BOURNE EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP ADVANTAGE

Victory in Sunday’s (April 22) Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Carnival Warm-Up Tarmac has given Paul Bourne a healthy lead in this year’s Texaco BRC Rally Championship; with co-driver Stuart Maloney in the Subaru Impreza WRC, Bourne was fastest on all but one of the nine stages run, winning by a margin of 25 seconds . . . and now leads the Championship standings by 12 points.
At the end of the day, a relaxed Bourne said: “There were no problems; we just put gas in the car, checked the fluid levels . . . and that was it. We even did the whole rally, apart from Bushy Park, on one set of tyres that still look brand new.”
Second were Jamaicans John Powell and Michael March in the Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC, Powell’s performance remarkable in light of an injury to his hand suffered some weeks ago; he literally drove through the pain barrier, second all day to Bourne until Bushy Park, where his fastest time on the SuperSpecial was a major achievement . . . and a real treat for the hundreds of spectators who turned out.
Jonathan Still was delighted to end the day third, his first ‘podium finish’ since the start of the Texaco Championship in 2005; with co-driver Heath Hazell, ‘Stillo’ claimed third-fastest time on five of the nine stages in the Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipment BMW M3 and only slipped out of the top five at Bushy Park, where his commitment to crowd enjoyment overcame his desire for speed. They were also the highest-placed two-wheel-drive entry.
Roger Hill launched the new livery of his Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Celica GT4 with a determined drive to fourth place, despite some fuel issues during the morning; he was second-fastest at Bushy Park and never out of the top six all day.
St Elmo Cumberbatch and son Owen claimed three top six stage times – the best fourth at Stewarts Hill – to finish fifth in the Michelin/F Taylor/Carib Supply BMW E36, while the top six was completed by Nick Gill and Sue Rogers in the Castrol Syntec/Hennessy/Vita Malt/Lysol/Listerine/McEnearney Quality Inc/Mazda Genuine Parts Mazda 3; their best stage finish was third, at Stewarts Hill, and they were also highest-placed of the six crews including a female competitor.
There was a lot of mechanical attrition – Kirk Watkins/Rhett Watson were the first casualties, after just two stages, with a smashed rear diff in the Abacus Builders Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. Among other key retirements were Sean Gill/Michael Cummins, fourth overall in the Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power/VISA/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift when engine problems forced them out on stage four; a couple of top six times had promoted Cliff Roett/Bryan Hurley to 10th by the end of same stage, but the engine of the Thorogood Shoes/Nassco/Michelin/Lucky Horseshoe/ Sunpower/Castrol/Roetts Garage Toyota Starlet expired one stage later . . . and that same stage claimed Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward, fifth when the engine of the Shell Helix/Hankook Tires/Soldier Seal Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI gave out.
After a slow start, Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood got to grips with the new Ezone/Globe Finance/Café Blue/Sunbeach/Essco/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX to post fourth-fastest time at Bushy Park, while Ian Warren/Matthew Staffner posted two top six times late afternoon in the MQI Collision Repair Centre/Subzero Services Ltd/Details Car Valet Inc Peugeot 206, although he was running with a heavy penalty after arriving late for a stage following a driveshaft change.
The next two rounds of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship are the two days of Rally Barbados 2007, on May 26/27.

Carnival Warm-Up Tarmac Rally, April 22
Texaco BRC Rally Championship – round 2

Provisional results
1st Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (Subaru Impreza WRC), 17m 49.26s
2nd John Powell - JAM/Michael March – JAM (Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC), 18m 14.11s
3rd Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipment BMW M3), 18m 40.42s
4th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Celica GT4), 18m 49.56s
5th St Elmo Cumberbatch/Owen Cumberbatch (Michelin/F Taylor/Carib Supply BMW E36), 19m 06.03s
6th Nicholas Gill/Sue Rogers (Castrol Syntec/Hennessy/Vita Malt/Lysol/Listerine/McEnearney Quality Inc/Mazda Genuine Parts Mazda 3), 19m 22.79s
7th Geoffrey Noel/Kriegg Yearwood (Ezone/Globe Finance/Café Blue/Sunbeach/Essco/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 19m 25.05s
8th Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII), 19m 41.85s
9th Sammy Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (Williams Equipment/F Taylor/Michelin BMW M3), 19m 43.73s
10th Adrian Linton/Jackie Linton (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 20m 12.41s
etc

Texaco BRC Rally Championship
Provisional positions after round 2

1st Paul Bourne (Subaru Impreza WRC), 30 points
2nd Jonathan Still (BMW M3), 18pts
3rd Mark Hamilton (Ford Escort MkII), 14pts
4th = Trevor Manning (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) and John Powell (Toyota Corolla WRC), 12pts
6th Kirk Watkins (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 10pts
etc

For further information, robin@rallybarbados.bb