HINDS & WESTERN WIN SAFARI AND CHAMPIONSHIP

Victory in last Sunday’s (November 11) final round of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Safari Championship has landed the 2007 Champion Navigator and Driver titles respectively for Robin Hinds and Mark Western.
Trailing by six points before the weekend, Hinds and Western (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Suzuki Samurai) were among three crews with a strong chance of lifting the title; reigning Champion Navigator Andrew Croney and Derek Gill (Insurance Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero) led the standings, with Neil Barnard and Barry Gale (Mitsubishi L200) in third place, six points behind Hinds and Western.
From the early-morning start at the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas, 2005 Champion Navigator and Driver Barnard and Gale made a strong impression, placing first on route 1 with just 152 penalties. Western and Hinds were not far behind, though, on 200 penalties, with Doug Armstrong and Jeremy Croney (Armag/Hankook Tyres Toyota Land Cruiser) third with 250 penalties.
Andrew Croney and Gill had not started too well, lying in sixth place with 406 penalties after route 1, but still in touch given a good second route. Novice title-contenders, navigator Kreigg Yearwood and driver Sean Mottley (Suzuki Vitara) also ran well in the morning, fourth with 308 penalties, ahead of father and daughter combination Paul and Tiffany Marshall, whose score of 340 penalties was impressive, bearing in mind it was Tiffany’s first event.
The afternoon saw a major shake-up in the order – after finishing route 1 ninth, September Safari winners Dustin Edwards and Ryan Corbin (Corbin’s Catering/Sweet Tempations Toyota Hilux), bounced back to win route 2, with 195 penalties, comfortably ahead of Andrew Croney/Gill (315pens) and another impressive novice crew, Renata Roett/Dean Springer (Suzuki Vitara), who had 317 penalties.
Although Hinds and Western could finish only fifth on route 2, their low score from the morning was good enough for overall victory, with a total of 580 penalties. Their margin of victory was 80 penalties, with one of the closest finishes of recent times seeing the next four crews covered by only 27 penalties.
Jeremy Croney/Armstrong’s third place in the morning helped balance out eighth on route 2 for an overall second-place finish; they were just eight penalties ahead of Edwards/Corbin, whose third place guaranteed them the Novice Champion Navigator and Driver titles for 2007, after Yearwood and Mottley had problems.
Paul and Tiffany Marshall remained consistent, fourth place on route two giving them the same place overall; Tiffany was the Highest-placed Female Competitor, while the crew also won the Sportsmanship Award in recognition of father Paul’s efforts in introducing new competitors to the sport.
Barnard and Gale slipped outside the top 10 on the afternoon route to finish fifth overall and third in the year-end standings, while Andrew Croney and Gill’s pre-weekend advantage in the championship points meant that sixth overall on Sunday left them second to Hinds and Western.
The fourth and final round of the 2007 BRC Safari Championship was sponsored by BRC Founder Member and incumbent President Bill Mallalieu, whose son Andrew, President of the Barbados Motoring Federation, was guest speaker at the Prizegiving on Tuesday evening in his absence. The BRC’s last function in its 50th Anniversary season is the Annual Prizegiving at the BCTSA Clubhouse, Searles, next Friday (November 23).

BRC September Safari, November 11
2007 BRC Safari Championship – round 4

Results - overall
1st Mark Western/Robin Hinds (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Suzuki Samurai), 580 penalties
2nd Doug Armstrong/Jeremy Croney (Armag/Hankook Tyres Toyota Land Cruiser), 660pens
3rd Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbin's Catering/Sweet Temptations Toyota Hilux), 667pens
4th Paul Marshall/Tiffany Marshall (Mitsubishi L200), 675pens
5th Barry Gale/Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200), 687pens
6th Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero), 721pens
7th Dean Springer/Renata Roett (Suzuki Vitara), 833pens
8th Mike Ward/Willie Hinds (Niccolls & Edghill Construction Jeep Wrangler), 884pens
9th John Sealy/Geoffrey Goddard (Land Rover Defender), 903pens
10th Nicholas Lorde/Robert Warren (Suzuki Vitara), 959pens
etc
Novice class
1st Corbin/Edwards
2nd Springer/Roett
3rd Gregory Dickenson/Timothy Wells (Toyota Hilux), 975pens – 12th overall
etc
Highest-placed Female Competitor
Tiffany Marshall, 4th overall
Sportsmanship Award
Paul and Tiffany Marshall
Route 1
1st Gale/Barnard, 152pens
2nd Western/Hinds, 200pens
3rd Armstrong/Croney, 250pens
etc
Route 2
1st Corbin/Edwards, 195pens
2nd Gill/Croney, 315pens
3rd Springer/Roett, 317pens
etc

2007 Barbados Rally Club Safari Championship, final positions
Navigators
1st Robin Hinds, 222 points
2nd Andrew Croney, 212pts
3rd Neil Barnard, 202pts
etc
Drivers
1st Mark Western, 222pts
2nd Derek Gill, 212pts
3rd Barry Gale, 202pts
etc
Highest-placed Novice Navigator
Dustin Edwards, 190pts
Highest-placed Novice Driver
Ryan Corbin, 190pts
Highest-placed Female Navigator
Lisa Roett, 112pts
Highest-placed Female Navigator
Megan Blades, 66pts

For further information, robin@bradfax.com