CRONEY AND GILL WIN RUF’N’TUF TITLES

After four well-supported and competitive events during the season, Kenny Croney has won the Navigator’s title in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Ruf 'n' Tuf Navigational Championship, sponsored by Barbados Industries Ltd . . . but the organisers had to revert to the tie-break rules to settle the matter.
Having won the second round of the championship Croney, who sat alongside Philip McConney in his Suzuki Samurai, was looking forward to another good result in last Sunday’s (November 7) final round; he was 12 points clear of the opposition in the Navigator’s title chase, so looked set to cruise to the title.
But Croney and McConney hadn’t bargained on a bad day for them, and a good day for the opposition. Closest challenger to Croney before the weekend had been Anna-Lee Alleyne, navigating for husband Leslie in the AutoZone Inc/Quality Tyre/Bridgestone Mazda B2500Tdi. They claimed third place to Croney and McConney’s 16th position, which left Croney and Alleyne tied on 37 points. The rules resolve such ties using the best results of each competitor – with victory in round two, the title went to Croney, Alleyne’s best results a pair of third places.
Derek Gill (Suzuki Samurai) won the Driver’s title, his fourth place in the final round also helping Navigator Kevyn Yearwood to finish third behind Croney and Alleyne, despite contesting only two of the championship’s four events. The pair’s victory in the championship’s opening round had given them a good base on which to build their challenge, Gill beating McConney and Alleyne to the Driver’s title.
The route for Sunday’s final round had been set by Geoffrey Goddard and Doug Armstrong; using entirely Tulip navigation, it covered around 90 kilometres, taking competitors from the start and finish at Kendall Sporting through the parishes of St Philip, St George and St John . . . and back.
The challenge attracted a deal of favourable comment from competitors impressed with the limited amount of public road which was used . . . and it must have suited brothers Ian and Robert Warren, who won by a margin of just 100 penalties in their Isuzu Pickup.
Continuing the family theme, second place went to the mother and son pairing of Biddy and Brett Barber (Biddy's Visitors Information Daihatsu Feroza), once again the tie-break rules used to separate them from third-placed Leslie and Anna-Lee Alleyne.
There was a typically strong performance from Keri-Dawn Watkins and Lisa Roett in the Hankook Tyres-supported Toyota RAV4; they finished sixth, yet another use of the tie-break rules placing them behind Stephen Mayers and son Roger in the M&M Racing Team Toyota Hilux.
The Novice class was won more comfortably by Paul Marshall and Ian Hutson (Mitsubishi L200), while the AutoZone Sportsmanship Award went to Gregory and Matthew Dickenson (Toyota Hilux).
The year-end trophies will be presented at the BRC’s Annual Prizegiving, which is scheduled for Friday, November 19, at 8pm at the Barbados Golf Club, Durants, Christchurch.

Ruf 'n' Tuf Navigational Championship
Round 4 - results
1st Ian Warren/Robert Warren (Isuzu Pickup), 150 penalties
2nd Biddy Barber/Brett Barber (Biddy's Visitors Information Daihatsu Feroza), 250pens
3rd Leslie Alleyne/Anna-Lee Alleyne (AutoZone Inc/Quality Tyre/Bridgestone Mazda B2500TDi), 250pens
4th Derek Gill/Kevyn Yearwood (Suzuki Samurai), 400pens
5th Stephen Mayers/Roger Mayers (M&M Racing Team Toyota Hilux), 400pens
6th Keri-Dawn Watkins/Lisa Roett (Hankook Tyres Toyota RAV4), 400pens
7th John Edwards/Stuart Gill (Jeep Wrangler), 450pens
8th David Lewis/Lindsay Farmer (Nissan Frontier), 500pens
9th Jason Cozier/Willie Hinds (Flyin' Fish Suzuki Samurai), 600pens
10th Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (www.rallyman.com Suzuki Vitara), 650pens
etc
Novice class
1st (15th overall) Paul Marshall/Ian Hutson (Mitsubishi L200), 850pens
2nd (17th overall) Neil Durant/Derek Johnson (Land Rover Defender 110), 1150pens
3rd (19th) Jamal Brathwaite/Curtis Greaves (Civicon Racing Suzuki Samurai), 1250pens
etc
AutoZone Sportsmanship Award
Gregory Dickenson/Matthew Dickenson (Toyota Hilux)

Ruf 'n' Tuf Navigational Championship
Final positions
Navigators
1st Kenney Croney, 37pts
2nd Anna-Lee Alleyne, 37pts
3rd Kevyn Yearwood, 30pts
4th Robert Warren, 27pts
5th Jason Downey, 25pts
etc

Drivers
1st Derek Gill, 55pts
2nd Philip McConney, 37pts
3rd Leslie Alleyne, 37pts
4th Brett Barber, 32pts
5th Ian Warren, 27pts
etc

For further information, robin@bradfax.com