BOURNE LOOKING TO MAINTAIN POINTS LEAD

Three victories in the first four rounds of the 2008 Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Rally Championship have given reigning Champion Paul Bourne a seven-point advantage, as competitors prepare for the season's penultimate event, Sunday's (October 19) BRC Gravel Rally.
Slated to start at 8.30am from the Searles Factory Yard in Christ Church, the event promises eight loose-surface stages, with four run in each direction, before the entire field heads for the grounds of the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, where the 2008 Barbados Motor Show will have reached its final day.
Two further stages are planned, before the event closes with an 'Expression Session'; while the two stages will count towards the overall results of the BRC Gravel Rally, the Expression Session will not be compulsory - those competitors who chose to participate will be allowed one minute to 'express themselves', after which the crowd will decide the winner.
Entries close at 4.00pm on Wednesday (October 15), with the Briefing Meeting scheduled for 7.30pm at the Gymnasium on the same day; competitors are expected to assemble at Searles Factory Yard by 7.00am on Sunday at the latest.
With regular co-driver Stuart Maloney alongside in his Banks/Texaco/B-Mobile/Pirelli/New-Tech Subaru Impreza WRC S9, Bourne has claimed three maximum scores so far this year, his only retirement being day one of Sol Rally Barbados 2008, which counted as two points-scoring opportunities. His roll at the end of the morning's second Dark Hole stage left him a non-finisher on the Saturday.
The only other winner this year has been Roger Skeete, who topped the points table that day with Robert Simmons in the Michelin/FB Batteries Ford Escort WRC; having scored in only one other round, however, Skeete currently lies eighth.
Co-driven in the Simpson Motors/Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Yokohama Suzuki Swift by Michael Cummins, Sean Gill led the standings after round three, having finished second to Bourne and Skeete in the first two rounds, then fourth on day two of Sol Rally Barbados. One of only four drivers to claim top 10 points in every round so far, Gill is now just seven points adrift of Bourne, a signal achievement in the island's fastest two-wheel-drive entry.
A further three points behind Gill is Roger Hill, another to have scored in every event. With co-driver Graham Gittens, he finished third, fourth and sixth in the first three rounds in the Mobil 1/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Celica GT4, then put his newly-acquired Toyota Corolla WRC to good use in the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc's Plus Rally of the Sun & Stars, claiming his best result of the year, second to Bourne.
Despite having missed April's Automotive Art Shakedown Stages, at least as a competitor rather than Zero Car, Trevor Manning lies fourth, 10 points behind Hill. With co-driver Derek Edwards, Manning finished third of the BRC runners on both days of Sol Rally Barbados in the Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, but could manage only sixth on the MCBI event.
There are year-end trophies up for grabs for the top five drivers in the BRC Rally Championship and competition promises to be tough for the last couple of positions; between Manning, who has 25 points, and Skeete on 18, there are three other drivers, each of whom could improve his position in the remaining two events.
On 22 points, scored from just two events, is Barry Gale (Trident White/Simpson Motors Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI); Group N front-runner Geoff Noel has 20 points in the Globe Finance/Ezone/DeWalt/Automotive Art/Sunbeach Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, in which he has scored in every round, while Neil Armstrong is one further point behind in the Shell/Hankook Tyres/Gunk/Odyssey Batteries Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.
The top 10 is completed by the Castrol Syntec/Lysol/Listerine/Vita Malt/Hennessy/McEnearney Quality Inc Mazda 3 of Nick Gill, the fourth driver to have claimed top 10 finishes in every round, and Ian Warren's remarkable 4W's/Aqua Pur/Flyin' Fish/Crane & Equipments/MQI Repair Centre/Details Car Valet/Automotive Art Peugeot 206.
The vagaries of current weather patterns permitting, Sunday's event promises some class action as competitors see their points-scoring chances diminishing. The final round of the BRC Rally Championship is slated for the weekend of November 1/2.

BRC Rally Championship
Positions after round four

1st Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 45 points
2nd Sean Gill (SM10 Suzuki Swift), 38pts
3rd Roger Hill (M8-A Toyota Celica GT4 & M8-WRC Toyota Corolla WRC), 35pts
4th Trevor Manning (M8-A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 25pts
5th Barry Gale (M8-WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 22pts
6th Geoff Noel (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 20pts
7th Neil Armstrong (M8-A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 19pts
8th Roger Skeete (M8-WRC Ford Escort WRC & Subaru Impreza S9), 18pts
9th Nicholas Gill (SM11 Mazda 3), 15pts
10th Ian Warren (M6 Peugeot 206), 10pts
etc

For further information, robin@bradfax.com