kingston contingent.

The stages were obviously well chosen by the organizers, offering both short & twisty as well as long & fast. The event itself was well run, and the organizers must be commended.

The rally was the first for John and Stephen since their 7th place finish in the Goodyear International Tarmac rally in July 1998, and was also the first time Chris and Anthony rallied together. The event went well for both teams. On the 5th stage of the event, John and Stephen won the stage outright, a first for them. At the start of the following stage, Stephen had to drive the entire stage holding on to his door, because it would not shut! Despite having to do this, Stephen navigated the stage, until the targa cards used for scoring the rally tried to exit via the gap in the unclosed door. Holding the door in one hand, and the targa cards in the other, Stephen told John to "drive it as you see it", which he did very well. The result? another fastest time on stage, this time tying with two other teams.

The lunch halt found John and Stephen in 6th place overall, only 1 second behind the 5th place team. The goal for the rest of the event became clear: 5th place was within reach, but it would be a tough fight. Over the next 4 stages, the two teams exchanged fast times and even tied on the penultimate stage. John and Stephen found themselves 4 seconds behind with one stage to go.

At the start of the last stage, it was obviously "all or nothing" with 5th place so close. John drove very well, and beat the other team by the required 4 seconds, to take 5th place overall on the event.

To date, this is John and Stephen's best result on a stages rally. The team of Chris and Anthony accounted well for themseles, finishing 9th overall, and were fastest of the two wheel drive contingent.

John and Stephen would like to thank their sponsors Shell and Super Clubs for their support.