LINTON LEADING CHARGE TO TITLE

Posted on July 19th, 2006.

Former Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Champion Adrian Linton is on top once again, leading the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s Championship with five of the eight rounds completed. With more than 50 drivers so far having scored points, just eight points cover the four drivers at the head of the table – and all campaigning two-wheel-drive cars.
At the wheel of the Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi, 2002 BRC Champion Linton is the only driver so far with a maximum score in the first five rounds of the championship. After winning his Group in the opening round, the March Gravel Challenge, he went on not only to win Modified 7, but also claim overall victory in the Carnival Warm-up Tarmac Rally in April.
After the two International events of the recently-concluded sixth Barbados Rally Carnival, Linton was crowned King of the Carnival, with M7 victory in the Red Bull International RallySprint at the Vaucluse Raceway followed by a perfect score over the weekend of Rally Barbados 2006. Not only did he win Modified 7 and finish ninth overall, but he led the Group from the start, so collected the full four additional route bonus points . . . and that gives him a grand total of 78.
Linton’s closest challenger is Ian Warren, enjoying his first full season of competition in the island for some years in the Subzero/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206GTi. The leader of Modified 6, he is currently five points behind Linton in the standings, a margin that might have been smaller; low numbers in his Group in the March Gravel Challenge meant he was merged up to Modified 7, where he finished second to Linton, who therefore scored three more points, in addition to pocketing the two route bonus points . . . a total of five!
Apart from that opening round, Warren’s record is an exact replica of Linton’s, with perfect scores in the other events, although Warren finished higher – seventh overall – on Rally Barbados.
Modified 5 leader Brett Clarke is just two more points behind Warren in the Shell Helix/Automotive Art/Plus Suzuki Swift GTi; he, too, enjoyed a perfect Group record over the two Rally Carnival events, winning his Group and claiming the four route bonus points on Rally Barbados, although he was denied an overall finish when a suspension failure at the end of Saturday meant he was unable to complete all stages.
Neil Barnard is fourth overall, with a total of 70 points in the Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA Suzuki Ignis Sport. Although Production 2 has not been well-subscribed this year, he has enjoyed some good battles, even when merged up; indeed, he won merged Production 2 & 3 on Rally Barbados and finished Group second in the Red Bull International RallySprint.
The highest-placed four-wheel-drive car in the Virgin Atlantic standings is the Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4 of Roger Hill, who leads Modified 8 with 62 points. His season looked set to end at the International RallySprint, when he rolled ‘The Tank’, just a week before Rally Barbados. A tremendous outpouring of support from friends and co-workers, however, saw the car not only start, but finish, the two-day event.
With 14 points-scoring drivers, not only is Modified Open the best-subscribed Group in this year’s Virgin Atlantic Championship, but it is also one of the most competitive. With three rounds to go, Mark Hamilton and Jonathan Still are tied on 58 points and placed joint sixth in the overall standings.
Driving the Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII, Hamilton drew first blood, with victory in the March Gravel Challenge, after Still’s Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3 ground to a halt with gearbox problems.
Since then, however, Still has been ahead and, while each driver won his Group in terms of the SuperModified classifications on Rally Barbados, as far as BRC points are concerned, they are all scored as Modified Open; Still claimed the higher overall result – fifth, to Hamilton’s 12th - bringing himself onto equal terms. An interesting fight is in prospect for the rest of the season.
Modified 9 leader Paul Bourne is eighth in the overall standings, with 54 points in the Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC, despite missing April’s Carnival Warm-up Tarmac Rally, while Kirk Watkins is ninth (50 points), second in M8, in his first season in the Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. The overall top 10 is completed by Josh Read, who is third in MO, with 47 points scored in the Automotive Art/Baram Services/Forever Flowers/D Blades Trophies Ltd Toyota Starlet.
Close battles are also promised before year-end among some of the BRC’s younger competitors; in Production 1, just three points cover the Toyota Starlets of Carlos Humphrey and Gary Mendes, and the Peugeot 106 of Danny Williams, while Tristan Gibbs (Toyota Starlet Turbo) has just two points in hand over Ryan Corbin (Peugeot 106) in Production 3.
Three more events are scheduled for the year - the BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint on July 29, the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc’s twin-venue Speed Event on October 1, and the BRC Last Call Gravel Stages on October 22.

