BOURNE, POWELL & SKEETE HEAD-TO-HEAD AGAIN

The top three finishers in Rally Barbados 2007 go head-to-head once again this weekend, as the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) runs its annual Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint on Saturday evening (July 28); scheduled for a 7.00pm start, the event will run at Pickerings in St Lucy and comprise one practice and three timed runs.
Paul Bourne will carry start number 1 on his BF Goodrich/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC, heading a trio of cars entered in Modified 8-WRC; he will be followed off the startline by John Powell (Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC) and Roger Skeete (Havoline/Michelin/FB Batteries Ford Escort WRC).
Trinidad-based Jamaican Powell and Bajan ace Skeete will both be hoping for better fortune than befell them in the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc’s speed event at Stewarts Hill two weeks ago, when neither was able to offer a serious challenge to Bourne.
Unlike Stewarts Hill, which is used annually in Rally Barbados and also for other events during the year, the course at Pickerings is less familiar to competitors; the BRC has not run an event there since it was included in Rally Barbados 2004, so it may prove a more level playing field for those chasing points in the BRC Driver’s Championship.
Eight four-wheel-drive cars are among the 23 on the provisional entry list, with Roger Hill (Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Celica GT4) facing a quartet of Mitsubishi Lancer Evos in M8-A: Hill’s regular opponents, Barry Gale (Evo VI) and Kirk Watkins (Evo V), are joined by the Group N examples of Neil Armstrong (Evo VI) and Geoff Noel (Evo IX), as there are currently insufficient starters for Production 4 to make a Group.
Followers of the fight for supremacy among the two-wheel-drive entries will enjoy the merged SuperModified 10 & 11 Group, where Sean Gill (Suzuki Swift) and Jonathan Still (BMW M3) will renew their rivalry; also merged up on Saturday – in his case into Modified 6 – is BRC Driver’s Championship points leader, Neil Barnard (Suzuki Ignis Sport), who will face off against Ian Warren (Peugeot 206) and Daryl Clarke (Mitsubishi Mirage).
BRC vice-chairman Barry Gale said: “We expect to see one or two more entries come in before Saturday, but there are several reasons for the lower numbers, most of them mechanical, with drivers not having had time to deal with recent mechanical failures.”
Among those with mechanical issues are Nick Gill and Mark Hamilton, who shared the former’s Mazda 3 at Stewarts Hill, the Watson brothers with their Ford Escort MkI, and cousins Trevor and Graham Manning.
Gale added: “The road closure permission is granted until 10:00pm, and we are trying to accommodate residents as much as possible by allowing them through at regular intervals; although competitors may expect a few minor delays during the runs, I would urge them at the same time try to help the marshals run the event as quickly and smoothly as possible.”

BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint
Saturday, July 28

Provisional entry list (at May 26)
1 Paul Bourne (M8-WRC BF Goodrich/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC)
2 John Powell - JAM (M8-WRC Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC)
3 Roger Skeete (M8-WRC Havoline/Michelin/FB Batteries Ford Escort WRC)
4 Roger Hill (M8-A Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Celica GT4)
5 Barry Gale (M8-A Simpson Motors/Dentyne Ice/VP Racing/Nitrous Formula/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
6 Kirk Watkins (M8-A Abacus Builders Inc/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
7 Neil Armstrong (P4 Shell Helix/Hankook/Soldier Seal Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
8 Geoffrey Noel (P4 Ezone/Globe Finance/Weisers/Café Blue/Sign Stop/Summa Graphix/Essco/Autozone/Automotive Art/Sunbeach/Sentry Insurance Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
9 Sean Gill (SM10 First Caribbean VISA/Shell V-Power/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift)
10 Jonathan Still (SM11 Red Bull/Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipment BMW M3)
11 Ian Warren (M6 MQI Collision Repair Centre/Subzero Services Ltd/Details Car Valet Inc Peugeot 206)
12 Adrian Linton (M7 Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi)
13 Jason Clermont (SM11 Castrol BMW M3)
14 Daryl Clarke (M6 Mom’s Pasta Products/246 Tuning/Area 5 Auto Works Mitsubishi Mirage)
15 Josh Read (SM9 Automotive Art Toyota Starlet)
16 David Williams (SM9 Bacassa/Caribpak/Castrol/Ibox/SRG/Roxy Supermarket/Dynamic Limo Toyota Starlet)
17 Stuart White (SM9 Flyin’ Fish/Cloudbase Embroidery/Catch Chocolate/Budex Couriers/Crane & Equipment Toyota Starlet)
18 Neil Corbin (SM9 Nassco/Jason Jones Foods Toyota Starlet)
19 Allan Maynard (SM9 Marshal Trading/Woodworks/Castrol Toyota Starlet)
20 Ron Layne (M7 Pavements & Foundations/SDRR Hydraulics & Spares/General Welding Workshop/L & N Workshop Nissan Sunny)
21 Simon Gillmore (M7 SRG Engineering/Halton Graphics Peugeot 205GTi)
22 Justin Campbell (SM11 BMW M3)
23 Neil Barnard (P2 First Caribbean VISA/Shell V-Power/Automotive Art Suzuki Ignis Sport)

For further information, robin@bradfax.com