MUD DOGS IN FOR MEMORABLE SEASON

Posted on March 12th, 2008.

The Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Mud Dogs Safari Championship is set for a vintage year, if the comments following last Saturday’s (March 8) opening round are any guide. At Tuesday night’s Prizegiving, competitors variously described the Toyo Tires March Safari as “a brilliant piece of route-setting”, “a wicked event” and “very tough from the navigational perspective.”
Such was the challenge presented by route-setter and former June Rally winner Stewart Gill that experience would be the decider – many older competitors likened it to a BRC event from the 1980s. Champions from the past three seasons filled the podium places, with Leslie and Anna-Lee Alleyne bringing home the spoils in the Bridgestone Tires/AutoZone Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO with 614 penalties.
While Anna-Lee was runner-up Champion Navigator two years in a row, husband Leslie was Champion Driver in 2006; Leslie, who is also Chairman of the BRC Navigational sub-committee, said: “The event has provided an appropriate platform to launch our 2008 BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship. The route and navigation was at times very challenging and I found the quality and structure of the routes superb.”
Second to the Alleynes, on 766 penalties, were 2005 Champions Barry Gale and Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200), while reigning Champions Mark Western and Robin Hinds finished third in the Yardman/Kar Parts Store Land Rover Defender on 1450 penalties.
Finishing fifth, sitting alongside John Sealy in his Land Rover Defender, Lisa Roett started the defence of her 2007 ‘Top Girl’ title strongly, finishing the second highest-placed female behind event winner Anna-Lee Alleyne, who received a trophy courtesy of Biddy Barber; top novice crew Dominic Brooker and Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc/Next Generation Electrical Inc Toyota Hilux) finished seventh, claiming a trophy from Neptune Tours and free entry & insurance for the next event from Autozone Inc.
With 250 penalties on route one, Gale/Barnard edged ahead, leading the Alleynes (302pens) and Western/Hinds (346pens), while another experienced pair, Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke, were fourth in the Suzuki Samurai (634pens); the Suzuki rolled during the Driver’s Challenge at the Vaucluse Raceway, however, and had to be sent home on a wrecker. Leading the Novices at the mid-way point were Edson Arthur and Renne Mings (Rezults Auto Shop Toyota Hilux), with an advantage of just 150 penalties over eventual winners Brooker and Dear.
Fortunes were reversed for the two leading crews overall on route two, the Alleynes winning by a margin of more than 200 points, which dropped Gale/Barnard behind. Despite rolling the Flyin’ Fish Nissan Frontier at Vaucluse, Darrin White and Robert Warren went on to finish third on route two, ahead of Sean Dowding and Kirk Watkins (Axis Construction Toyota Hilux), who narrowly beat Sealy/Roett.
For the 29 crews who entered, it was not an easy day. Driver Ian Worrell, who now campaigns the legendary Series III Land Rover ‘Girtie’, said: “ It was a most excellent rally, very tough from the navigational perspective, with some nice hills and river beds for the drivers. With the hard navigation, and the relatively high average speed, a lot of folks got caught out, us included.”
Farouk Smith, navigator for Feroze Rafikh, said: "I hate to say this but, despite the level of difficulty, I would like Mr Gill to set more Safaris. I'll probably still keep coming last . . . but enjoying myself in the process."
Sean Mottley, who has progressed from the Novice to Pro class this season, had another perspective: “A couple of us may not be too happy after the rally, but don't put the blame on the route setter - setting an event is not easy. I have to say congrats to him, I think he did a great job in his selections. As he said at the briefing meeting, some areas will be impossible to drive if the rain falls . . . he was right. I feel a bit sorry for some of the first-timers because, if we had trouble, I know they had hell . . . but don't let this discourage you! Keep trying and take this as a learning experience."
The next round of the BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship will be the May Day MudFest, with the Shelbury Construction June Safari (June 28/29) the next navigational event.

Toyo Tires March Safari
BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship, round 1
Overall
1st Leslie Alleyne/Anna-Lee Alleyne (Bridgestone Tires/AutoZone Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 614 penalties
2nd Barry Gale/Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200), 766pens
3rd Mark Western/Robin Hinds (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Land Rover Defender), 1450pens
4th Darrin White/Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish Nissan Frontier), 1470pens
5th John Sealy/Lisa Roett (Land Rover Defender), 1856pens
6th Sean Dowding/Kirk Watkins (Axis Construction Toyota Hilux), 2640pens
7th Dominic Brooker/Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc/Next Generation Electrical Inc Toyota Hilux), 2800pens
8th Audley Croney/Geoffrey Goddard (Suzuki Samurai), 2866pens
9th Edson Arthur/Renne Mings (Rezults Auto Shop Toyota Hilux), 2956pens
10th Christopher Beckley/Warren Gollop (Essco Mitsubishi Pajero), 3200pens
etc
Novices
1st Brooker/Dear, 2800pens
2nd Arthur/Mings, 2956pens
3rd Anthony Seal-Mayers/Renatta Roett (Simpson Motors Suzuki Samurai), 4040pens – 16th o/a
4th Damian Brooker/Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc Toyota Hilux), 4064pens – 17th o/a
5th Ian Worrell/Wayne Manning (Black Bess/Sunbeach Land Rover Series III), 4376pens – 19th o/a
6th Ryan Sisnett/Ryan Batson (Land Rover Defender), 4380pens – 20th o/a
etc
Route 1
1st Gale/Barnard, 250pens
2nd Alleyne/Alleyne, 302pens
3rd Western/Hinds, 346pens
4th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai), 634pens
5th White/Warren, 663pens
etc
Route 2
1st Alleyne/Alleyne, 312pens
2nd Gale/Barnard, 516pens
3rd White/Warren, 806pens
4th Dowding/Watkins, 1050pens
5th Sealy/Roett, 1856pens
etc