Virgin Atlantic Barbados Rally Club Driver’s Championship
Positions after five rounds

Overall:
1st Adrian Linton (M7 Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 78 points
2nd Ian Warren (M6 Subzero/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206GTi), 73pts
3rd Brett Clarke (M5 Shell Helix/Automotive Art/Plus Suzuki Swift GTi), 71pts
4th Neil Barnard (P2 Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA Suzuki Ignis Sport), 70pts
5th Roger Hill (M8 Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4), 62pts
6th Mark Hamilton (MO Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII) & Jonathan Still (MO Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3), 58pts
8th Paul Bourne (M9 Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC), 54pts
9th Kirk Watkins (M8 Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 50pts
10th Josh Read (MO Automotive Art/Baram Services/Forever Flowers/D Blades Trophies Ltd Toyota Starlet), 47pts
etc

Modified 9
1st Bourne, 54pts; 2nd Harold Morley (Warrens Motors/Sunbeach Communications Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 36pts; 3rd Trevor Manning (Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 35pts; etc
Modified 8
1st Hill, 62pts; 2nd, Watkins, 50pts; 3rd Barry Gale (Dentyne Ice/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 44pts; etc
Production 4
1st Ryan Hutchinson (Auto Airtronic Services/Simple Green Toyota Celica GT4), 15pts
Modified Open
1st Hamilton & Still, 58pts; 3rd, Read, 47pts; etc
Modified 7
1st Linton, 78pts; 2nd Rhett Watson (The Unknown Entity/New Media Advertising/Makita Power Tools/NF Nitrous Booster/Kumho Tyres Ford Escort MkI), 41pts; 3rd Freddie Gale (Gale’s Hatcheries/NASSCO/Nitrous Formula Octane Booster/Nishikoi Fish Foods Toyota Corolla RunX), 36pts; etc
Modified 6
1st Warren, 73pts; 2nd Shareef Walcott (Corbin’s Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla), 32pts; 3rd Daryl Clarke (Mum’s Pasta Products Mitsubishi Colt Mivec), 24pts; etc
Modified 5
1st Clarke, 71pts; 2nd Jeremy Gonsalves (Kendal Sporting/QuikStart Auto/Champion Auto Wrecker/Yamaha/Star Products/Makita/Yusuf Auto Clinic/All Terrain Plus Suzuki Forsa GTi), 27pts; 3rd James Betts (Star Products/Champion Auto/QuikStart Auto/Kendal Sporting/L & N Workshop/Van Betts Marble Man/Hankook Tyres/All Terrain Plus/Undercover Awnings Opel Corsa GSi), 25pts; etc
Production 3
1st Tristan Gibbs (Rent-a-Tool/Scorpion Liners/Boyss Ltd/Algae X/Corrosion Block/Surfside Gym Toyota Starlet Turbo), 27pts; 2nd Ryan Corbin (Caribtrans/Suntraders Peugeot 106), 25pts; 3rd Derek Roach (MINI Cooper), 12pts
Production 2
1st Barnard, 70pts
Production 1
1st Carlos Humphrey (Castrol/Bridgestone/Business Interiors International/Nomis Ltd/Regional Fire & Safety/Promotech Inc/Secure RM Toyota Starlet), 27pts; 2nd Gary Mendes (Slam Condoms/Dupont Paints/G & G Sales & Service Inc/Friendly Signs/ACT Sandblasting/Muffler Centre/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Starlet), 25pts; 3rd Danny Williams (TransTech/All Connect/Sunbury Plantation/KDs Beach Bar & Grill Peugeot 106), 24pts