BOURNE KICKS OFF TITLE DEFENCE WITH TWIN WINS

Posted on February 27th, 2010.

Reigning Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s Champion Paul ‘Surfer’ Bourne (Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Ford Focus WRC07) opened his title defence in fine style on Saturday (February 27), dominating both parts of the double-header format Spring Gravel Sprint, run in predictably dusty conditions at Searles.
While rounds one and two of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s and Class Championships, did not attract a large field, what was lacking in quantity was more than made up for by the quality of competition, and not only for overall victory; honours were shared in Group N (Production 4) between Geoff Noel and Barry Gale, promising a titanic struggle for supremacy in the coming months.
The runner-up in last year’s title chase and sporting a new livery, Roger ‘Ninja’ Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), set the early mark, stopping the clock after the first practice run at 3m 43.18s; Gale (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) was second on 3m 44.51s, with Bourne third (3m 44.95s) and Noel fourth (3m 48.61s).
Bourne increased the pace on the first official run, however, posting 3m 36.89s, nearly five seconds faster than Trinidad-based Jamaican John ‘Pentti’ Powell (Subaru Impreza WRC S12), making a welcome return to the island scene; Hill was a further 1.5secs adrift, while Group N was still balanced in Gale’s favour, by 1.4secs.
Bourne improved by more than 2secs on each run, to finish the round on 3m 22.13s, with former British Rally Champion Mark Higgins his closest challenger – he clocked 3m 23.98s in his single guest drive in Powell’s S12, pushing its owner into third place. Hill’s second-run best of 3m 29.50s looked good enough for fourth, until newcomer to the class Dean Serrao (Impreza WRC S9) pipped by him by just 1/100th of a second on his final effort. In Group N, Noel prevailed by 2.5secs, after Gale missed the final run.
Bourne repeated the feat second time around, beating Powell by 2.5secs, while Hill turned the tables on Serrao, beating him by three-tenths; the same happened in Group N, Gale the winner this time, 1.8secs better than Noel.
Mark Hamilton (Valvoline Oil/PowerMaster Batteries/Kumho Batteries/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII) was the fastest two-wheel-drive runner, beating Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Castrol Racing Oils/Crane & Equipments BMW M3) by 3.2secs on the first round and 5.7secs on the second.

BRC Spring Gravel Sprint, February 27
Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 1
Results:
1st Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Banks/LIME/Virgin Atlantic Ford Focus WRC07), 3m 22.13s
2nd Mark Higgins (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 3m 23.98s
3rd John Powell - TDAD (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 3m 26.25s
4th Dean Serrao (M8-WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 3m 29.49s
5th Roger Hill (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 3m 29.50s
6th Geoffrey Noel (P4 Globe Finance Inc/Mix 96.9/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Dewalt Tools/Automotive Art/Ezone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 3m 34.93s
7th Barry Gale (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 3m 37.27s
8th Harold Morley (P4 NET2VU Subaru Impreza N14), 3m 41.90s
9th Allan Kinch (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 3m 47.92s
10th Brett Clarke (M8-WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 3m 48.77s
etc
Modified 8-WRC – 1st Bourne; 2nd Higgins; 3rd Powell
Production 4 – 1st Noel; 2nd Gale; 3rd Morley
SuperModified 11 – 1st Mark Hamilton (Valvoline Oil/PowerMaster Batteries/Kumho Batteries/Consolidated Finance Ford Escort MkII), 3m 53.95s; 2nd Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Castrol Racing Oils/Crane & Equipments BMW M3), 3m 57.10s
SM9 – 1st Daryl Clarke (Ellco Rentals/Mom’s Pasta Products/Area 5 Auto Works/Paintless Dent Removal Mitsubishi Mirage), 4m 10.17s
M7 – 1st Freddie Gale (Gale’s Hatcheries/Redline Fuels/Nassco/ENEOS Lubricants Toyota Corolla RunX), 4m 02.07s; 2nd Kyle Catwell (Mitsubishi Mirage RS), 4m 38.72s
M6 – 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage Daihatsu Charmant), 3m 58.43s; 2nd Jamal Brathwaite (AM Electrical Solutions/Ellesmere Quarries Ltd/Chicken Pen Racing/D2 Racing Suspension/Codgi’s Customs Brokers Mitsubishi Mirage RS), 4m 07.44s
P2 – 1st Dane Skeete (P2 Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 106), 4m 05.07s

Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 2
Results:
1st Bourne, 3m 24.68s
2nd Powell, 3m 27.30s
3rd Hill, 3m 29.88s
4th Serrao, 3m 30.29s
5th B Gale, 3m 36.07s
6th Noel, 3m 37.85s
7th Morley, 3m 44.53s
8th Kinch, 3m 49.06s
9th Hamilton, 3m 55.33s
10th Still, 4m 01.05s
etc
Modified 8-WRC – 1st Bourne; 2nd, Powell; 3rd Hill
Production 4 – 1st B Gale; 2nd Noel; 3rd Morley
SuperModified 11 – 1st; 2nd Still
SM9 – 1st D Clarke, 4m 08.19s
M7 – 1st F Gale, 4m 06.38s; 2nd Catwell, 4m 12.06s
M6 – 1st Corbin, 4m 01.03s
P2 – 1st Skeete, 4m 10.14s