EXPERIENCE PAYS ON SAFARI

Leslie and Annalee Alleyne consolidated their position as leaders of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Safari Championship with victory in the third of this season’s four rounds last Sunday (August 27). Twenty-nine of the 32 crews that started the BRC August Safari reached the finish on terrain that was considerably less muddy than had been anticipated following the heavy rains of the previous week.
In the Autozone Inc/Quality Tyre/Barbados Muffler Centre Mitsubishi iO, the husband and wife crew incurred 208 penalties after a day-long battle with another of the island’s most experienced crews, Ian and Robert Warren (Simpson Motors Isuzu Pickup). The brothers were just four penalties behind at lunch, but a small error a couple of miles from home left them trailing by 36 at the finish.
Anthony Whitehead and Andrew Croney (Mitsubishi Pajero) finished third and highest-placed Novice crew, an impressive performance which promoted Croney to second overall in the Navigators’ standings behind Annalee Alleyne. Geoffrey Goddard is now third in the points, after finishing fifth on Sunday in the Simpson Motors/JCB Excavators Suzuki Samurai, while his driver Audley Croney now splits Leslie Alleyne and Ian Warren at the head of the Drivers’ standings.
Sunday’s fourth-placed crew, Justin Cuke and Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Samurai), claimed the Sportsmanship Award for giving fellow competitors assistance with both navigational and mechanical problems – their entry and insurance fees for the November Safari will be paid by Autozone Inc, which also presented a voucher to each for a free flat service for the vehicle of his choice.
In addition to the trophies awarded for the top three overall positions, a number of special awards were presented at the Prizegiving on Tuesday evening: Annalee Alleyne was rewarded as the highest-placed female competitor, while Richard Daniel presented trophies donated by Neptune Tours to the highest-placed novice crew of Whitehead and Croney. They also collected the prize of a round of paint ball donated by Kendal Sporting as the highest-placed novice crew on route 1; Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards (Toyota Hilux) were the route 2 winners.
Sunday’s event was not plain sailing for everyone, however. Among the fancied runners to hit trouble were Brett Barber and Warren Gollop, with carburettor problems during route 1; thanks to lunchtime help from Leslie Alleyne and spectators Alan Bayne and Graham Manning, the Mitsubishi Pajero was able to continue. Paul Marshall and Ian Hutson’s Mitsubishi L200 suffered a broken steering arm towards the end of route 2, but they made it to the finish after some temporary repairs.
Set by reigning Champion Navigator and Driver, Neil Barnard and Barry Gale, the August Safari started from Simpson Motors, Warrens; the route covered around 100 kilometres in St Thomas, St James and St Peter, plus parts of St Andrew, St George, St John and St Phillip, before the finish at BCTSA Clubhouse at Searles.
A popular innovation was the 'driver's challenge' at the Vaucluse Raceway, in which crews had to drive through various 'gates' in a particular sequence, with penalties incurred for hitting a gate, stopping or reversing.
BRC Navigational Committee member Lindsay Farmer said: “Neil and Barry were true to their word, and gave us a challenging event, which was still fun. The addition of the driver’s challenge was another good idea, and the committee is considering having at least one such challenge in each Safari next year. Barry and Neil seemed to have had a good time setting and running the event as well, so it was a great success all round.”
The final round of the 2006 BRC Safari Championship is slated for Sunday, November 12.

BRC August Safari - Sunday, August 27
2006 Barbados Rally Club Safari Championship, round 3

Results - overall:
1st Leslie Alleyne/Annalee Alleyne (Autozone Inc/Quality Tyre/Barbados Muffler Centre Mitsubishi iO), 208 penalites
2nd Ian Warren/Robert Warren (Simpson Motors Isuzu Pickup), 244 pens
3rd Anthony Whitehead/Andrew Croney (Mitsubishi Pajero), 324 pens
4th Justin Cuke/Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Samurai), 484 pens
5th Audley Croney/Geoffrey Goddard (Simpson Motors/JCB Excavators Suzuki Samurai), 568 pens
6th Chris Choat Jnr/Justin Inniss (ACE Towing Range Rover Special), 612 pens
7th Ben Norris/Rhett Watson (Trivial Pursuit Land Rover Defender), 624 pens
8th Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (Western Union/Rallyman.com Suzuki Vitara), 654 pens
9th John Sealy/David Barnard (Land Rover Defender), 690 pens
10th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai), 950 pens
etc

Novice class
1st Whitehead/Croney
2nd Choat/Inniss
3rd Norris/Watson
etc

Route 1
1st Alleyne/Alleyne, 90 pens
2nd Warren/Warren, 94 pens
3rd Whitehead/Croney, 122 pens
etc

Route 2
1st Alleyne/Alleyne, 118 pens
2nd Edwards/Downey, 140 pens
3rd Warren/Warren, 150 pens
etc

For further information, robin@bradfax.com