On Sunday St. Thomas in Barbados will reverberate to the sounds of a Formula One engine for the first time ever as factory test driver Marc Gené races a Ferrari F2005 F1 car round the streets of the Caribbean island on a specially laid out road course. Stewart Gill, the Executive Director of the SOL Group, who have organised the event, compared the impact the Scuderia will make on Sunday to the day Concorde first arrived in Barbados.

Marc Gené and the gleaming Ferrari F2005 were introduced at a press conference in St. Thomas, Barbados yesterday. The factory test driver, a former Grand Prix driver himself, will demonstrate the red machine, previously used in action by Michael Schumacher, on a 3 kilometre long course of road section from Shell Warrens to Automotive Arts in Welches. During the press conference Gené revealed that although he has never driven in the Barbados before his training has prepared him very well for the very hot and humid conditions, likening the island's climate to the Malaysian and Brazilian Grands Prix where similar conditions occur. Gené added that due to the stresses of driving an F1 car, such as the heavy steering through bends where up to 4g can be experienced, he trains for up to 4-5 hours a days.

The idea for this showpiece event came from SOL, the regional company who last year bought out Shell's petroleum marketing businesses which are spread across the thirteen Eastern Caribbean countries as well as in Guyana, Suriname and Belize.
 

Last week SOL launched Shell's V-Power petroleum across the Caribbean nations it covers and this high-profile event highlights this fact is the best possible way, a marketing stunt that is expected to see the residents of St. Thomas, Barbados turn out 'en masse' to witness. "Shell V-Power gasoline was developed by the scientists at Shell Global Solutions," said Gill at the press conference. "It is the only fuel available in this market created with technology developed for Ferrari Formula One racing fuel and then adapted for road cars," he add.

Gill also allayed local fears of inconvenience that might be caused by the event: "SOL has ensured that residents are provided with access to and from their homes during the event, in one case building a temporary road," adding that ear plugs have been donated to a nearby nursing home. "We have advised the public that these cars are extremely noisy and strongly encourage all spectators to bring ear plugs with them for themselves and especially children and those with sensitive hearing," he said. At the end of the press conference Andrew Rollins, Finance Director of SOL, presented a cheque of $10,000 to the Salvation Army-organised feeding programme.