ALL TO PLAY FOR AT BRC WINTER RALLY

The pressure is on this weekend (November 1/2) as the 2008 Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Virgin Atlantic RallySport Championship reaches its climax at the BRC Winter Rally; this new event on the Club’s calendar is a gravel rally, featuring a total of 12 stages, split into three routes, one on Saturday evening and two on Sunday.
The re-named Virgin Atlantic championship was expanded this year, with competitors counting their five best results from each of the six-round BRC Rally and Sprint Championships towards their year-end Group total; with a maximum of 18 points to be scored this weekend - 15 for a Group win, plus a bonus point for the winner of each of the three routes – a few drivers will be feeling the pressure.
In Modified 8-WRC, Paul Bourne (Banks/Texaco/B-Mobile/Pirelli/New-Tech Subaru Impreza WRC S9) has 102 points, a nine-point lead over Roger Skeete, who has scored in both the Michelin/FB Batteries Ford Escort WRC and Subaru Impreza WRC S9. And it will be a straight fight for the Group between those two this weekend, as Roger Hill does not collect Group points following his switch from the M8-A Mobil 1/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Celica GT4 to this Group with his Toyota Corolla WRC.
Hill does, however, feature in the fight for the overall Virgin Atlantic title, which is based purely on overall results and doesn’t include route bonus points; Bourne enjoys a nine-point lead in this title chase – he has 105 points, compared with 96 for Skeete and 95 for Hill. This weekend, it will be vital for everyone to avoid unnecessary risks.
SuperModified 11 has been hot all year, Nick Gill and Jonathan Still trading times and position, often many times a day. Driving the Castrol Syntec/Lysol/Listerine/Vita Malt/Hennessy/McEnearney Quality Inc Mazda 3, Gill reaches the final round with a slender five-point lead over Still’s Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Castrol Oils BMW M3; either could take the title.
Current SM9 points leader – and reigning Champion – Josh Read (Automotive Art Toyota Starlet) failed to score in the second part of the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc’s Sailor Gully double-header last month, then missed the BRC Gravel Rally 10 days ago. That has allowed James Betts, whose season did not even start until Sol Rally Barbados, to slowly chip away at Read’s lead.
As they reach the final, Betts is just 16 points behind the Starlet driver . . . if Read should be absent again, and Betts has a good run in the Makita/All Terrain Plus/Star Products/Champion Auto Wrecker/Kendal Sporting/Quik Start Auto Opel Corsa, then Read’s position could also be under threat.
Points leaders in some Groups have totals that can no longer be challenged – Neil Armstrong (M8-A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), Geoff Noel (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), Sean Gill (S10 Suzuki Swift), Adrian Linton (M7 Vauxhall Astra GSi), Ian Warren (M6 Peugeot 206), Garry Mendes (M5 Toyota Starlet) and Neil Barnard (P2 Suzuki Ignis Sport) - but there are still knife-edge battles to be fought for the ‘best of the rest’ title in some of those Groups.
The Briefing Meeting for the BRC Winter Rally, originally scheduled for tomorrow evening, will now be held on Thursday (October 30), at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) clubhouse in Christ Church; entries will be taken from 7.00 to 7.30pm, immediately after which the Briefing Meeting will start. The entry list will be published Friday.
All competitors must be ready for scrutineering in the Searles Factory Yard by 4.30pm, with the start scheduled for 6.00pm; four stages will be run in Searles before the overnight halt. On Sunday, the rally will restart from Guinea at 9.00am, with four stages in Guinea comprising the second route; after the lunch halt in the Searles Factory Yard at around mid-day, the rally will restart at 1.00pm, the final route comprising four stages in Searles, the course running in the reverse direction from Saturday.
The BRC Winter Rally will finish at the BCTSA Club House with a social. BRC PRO Neil Barnard notes: “During the evening, we will be showing some of the extensive European television coverage of Sol Rally Barbados 2008, which has featured across Europe on stations including Men & Motors, Motors TV and Sky Sports; all are invited to help our competitors celebrate the close of a hard-fought season.”

For further information, robin@bradfax.com