VETERANS TURN OUT FOR JUNE SAFARI

Fourteen previous winners of the region’s oldest motor sport event are on the entry list for Sunday’s Esso Courtesy Garage 50th Anniversary June Safari, the last event in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) month of celebrations marking its half-century.
With no fewer than 31 victories between them, the list includes some of the most successful drivers and navigators in the June Rally’s history, including three of the five who jointly head the roll of honour with four wins to their credit; with one-third of the total entries listed in the novice class, the mixture of youth and experience promises an excellent event.
As driver and navigator respectively, Andrew Mallalieu and Sean Gill won the June Rally in 1989, ’92, ’95 and ’97, their achievement unique in that all four victories were enjoyed together; the third four-time winner on the list is navigator Wayne Clarke, winner in ’91 and ’93 with Don Hunte, then 2000-01 with Chris Armstrong, his driver again on Sunday. Missing from Sunday’s event are Hunte, who had also won in 1979-80 with Garry Clarke, and Richard Rose, who won three times with Richard Cummins and once with Basil Watkins between 1968 and ’82.
Mallalieu and Gill are entered for the Veteran Award, where they will meet 1987 winners David Barnard and Kevyn Yearwood. These two experienced competitors and route-setters have each won the June Rally three times – Yearwood had previously navigated John Corbin to victory in 1985, then did so again 20 years later for Derek Gill, one of five drivers to have won the event from both sides of the car; prior to his win as driver in 2005, he had navigated for Peter Bradshaw in 2002.
Barnard also swapped seats – his first win came in 1971 with John Bain as navigator, then he won with Mike Atwell driving in 1983 – while the earliest winner of the event entered this weekend, John Sealy, is another to have done so: he first won in 1967, as navigator to Bill Mallalieu, then the two switched seats for a second success in 1978.
And the Esso Courtesy Garage 50th Anniversary June Safari promises them all a tough, but enjoyable, challenge; it has been set by two more multiple winners of the June Rally, Leslie Alleyne and Robin Hinds – Alleyne won as navigator to Geoff Noel in 1996, then driving with wife Anna-Lee in 2003 and ’06, while Hinds was navigator to Prince Willock (1994) and David Stoute (2000).
The first crew will start from Courtesy Garage, Wildey, at 3.01pm on Saturday (June 9), with the first day of competition ending roughly six hours later at Esso, Paynes Bay, St James. The restart will be from Fisherpond Plantation Yard at 7.31am and Sunday’s route will include a Driver Challenge at Three Houses Factory Yard, St Philip – this is scheduled for around 9.45am, and has been included to encourage spectators, who may not have seen a round of the BRC Safari Championship before.
The lunch halt is scheduled for 11.00am in the southern car parks of Emerald City, St Philip, and the event will finish at Surfer's Bay Beach Bar, near Silver Sands, Christ Church, at approximately 3.00pm, with a Prizegiving to follow, once results are declared final. The band KITE will be playing live, along with music from DJ Steve Rapley, and food and beverages will be available.
Esso, which first sponsored the June Rally in 1965, and Courtesy Garage are renewing former associations with the BRC through joint sponsorship of this event, which is the second round of the 2007 BRC Safari Championship. The successful running of the first June Rally on June 16, 1957 was the catalyst to the founding of the BRC, and it is the oldest-established motor sport event in the region with a continuous history.

Esso Courtesy Garage 50th Anniversary June Safari, June 9/10
2007 BRC Safari Championship – round 2

Entry list
Pro class
1 Doug Armstrong/Warren Gollop (Armag/Hankook Tyres Toyota Land Cruiser)
3 Stewart Gill/Bruce Wilkie (Suzuki Samurai)
5 Roger Hill/Geoffrey Goddard (Nassco Ltd Toyota Hilux) - Veteran
8 Colin Goodman/Darrin White (Suzuki Samurai)
10 Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (Western Union Suzuki Vitara)
12 Greg Cozier/Antonio Da Silva (Land Rover Defender)
16 Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Shelbury Construction Suzuki Samurai)
17 Michael Ward/Willie Hinds (Niccolls & Edghill Construction Jeep Wrangler)
18 Bruce Skeete/Peter Wilkie (Rent Equip Toyota Hilux)
19 Peter Bradshaw/Ryan Marshall (Esso Barbarees & Tweedside Land Rover Series III)
20 David Barnard/Kevyn Yearwood (McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Ranger) - Veteran
21 Ian Warren/Robert Warren (Simpson Motors Isuzu Pickup)
22 Philip McConney/Tyrone Moseley (Suzuki Vitara) - Veteran
26 John Sealy/Lisa Roett (Land Rover Defender)
27 Barry Gale/Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200)
30 Brett Barber/Warrick Eastmond (Autozone Inc/Biddy's Information Centre Daihatsu Feroza)
31 Megan Blades/Lindsay Farmer (Rallynut.com Suzuki Samurai)
32 Paul Marshall/Ian Hutson (Mitsubishi L200)
34 Andrew Mallalieu/Sean Gill (Simpson Motors/The Boatyard Isuzu D-Max) - Veteran
35 Curtis Greaves/Jamal Brathwaite (Suzuki Samurai)
36 Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero)

Novice class
2 Daryl Clarke/Marva Clarke (Suzuki Samurai)
4 Gregory Dickenson/Anna Maria Dickenson (Toyota Hilux)
6 Anthony King/Dave Sealy (D & N Rentals & Taxi Services/Dynamic Limo/Quality Tyre Toyota Hilux)
7 Sean Mottley/Kreigg Yearwood (Suzuki Vitara)
9 Anthony Seale-Mayers/Renata Roett (Simpson Motors Suzuki Samurai)
11 Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbin's Catering/Sweet Temptations Toyota Hilux)
13 Edson Arthur/Dane McConney (Arthur's Building Materials Toyota Hilux)
14 Hadley Green/Jeremy Croney (Hunte's Auto Spares/Stingray Car Rentals Toyota Hilux)
15 Kirk King/Tricia King (Suzuki Samurai)
23 Adrian Sinckler/Ansley Edey (Suzuki Samurai)
24 Christian Duncan/Robert King (Suzuki Samurai)
25 Rodney Mason/Wendell Skeete (Rodney's Trucking Mitsubishi Pajero)
28 Mark Phillips/Dean Springer (Eastern Vet Clinic Suzuki Samurai)
29 Tfphill Juman/Russell Willson (Satellite Tracking Solutions Suzuki Samurai)
33 Michael Charles/Christopher Charles (Suzuki Samurai)
37 Dominic Brooker/Damian Brooker (SDRR Hydraulics/Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux)

For further information, robin@bradfax.com