Natya Soodeen is a rally driver from Barbados who started competing seriously in 2020. After a debut at Vaucluse Raceway in 2019, her first rally was delayed due to the coronavirus crisis. She managed to spend time training in Sweden and the USA before the King of the Hill Rally in October.
Her car was a BMW 318 Compact E36 and she was entered into the Barbados championship’s BimmaCup. Co-driven by Justin Sisnett all season, her best finish was a 24th place in the BRC Winter Rally. She was third in the BimmaCup. Her first entry into the Sol Rally Barbados ended early on, as she rolled her car.
In 2021, she concentrated on rallysprints in Barbados. Her best overall finish in the BMW was 21st, in the MCBI/BRC Sprint. As well as rallies, she won a national autocross championship.Away from active competition, she was elected head of the Women in Motorsport committee for Barbados.
In 2022, she rallied the BMW quite extensively in Barbados, with a best finish of 21st in the BRC Winter Rally. She had a new navigator in Tammy Nelson, having wanted to compete with a woman co-driver earlier. Sadly, she did not finish the Sol Rally Barbados again.
She got rid of the Sol Rally Barbados albatross in 2023, taking the BMW to 39th overall with Sameisha Williams. It was an exciting year for her; she scored her first top ten in a single-venue stage rally in Barbados, and she also had her first overseas event. The Martinique Rally Tour was part of the French championship and she was fourteenth overall, winning the ladies' award.
She continued to compete extensively in 2024, aking the BMW to Martinique again. This time, it developed mechanical problems and she retired on stage 13, near the end of the second leg. She and Sameisha finished the Rally Barbados again, in 58th place, not helped by a penalty.The BRC Winter Rally was her best event again and she was 25th.
After so long with the BMW, it must have been a big change to switch to Peugeot power at the start of 2025. Natya's new car was a Peugeot 208 R2. She had an inauspicious start, failing to finish the season-opening BRC Shakedown Rally. The reason was prosaic; she was having trouble depressing the clutch fully. A month later, clutch pedal adjusted, she was finishing Rally Barbados, in 48th place from 67 finishers. She was then 18th in Martinique.
A series of class wins in sprint events in Barbados followed, leading to a class championship at the end of the year. She brought the BMW out again for the BRC Winter Rally, but did not finish.
She continued to rally the Peugeot in 2026.
Before turning to motorsport, Natya represented both Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago in equestrian events until she was suspended by sporting authorities, for reasons that were never made clear.
(Image coypright Natya Soodeen)
