Manning wins opening loose surface test of the season

Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning (Quaker State/Simpson Motors/Pirelli/GFC Mitsubishi Evo V) emerged victorious from Sunday's (August 18) first loose-surface event of the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) 2002 Autozone/LAW Motors Championship on a revised three-kilometre course at Black Bess in St Peter.
The popular stage has been improved in recent weeks, with a new sequence of flowing high-speed marl-surfaced corners, which drivers described as "real sweet"; and the new section was a hit with spectators, too, hundreds of whom crowded to watch the action. After a drive-through to let the 30 competitors see the new layout, each was allowed one practice run and three official timed runs.
Manning, whose flowing style suited the revised layout, was in determined mood from the start, setting the pace on his first run, a little over three seconds quicker than Roger Mayers (Automotive Art Ford Escort WRC); when Manning was slower on his second run, Mayers closed to within six-tenths, but the Escort driver was unable to better this when he missed out on a third run thanks to a slipping clutch. Manning's final run time of 2min 19.25secs was fastest of the day.
Group N front-runner Barry Gale was on form again, third behind Manning and Mayers after the first two runs, although his day was to end in disaster when he rolled his Castrol/VIBE Fruit Juices/Simpson Motors/Wurkz Engineering/Mix 96.9FM Mitsubishi Evo VI mid-way through the new section on his final run; Gale was uninjured and his earlier time still good enough for Group N victory and fourth overall, but the car needs extensive work to front body panels before the next loose event in September.
Roger Hill (Nassco Toyota Celica GT4) finished third, with an impressive display from Sean Dowding in his Mitsubishi Evo 5 netting him a well-deserved fifth place, with Geoff Noel (Napa/Pirelli/AutoZone/Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Evo VI) sixth and Richard Roett (Roett's Garage Toyota Celica GT4) seventh.
The top 10 was completed by the leading three driviers in Modified 6, led by class winner Sean Gill (Simpson Motors Suzuki Ignis); he was more than 2secs clear of Barry Mayers (Automotive Art Toyota Starlet), with Ian Warren (Toyota Starlet) third in the class. Paul Bourne was disappointed to finish just outside the top 10, unable to improve his first-run time when a gearbox problem struck the Group N Banks/Pirelli Impreza WRX he was driving while awaiting the return of his regular Subaru Impreza WRC from its overseas rebuild following his accident on the Texaco.
Geoffrey Ullyett (Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Goodyear Tyres/Argent Lubricants/Sikkens Nissan 150Y) won the Open Modified class by the most comprehensive margin of the day - 25 seconds - while the narrowest victory went to John Corbin (Corbin's Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla), who claimed Modified 7 by just five-hundredths of a second from Greg Cozier (M7 Carib/Valvoline Oil Ford Escort Mk II).
Roger Marshall (Photo Finish One Hour Labs/Agfa Film Toyota Starlet) won Modified 5 by 1.2secs after Wayne Manning's Castrol Black Bess/Quarry Ltd Peugeot 205 XS developed a gearbox problem, while Adrian Linton maintained his overall lead in the BRC standings with victory in Production 2 & 3 merged in the Royal Westmoreland/Crane & Equipment/Aerial Platforms/Sunpower/Castrol Vauxhall Astra.

Results follow
For further information, contact Robin Bradford (treelogy@sunbeach.net or 422 1829)
BRC web site: www.rallyclub.com

BRC Autozone/LAW Motorsport Championship 2002
Event - Loose Event #1
Venue - Black Bess, August 18, 2002

Overall
1 Trevor Manning (M8 Quaker State/Simpson Motors/Pirelli/GFC Mitsubishi Evo V), 2m 19.25s
2 Roger Mayers (M9 Automotive Art/Mix 96.9 FM Ford Escort WRC), 2m 20.82s
3 Roger Hill (M8 Esso/Nassco/Michelin/Motor Mac Toyota Celica GT4), 2m 25.90s
4 Barry Gale (P4 Castrol/VIBE Fruit Juices/Simpson Motors/Wurkz Engineering/Mix 96.9FM Mitsubishi Evo VI), 2m 26.60s
5 Sean Dowding (M8 Globe Finance/NPK Construction Equipment/Axis Inc Mitsubishi Evo V), 2m 27.53s
6 Geoffrey Noel (P4 Napa/Pirelli/AutoZone/Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Evo VI), 2m 27.91s
7 Richard Roett (M9 Michelin/Esso/Nassco/Lucky Horseshoe/Roett's Garage Toyota Celica GT4), 2m 29.61s
8 Sean Gill (M6 Simpson Motors/Teaxco/DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre/Pirelli Suzuki Ignis), 2m 32.67s
9 Barry Mayers (M6 Automotive Art/Origo Graphics Toyota Starlet), 2m 34.96s
10 Ian Warren (M6 Bardhal/Star Mart/Wrigleys Chewing Gum/Halton Graphics Toyota Starlet), 2m 36.26s
etc
Class winners
Modified 9 R Mayers Modified 8 Manning Production 4 B Gale Open Modified Geoffrey Ullyett (OM Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Goodyear Tyres/Argent Lubricants/Sikkens Nissan 150Y), 2m 45.6.49s Modified 7 John Corbin (M7 Corbin's Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla), 2m 45.15s Modified 6 S Gill Modified 5 Roger Marshall (M5 Photo Finish One Hour Labs/Agfa Film Toyota Starlet), 2m 41.94s Production 2 & 3 merged Adrian Linton (P3 Royal Westmoreland/Crane & Equipment/Aerial Platforms/Sunpower/Castrol Vauxhall Astra), 2m 41.41s