ALL SQUARE AFTER CHEFETTE APRIL SAFARI

Victory for Barry Gale and Neil Barnard (Huzier/Mahindra Motorsports/redlinefuels.com Mahindra Pick-Up) in last Saturday’s (April 17) Chefette April Safari not only marked the first triumph for the Mahindra brand in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Safari Championship but also indicated how close the 2010 season is set to be.
They incurred a total of 655 penalties, compared with the 836 of second-placed Dustin Edwards and Ryan Corbin (Blockman/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Crane & Equipment/Corbin’s Catering Services Toyota Hilux); this was the reverse of the result in the ARMAG March Safari and leaves them tied on points, Gale and Edwards jointly leading the Drivers Championship, Barnard and Corbin the Navigator standings.
Justin Cuke and Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Samurai) came an impressive third, after placing second to Gale and Barnard on route one, which Barnard cited as a key factor in their victory: “The entire rally got lost in the first half-hour; a whole series of instructions left competitors scratching their heads seconds after the start at Chefette Six Roads.”
Gale and Barnard, the 2005 Champions, are seasoned competitors, trusting their instincts, an approach which has served them well. Their first-route total of 127 penalties was testament to that; Cuke and Croney, on their first outing for the season, had 195, with Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai) third on 221 – Armstrong and Clarke had a rough time on route two, however, slipping to ninth.
Edwards and Corbin placed fourth at the stopover, when competitors enjoyed dinner compliments of the event sponsor at Chefette Charles Rowe Bridge, but ran Gale and Barnard a close second on route two, 528 penalties to 546. Despite being a new combination, leading Novice driver Ben Norris and navigator Darnley Rayside (Pitbull Energy Drink/ACE Engineering Land Rover Discovery) were an excellent third on the night-time route on 574 penalties, but their disappointing 19th position on route one, left them 14th at the end of the day.
Norris and Rayside came from behind to snatch the highest-placed Novice award, thanks to that impressive second route, as they had been only third after route one; early leaders were David Brewster and Winston Drakes in the Marks Auto Spares/Champion Auto Wrecker Service Suzuki Samurai, who had placed 10th overall on route one. Less success in unravelling route two, however, left fourth of the Novice crews at the finish.
Second on both routes was good enough for the reigning Novice Champions Adrian Sinckler and Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai) to finish runners-up to Norris and Rayside - the difference was just 10 penalties - while Derek Pinto and Jamal Brathwaite (Suzuki Samurai) placed fourth and third to collect third-place awards.
Damian Brooker and Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), finished fourth overall with 1145 penalties, ahead of Dominic Brooker/Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux) on 1169. Reigning Champions Darrin White and Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish/Lucky Locks Nissan Frontier) finished eighth, an indication of the tough nature of the event.
In addition to awards for the top three overall and Novice crews, plus the overall route winners, Monday’s (April 19) prizegiving at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association Club House also included the award for the Top Female Competitor, won for the second time this season by Renata Roett, navigator for Edson Arthur in his Suzuki Samurai – they finished 12th overall.
While the prolonged dry spell had made the ARMAG March Safari a rather mud-less affair, that was far from the case on Saturday, crews facing some challenging terrain on the 135-kilometre route, which wound through the eastern corner of the island; one novelty of the second route was the inclusion of a drainage tunnel – route-setter Chris O’Neal said: “The feedback on the tunnel has been great; it was unexpected and certainly added something to the event.”

The MayDay MudFest has been cancelled. Mud Dogs chairman Leslie Alleyne says: “Unfortunately, we do not have enough time or the necessary human resources to do justice to the event, so we plan to re-group, and create a MudFest-type event a little later in the year. I am aiming to negotiate another date with the BMF, so that we can still have two competitions.”

Chefette April Safari – April 17
Mud Dogs BRC Safari Championship, round 2
Results
1st Barry Gale/Neil Barnard (Huzier/Mahindra Motorsports/redlinefuels.com Mahindra Pick-Up), 655 penalties
2nd Dustin Edwards/Ryan Corbin (Blockman/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Crane & Equipment/Corbin’s Catering Services Toyota Hilux), 836pens
3rd Justin Cuke/Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Samurai), 909pens
4th Damian Brooker/Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 1145pens
5th Dominic Brooker/Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 1169pens
6th Brett Barber/Warren Gollop (Essco/DeWalt Mitsubishi Pajero), 1348pens
7th Sean Dowding/Kirk Watkins (Axis Inc Isuzu D-max), 1431pens
8th Darrin White/Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish/Lucky Locks Nissan Frontier), 1475pens
9th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai), 1480pens
10th Wayne Manning/Yosuf Patel (Black Bess Quarry Toyota Hilux), 1529pens
etc
Route 1 - 1st Gale/Barnard, 127pens; 2nd Cuke/Croney, 195pens; 3rd Armstrong/Clarke, 221pens; etc
Route 2 - 1st Gale/Barnard, 528pens; 2nd Edwards/Corbin, 546pens; 3rd Ben Norris/Darnley Rayside (Pitbull Energy Drink/ACE Engineering Land Rover Discovery), 574pens; etc

Novice Class
1st Norris/Rayside, 1795pens – 14th overall
2nd Adrian Sinckler/Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai), 1805pens – 15th o/a
3rd Derek Pinto/Jamal Brathwaite (Suzuki Samurai), 3055pens – 18th o/a
4th David Brewster/Winston Drakes (Marks Auto Spares/Champion Auto Wrecker Service Suzuki Samurai), 3104pens – 19th o/a
5th Luke Gittens/Gary Mendes (LG Trading/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 3432pens – 21st o/a
6th Richard Hinkson/Rasheed Mapp (Suzuki Samurai), 3561pens – 22nd o/a
etc
Route 1 – 1st Brewster/Drakes, 603pens; 2nd Sinckler/Murrell, 862pens; 3rd Norris/Rayside, 1221pens; etc
Route 2 - 1st Norris/Rayside, 574pens; 2nd Sinckler/Murrell, 943pens; 3rd Pinto/Brathwaite, 1566pens; etc

BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship
Remaining rounds:
Jun 26/27 – Shelbury Construction June Safari
Aug 15 - Mud Dogs August MudFest
Sep 5 - Regional Fire & Security September Safari
Oct 17 - Nassco October Safari

For further media information, robin@bradfax.com