POWELL RETURNS TO ISLAND MOTOR SPORT

The Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Spring Gravel Sprint on Saturday (February 27), kicks off the 2010 motor sport season with an International flavour, with a welcome return to the island scene by Trinidad-based Jamaican John ‘Pentti’ Powell in the Subaru Impreza WRC S12 in which he finished third in Rally Jamaica 2009.
Powell is one of 18 entries – half in the four-wheel-drive categories – listed for rounds one and two of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s and Class Championships; start time for the double-header, on the popular Searles stage, has been moved back to 12.00pm and fans are promised around four hours of virtually non-stop action.
Popular with local fans, Powell has twice finished second in Rally Barbados in recent years – 2005 & ’07 in his Toyota Corolla WRCs – and has been a regular competitor in BRC events. Reigning Champion Paul ‘Surfer’ Bourne opens his defence at the wheel of his Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Ford Focus WRC07, challenged not only by Powell, but also by the runner-up in last year’s title chase, Roger ‘Ninja’ Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC).
And there is further interest in Modified 8-WRC, with the class debut of Dean Serrao in the Impreza WRC S9 in which Bourne started his 2009 campaign, while Brett Clarke is making an unusually early-season appearance in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.
Group N promises to be a hard-fought category in 2010, with the return to the Group of Barry Gale, who was Production 4 Champion in 2002 and ’04, also winning the Overall Championship the second time around; now equipped with an Evo IX formerly campaigned by Britain’s Mark Higgins, he is expected to be fast ‘straight out of the box’.
But Gale will have to contend with the reigning P4 Class and Overall Class Champion, Geoff Noel in his Globe Finance Inc/Mix 96.9/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Dewalt Tools/Automotive Art/Ezone Evo IX, the similar car of returnee Allan Kinch, while Harold Morley - another former P4 Class Champion – is the sole Subaru representative in his Impreza N14.
Among the two-wheel-drive runners, 2009 SuperModified 11 Champion Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Castrol Racing Oils/Crane & Equipments BMW M3) opens his title defence, with Mark Hamilton (Valvoline Oil/PowerMaster Batteries/Kumho Batteries/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII) also keen to get some early points on the board.
Competitors are required to assemble at Ocean Park, Christ Church, by 10.00am for annual tech scrutineering, unless they attended the session last Saturday (February 20), in which case with the arrival time is 11.00am; there will be a practice run and three official timed runs for each sprint, with the fastest of the three official times counting towards the result.

BRC Spring Gravel Sprint, February 27
Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, rounds 1 & 2
Provisional running order:
1 Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Ford Focus WRC07)
2 Roger Hill (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)
3 Dean Serrao (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
4 John Powell - TDAD (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
5 Brett Clarke (M8-WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
6 Jamal Brathwaite (M6 AM Electrical Solutions/Ellesmere Quarries Ltd/Chicken Pen Racing/D2 Racing Suspension/Codgi’s Customs Brokers Mitsubishi Mirage RS)
7 Harold Morley (P4 NET2VU Subaru Impreza N14)
8 Geoffrey Noel (P4 Globe Finance Inc/Mix 96.9/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Dewalt Tools/Automotive Art/Ezone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
9 Barry Gale (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
10 Allan Kinch (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
11 Jonathan Still (SM11 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Castrol Racing Oils/Crane & Equipments BMW M3)
12 Mark Hamilton (SM11 Valvoline Oil/PowerMaster Batteries/Kumho Batteries/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII)
13 Edward Corbin (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage Daihatsu Charmant)
14 Daryl Clarke (SM9 Ellco Rentals/Mom’s Pasta Products/Area 5 Auto Works/Paintless Dent Removal Mitsubishi Mirage)
15 Freddie Gale (M7 Gale’s Hatcheries/Redline Fuels/Nassco/ENEOS Lubricants Toyota Corolla RunX)
16 Wayne Manning (M5 Peugeot 205)
17 Dane Skeete (P2 Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 106)
18 Kyle Catwell (M7 Mitsubishi Mirage RS)

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