The rally, which is an annual and the biggest motoring event on the JMMC calender, concluded last weekend at the National Stadium, St Andrew. The two-day rally took the 37 competitors across sections of St Ann and St Catherine.

"It was one of the most intense and competitive rallies I have ever seen," Anderson told Automotives on Friday.

He argued that the high points of the event were the rivalry between the four World Rally Champion-ship cars driven by John Powell, Gary Gregg, Paul Bourne and Jeffrey Panton, and the fantastic performance by Panton.

"Gregg drove a very sensible and well-measured rally. He could have given up on some of the stages where he got beaten, but he stuck in there," the JMMC president said.

The show put on by the 79-year-old Barbadian, Harold Morley, was another good performance.

"What also impressed me was the high level of professionalism displayed by the mechanical crews. They were set up everywhere, in bushes and even on some of the stages," boasted Anderson.

He said he believed that despite the global recession, 2009 was a successful year for motorsport in Jamaica.

"Things got off to a slow start but picked up over the months. Go-kart and Dover went well," the JMMC president said.

The top five finishers of Rally Jamaica were:

1. Gary Gregg/Hugh Hutchinson (Jamaica)

2. Jeffrey Panton/Mike Fennell Jr (Jamaica)

3. John Powell/Michael March (Jamaica)

4. James Betts/Jeremy Gonsalves (Barbados)

5. Harold Morley/Geoffrey Goddard (Barbados).

- Glenroy Sinclair