FARMER PLOUGHS ON FOR VICTORY

Lindsay Farmer and Megan Blades defeated all-comers – and some treacherous conditions – to win the final round of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) 4 x 4 Navigational Championship on Sunday (November 13). Driving their rallynut.com-backed Suzuki Samurai, they completed the Toyota November Safari – one of few sporting events to go ahead last weekend – with 688 penalites, just two in hand over the second-placed crew.
After the first of the two routes which made up the 100-kilometre event, which travelled through the parishes of St John, St Andrew and St Phillip, things had looked bad for Farmer and Blades: they had incurred nearly twice as many penalties – 610 to 350 – as the early leaders, Chris Beckley and Warren Gollop in the Castrol/Prestone/FB Batteries Mitsubishi Pajero.
Positions were reversed in route two, however, Farmer and Blades having a relatively trouble-free run, incurring just 78 more penalties to add to their total. Beckley and Gollop dropped back to finish third on 888 penalties, with Mark Western and Robin Hinds second on 690 penalties in the Yardman/Kar Parts Store Suzuki Samurai.
Despite finishing only seventh, Barry Gale and Neil Barnard did enough in the Yokohama/Nishi Koi Fish Food Mitsubishi L200 to claim the year-end driver’s and navigator’s championship titles respectively; husband and wife team Leslie and Annalee Alleyne placed fourth on Sunday in the Quality Tyre/Bridgestone Suzuki Samurai, to finish second in the championship standings.
Farmer said: “The weather more or less held off – the organisers only had to cancel the last 5km or thereabouts. Megan did an outstanding job - we had a rough time early on, as we started at number 28; by the time we got to some of the tricky areas, there were so many new tracks we couldn't tell where we were really supposed to go.
“We eventually saw a control, but we were approaching from the wrong direction; we took the penalty, got back on route, and ended up travelling in the front pack of about five jeeps. Then the rest of the pack went the wrong way at a junction, we made the correct turn, reached the control correctly, and didn’t see another competitor until the stop-over. Route two was OK, as we got ahead of the majority of competitors early on, and the tracks were still in good condition.”
The only major problem the winning crew encountered was in a St Philip plantation aptly-named River, in an incident which well illustrates the spirit of sportsmanship in which Safaris are conducted: “We were travelling along a track which was entirely under water, when Keri-Dawn Watkins dropped into a ‘hole’ the size of her Jeep, and barely managed to get out. We tried to go around it, but got dragged into the same hole and couldn't get out. We were sitting in water up to the edge of the seats, when Noel Edwards and Jason Downey managed to get by us.
“I stepped out, with the water up to mid-thigh, hooked up my tow rope, Noel hooked his up to that, and pulled us out. The engine never quit running even though the water was about half way up it, and the exhaust sounded like a motor boat while we sat in the water. So Noel and Jason definitely got my vote for sportsmanship, as they pulled us out when we were drowning.”
“All the competitors agreed that it was a very enjoyable and challenging Safari, so everyone’s thanks go to the route-setters, Biddy Barber, Paul Marshall, Brett Barber and Peter Bradshaw. I must also thank Roger Hill of Nassco for sponsoring the event, and the landowners who allowed us to use their roads and tracks to travel through. Finally, I cannot forget all the marshals – a lot of the route was muddy, and some was very, very wet, but there were still a lot of cheery faces to encourage us on our way. Thanks to all.”
At Tuesday evening’s prize-giving at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association, Searles, the first three crews home received trophies and Automotive Art vehicle service vouchers for $125, $75 and $50 respectively. Gregory and Anna-Maria Dickenson collected the trophies donated by Neptune Tours for the highest-placed Novice crew, while winning navigator Blades also claimed Biddy Barber’s trophy as highest-placed female navigator.
Event sponsor Nassco put up a special award for the highest-placed Toyota, a product voucher valued at $400, which was won by the delighted all-female crew of Keri-Dawn Watkins and Lisa Roett, who had finished eighth overall in their Hankook Tyres Toyota Rav 4.
A very successful event for Farmer and Blades was crowned when they also collected the Sportsmanship Award as the crew voted by their fellow competitors to have exhibited the most sportsmanlike qualities during the Safari. They receive a free general service from AutoZone Inc, which will also pay the crew’s entry fee and insurance for the first round of next year’s championship.

BRC 4 x 4 Navigational Championship
Round 4 – Toyota November Safari
Results - overall
1st Lindsay Farmer/Megan Blades (Rallynut.com Suzuki Samurai), 688 penalties
2nd Mark Western/Robin Hinds (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Suzuki Samurai), 690pens
3rd Christopher Beckley/Warren Gollop (Castrol/Prestone/FB Batteries Mitsubishi Pajero), 888pens
4th Leslie Alleyne/Annalee Alleyne (Quality Tyre/Bridgestone Suzuki Samurai), 896pens
5th Phillip McConney/Kenney Croney (Suzuki Samurai), 970pens
Novice Section
1st Gregory Dickenson/Anna-Maria Dickenson (Toyota Hilux), 1140pens
2nd Damian Brooker/Dustin Edwards (Toyota Hilux), 1432pens
3rd Troy Clarke/Wayne Forde (Suzuki Samurai), 1982pens
Winners of route 1
Beckley/Gollop, 350 pens
Winners of route 2
Farmer/Blades, 78 pens
AutoZone Inc Sportsmanship award
Farmer/Blades
Highest-placed novice crew
Dickenson/Dickenson, 9th overall
Highest-placed female navigator
Blades
Highest-placed Toyota
Keri-Dawn Watkins/Lisa Roett (Hankook Tyres Toyota Rav 4), 8th overall, 1104pens

BRC 4 x 4 Navigational Championship
Final Positions
Navigators
1st Neil Barnard (Yokohama/Nishi Koi Fish Food Mitsubishi L200), 52 points
2nd Annalee Alleyne, 46pts
3rd Kenney Croney, 44pts
4th Warren Gollop, 43pts
5th Robert Warren (Simpson Motors Isuzu Pickup), 39pts
etc
Highest-placed novice navigator
Jamal Brathwaite, 11th overall, 19pts
Highest-placed female navigator
Annalee Alleyne

Drivers
1st Barry Gale (Yokohama/Nishi Koi Fish Food Mitsubishi L200), 52pts
2nd Leslie Alleyne, 46pts
3rd Philip McConney, 44pts
4th Chris Beckley, 43pts
5th Ian Warren (Simpson Motors Isuzu Pickup), 39pts
etc
Highest-placed novice driver
Curtis Greaves, 11th overall, 19pts
Highest-placed female driver
Biddy Barber, 9th overall, 29pts

For further information, robin@bradfax.com