Gary Gregg and Hugh Hutchinson stand next to a Ford Focus at the official opening ceremony and special stage of the JMMC motor rally at the National Stadium car park on December 7, 2007. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Defending champions Gary Gregg and co-driver Hugh Hutchinson are among 42 competitors who will face the opening marshalls this morning, when day two of Rally Jamaica starts at the Petcom Service Station in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

The event officially got under way yesterday afternoon with two special stages at the National Stadium car park in Kingston.

Competitors are expected to cover 11 stages across the old bauxite mine and airstrip at Reynolds and Lydford, St Ann.

Gregg and Hutchinson have already won this rally three times and are now looking forward to adding another major trophy to their collection.

"The car is ready and we are ready," said Gregg, who will be driving one of the five World Rally Cars (WRC).

Fast times

The competitors are scheduled to run the Lydford and Reynolds stages several times and the cars producing the fastest times are expected to be among the early leaders.

"Today's stages suit me and my car, which is fast," Dover's top driver, Doug Gore, told The Gleaner yesterday.

Although the former champion is not expected to beat the five WRCs, he and his co-driver, Mark Nelson, are looking forward to winning the JN8 Class and also to demonstrating the reliability of their Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer 10.

The team of Mexican driver Ricardo Trivinio and his co-driver, Checo Salom, has been dubbed the dark horse of the event.

This is the first time they are participating in Rally Jamaica, unlike the Barbadians who have been here almost every year. Although Trivinio has no idea of what to expect, he is hoping to debut on a winning note.

"A win for me will be very fantastic," said Trivinio, who will be driving a 2003 WRC Peugeot 206.

Of the seven teams out of Barbados, Roger Skeete believes he and Paul Bourne have the best chance of upsetting the apple cart.

"We are much better prepared than we were five years ago when we finished second in the event," boasted Skeete.

Skeete and co-driver Robert Simmons will be driving one of the five top cars in the rally.

"Jamaica's Gary Gregg has proven to be very quick. We understand that Jeffrey Panton too is quick. My fellow countryman, Paul Bourne, is driving one of the WRC's, so I am expecting a tight finish," said Skeete, who has been participating in this event over the past eight years.

Panton believes he and Gregg might complete the quinela for Jamaica.

"It is going to be a very tight race, but we are ready," said Panton.