MANNING TURNS OUT FOR BLACK BESS FINALE

Trevor ‘Electric Micey’ Manning has joined the growing entry for the final round of the 2004 Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Drivers’ Championship on Sunday (October 31). Titled the BRC Stage Rally, it will be a mixed-surface event, run at Hangman’s Hill and the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas and Black Bess Plantation in St Peter.
After a programme of development work in England, the Simpson Motors Rally Team Mitsubishi Evo VIII, in which Manning finished third in Rally Barbados, is being shipped direct to Jamaica for that island’s international rally in December. In its absence, he will again use his former Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo, in which he contested the Grand Final of the Vaucluse Raceway RallySprint Cup.
Not only is his regular car not available, neither is his regular co-driver, as James Betts is entered in his own Toyota Corolla; so it will be a family affair for Manning at the weekend, with cousin Graham in the co-driver’s seat.
Manning is looking forward to the event, which will be the last time that the popular Black Bess stage is used for motor sport competition; on Friday, he said: “They’re working on the car now; when I drove it at Vaucluse there was a problem with third gear, which slowed me up getting off the line, but that is all fixed. We’ve got some new tyres for the car, too, so we’re all set!”
Manning’s Lancer is entered in Modified Open, where he will face the likes of Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (BMW M3), Andrew Jones/Stuart White (Ford Escort) and Shaun Alleyne/Jim Mark (Toyota Starlet); the group promises sideways driving aplenty, particularly at Black Bess.
The BRC Stage Rally will start at 8.00am from Williams Industries North side and crews will be allowed to service there between the first four stages, which are being sponsored by Newmart Rentals; the stage, being driven four times in the same direction, will run up Hangman's Hill and use sections of the Vaucluse Raceway. The last of these stages is scheduled to start a little after 9.30am, after which the event will switch to Black Bess, where repair work to the stage has been sponsored by Bacassa, the development company which has purchased land at the plantation.
The first three stages at Black Bess, slated to start at 10.10am, will run in a westerly direction; after the lunch halt, the stage will be reversed, the three easterly runs scheduled to start at 12.15am. The course will be much the same as it has been in the recent past, including the grass hairpin at the Pear Grove end (just before the easterly finish) and the ‘loop’, which repeats part of the course and allows for a longer stage.
Entries were still being received on Friday, and BRC competition secretary Barry Gale is optimistic of more than 20 cars taking the start. He said: “Unfortunately, thanks to a number of circumstances, including the close scheduling of events, we will be without one or two popular names. But, from the entries received so far, I can say there is little doubt that the crowd will be entertained, especially on the loose at Black Bess.”
The BRC’s 2004 competition programme will finish with the final round of the Ruf 'n' Tuf Navigational Championship on Sunday, November 7.

BRC Stage Rally
October 31, 2004
Provisional entry list at October 29 (in alphabetical order of driver):
Shaun Alleyne/Jim Mark (MO Rent-A-Tool/Autolink/Friendly Signs/Champion Auto/Percy King Auto Parts/PhotoBarbados Toyota Starlet)
Neil Barnard/Chris Hoyos (M5 Automotive Art/Courts/Kerridge/Yokohama/Simpson Motors Rally Team Opel Corsa)
James Betts/Jeremy Gonsalves (P3 Champion Auto/KG Enterprises/Venture Marble/Hankook/Bridgestone/L & N Workshop Toyota Corolla)
Edward Corbin/Mark Perkins (M7 Automotive Art/Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla SR)
John Corbin/Shareef Walcott (M7 Automotive Art/Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla)
Sean Dowding/Jason Cozier (M8 Pro Pac/Globe Finance Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
Barry Gale/Ryan Rodriguez (P4 Automotive Art/Courts/Kerridge/Yokohama/Simpson Motors Rally Team Mitsubishi Evo VI)
Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (P3 Nassco/Gale's Hatcheries/Castrol Toyota Starlet Turbo)
Nicholas Gill/Reggie Gill (MO Toyo Tyres/McEnearney Quality Mazda 323)
Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (M6 Automotive Art/Courts/Kerridge/Yokohama/Simpson Motors Rally Team Suzuki Ignis)
Andrew Jones/Stuart White (MO Total Sport/A P Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Hotel Ford Escort MkII)
Trevor Manning/Graham Manning (M0 Autolink/Simpson Motors/Citgo/Thorogood/Garbage Master/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo)
Roger Marshall/Bruce Lambert (M7 Signia Financial/Western Union/Bill Express Hyundai Accent)
Harold Morley/Geoff Goddard (M9 Sunbeach Communications Subaru Impreza WRC)
Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (MO Nescafe/Philips Lighting/Castrol/Crane & Equipment BMW M3)
Mark Thompson/Kurt Thompson (M6 Glassesco/NKM Clothing Toyota Starlet)
Geoffrey Ullyett/Jamie Marsh (M7 Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Pro-Pac/LubriGuard/Sikkens/Goodyear/Crane & Equipment/Champion Nissan 200Y)
Kirk Watkins/Rhett Watson (M6 Abacus Builders/Planned Maintenance/Bridgestone/Castrol Toyota Corolla GTi)

For further information, robin@bradfax.com