BATTLE FOR VIRGIN ATLANTIC RALLYSPORT TITLES

While Sean Gill and Roger Skeete are the respective leaders of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Sprint and Rally Championships – both are being chased down by Paul Bourne – there are many more aspiring drivers hoping for success in their Groups in the Virgin Atlantic BRC RallySport Championship. At year-end, drivers will drop their worst score from each of the Rally and Sprint series to arrive at their points total in the RallySport Championship – as all involved enjoy the mid-season break, the picture looks like this:

Modified 8-WRC - while reigning Champion Paul Bourne currently has the upper hand in his new-for-2008 Subaru Impreza WRC S9, Roger Skeete’s recent decision to step up to similar equipment means the year’s remaining events hold much promise. Having moved up this year, Barry Gale is chasing Skeete hard in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI in which he previously won in both Group N and M8-A – finishing second to Bourne on day two of Sol Rally Barbados was a useful boost - while the addition of Roger Hill in the ex-John Powell Toyota Corolla WRC will add extra spice
M8-A - Roger Hill is not a surprise leader in his Toyota Celica GT-4. By the end of Sol Rally Barbados, he seemed to have done enough to claim the Group again. His recent switch to M8-WRC, however, means that Mitsubishi Lancer drivers Neil Armstrong and Kirk Watkins still have a chance
Production 4 - Geoff Noel is the comfortable leader in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX; in Sol Rally Barbados, he nearly saw off Britain’s Ryan Champion, but his local challenge has come from the new and old Subaru Imprezas of ex-pat Brit Harold Morley and returning local competitor Michael Worme
SuperModified 11 - the season’s closest contest is between the front-wheel-drive Mazda 3 of Nicholas Gill and the rear-drive BMW M3 of Jonathan Still. There has been little to chose between them: Gill leads the Rally Championship Group by one point, with two wins to Still’s one (‘Stillo’ is ahead on route bonus points, though), while its all change in the Sprint Championship, Stillo with an eight-point lead, until you drop the lowest score, which brings the rivals dead level! Although he claims to drive for fun and not results, Andrew Jones is third in Group . . .
SM10 - the only driver with a 100 per cent record this year is Sean Gill in the giant-killing Suzuki Swift – his four Group wins in sprints, and three in rallies, with maximum route bonus points, leave the opposition to fight for the accolade ‘best of the rest’. With a rally third place and two sprint second places to his credit, current leader of the chase is Wayne King (Peugeot 306), although Rhett Watson in his crowd-pleasing Ford Escort MkI and 2008 newcomer Kyle Lashley are within eight points of King
SM9 - Josh Read in his Toyota Starlet has a comfortable advantage of nearly 40 points here, the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record being his non-finish on the second day of Sol Rally Barbados. Behind him, though, it is a fantastic free-for-all – there’s a spread of just eight points across five drivers, with David Williams, Neil Corbin and Stuart White in their assorted Starlets keeping at bay the Mitsubishi Mirage of Daryl Clarke and the Opel Corsa of James Betts, who did not start his season until Sol Rally Barbados
M7 - twice winner of the BRC Drivers’ Championship, Adrian Linton is ahead in his Group again, despite missing the season-opener and finishing second in the Shell V-Power King of the Hill in his Vauxhall Astra GSi. There are many seasoned drivers in Modified 7, such as Freddie Gale (Toyota Corolla RunX) and King of the Hill winner Greg Cozier (Ford Escort RS2000) who are separated by just three points in their battle for second, but it is newcomer Kyle Catwell (Volkswagen Golf GTI), who is holding off the rest in fourth place
M6 - many have marvelled at the pace of Ian Warren’s remarkable Peugeot 206, so it is no surprise that he leads the Group, despite a rare non-finish on day two of Sol Rally Barbados denting an otherwise 100 per cent record. Jamal Brathwaite leads the chase in his Toyota Corolla, a Group win and maximum route bonus points after Warren had retired a fine achievement, while Karl Waterman (Toyota Starlet) just leads the battle for third, ahead of Edward Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) and Danny Williams (Ford Fiesta), tied on points
M5 - apart from Sol Rally Barbados, with regular visitors such as Kenny Hall, this Group has lacked competitors, although it may produce a future star: karting graduate Dane – son of Roger - Skeete (Peugeot 106) is just 10 points behind leader Garry Mendes (Toyota Starlet)
P2 - as the only driver to have run for the whole year, Neil Barnard (Suzuki Ignis Sport) has the advantage here. Despite missing the Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint, he still has a massive lead, although Toyota Starlet drivers Rhett D’Andrade and Andre Snobel are now collecting points

BRC Rally Championship
After three rounds
1 Sean Gill 32
2 Paul Bourne 30
3 Roger Hill 23
4 Trevor Manning 20
5 Geoff Noel 18
6 Roger Skeete 15
etc
Remaining rounds
September 13 – Tarmac Rally (MCBI event shared with BRC for points)
October 19 – Gravel Rally
November 2 – Gravel Rally

BRC Sprint Championship
After four rounds
1 Roger Skeete 51
2 Paul Bourne 45
3 Roger Hill 40
4 Sean Gill 34
5 Barry Gale 19
6 Ian Warren 11
etc
Remaining rounds
October 5 – Tarmac Double-header Sprint (MCBI event shared with BRC for points)

For further information, robin@bradfax.com