ACTION APLENTY AT THE KARCHER SUMMER STAGES

The Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Karcher Summer Stages tomorrow (Saturday, July 24) promises action aplenty for the hundreds of fans expected to line the popular venues at Pickerings and Turner’s Hall as the eighth round of the Club’s Virgin Atlantic Driver’s and Class Championships runs from daylight into darkness, offering fans the rare chance to enjoy some night-time rallying.
While many eyes will be on the battle for overall supremacy among the five World Rally Cars – a record entry outside Sol Rally Barbados – the ongoing struggle in Group N will also command attention; anyone willing to bet on the outcome of the two-wheel-drive would indeed be a brave soul, while the addition of an historic category to accommodate competitors in the second event of the 2010 Barbados Historic Rally Carnival, will provide some additional spice as they run through each of the 12 stages at the back of the main event.
Driver’s and Overall Class Championship leader Paul Bourne will not be in action, but Jamaicans Gary Gregg and Jeffrey Panton left their Ford Focus WRCs in the island after Sol Rally Barbados, and will be joined in their battle with local aces Roger Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) and Roger Hill (Toyota Corolla WRC) by their Trinidad-based fellow-countryman John Powell in his Impreza.
In Group N, points-leader Barry Gale (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) will have the similar cars of arch-rival Geoff Noel and Dean Serrao to contend with, plus Harold Morley, who is back in his Impreza N14, after a difficult couple of events in his Porsche.
The delayed debut of a new mount for James Betts promises to pep up the two-wheel-drive classes; after missing Sol RB2010 when the engine was delayed in England, his Renault Clio is now good to go, joining the SuperModified 11 class battle with points-leader Mark Hamilton (Ford Escort MkII) and the rapid BMWs of Justin Campbell, who finished third in class in May, and Owen Cumberbatch.
But the overall two-wheel-drive tussle will also include the front-runners in SM10 and SM9 respectively, Ian Warren (Suzuki Swift) and Josh Read (Toyota Starlet), both of whom finished ahead of Hamilton in Sol RB2010, Read by just 12 seconds, while Warren was an impressive eighth overall.
Five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae is the number one seed among the 13 cars in the historic category – they are numbered from 101; he drives a Porsche 911 prepared by Porsche specialist Francis Tuthill, who starts behind him at 102.
Service area is the Greenland Agricultural Station, where competitors must arrive no later than 12.30pm for Scrutineering, which starts at 12.00pm; the event is slated for a 2.00pm start, with three runs each downhill through Turners Hall, then northbound through Pickerings before the dinner halt at around 6.00pm.
The restart is scheduled for 7.00pm, with a further three runs through each stage, in the opposite direction, before the finish at approximately 11.00pm, back at Greenland Agricultural Station. As in previous years, when Pickerings was used for the BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint, the area around the Plantation Yard will be floodlit.

The Karcher Summer Stages (July 24) is organised by the Barbados Rally Club (BRC), which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; it is round eight of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s and Class Championships.

Karcher Summer Stages, July 24
Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 8
Running order:
1 Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (M8-WRC Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Michelin/Warrens Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
2 John Powell – TDAD/Michael March - JAM (M8-WRC Shell Helix Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
3 Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)
4 Gary Gregg – JAM/Hugh Hutchinson – JAM (M8-WRC First Caribbean International Bank/Rally Jamaica/Seaboard Marine/BD Gregg & Bros/NG Racing Ford Focus WRC 05)
5 Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr – JAM (M8-WRC First Caribbean International Bank/Rally Jamaica/Seaboard Marine Ford Focus WRC 00)
6 Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Globe Finance Inc/Mix 96.9/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Dewalt Tools/Automotive Art/Ezone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
7 Barry Gale/Cherie Edghill (P4 redlinefuels.com/Autolink/Maxi Malta/Rockstar Energy Drink/Metal Craft Works/Weetabix/Bella Beauty Supply Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
8 Dean Serrao/Sean Abed (P4 Amalgamated Security/Margate Gardens Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
9 Harold Morley - ENG/Geoff Goddard (P4 Subaru Impreza N14)
10 Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (SM11 Automotive Art/PowerMaster Batteries/Consolidated Finance/Valvoline Oil/Kumho Tires Ford Escort MkII)
11 Ian Warren/Robert Warren (SM10 Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift)
12 Josh Read/Mark Jordan (SM9 Automotive Art/Baram Services Toyota Starlet)
14 Owen Cumberbatch/Kelly-Ann Sandiford (SM11 Combo Auto Parts and Service BMW M3)
15 James Betts/Allan Maynard (SM11 All Terrain Plus/Makita/Star Products/Quik Start Auto/Champion Wrecker Services Renault Clio)
16 Justin Campbell/Juan Watts (SM11 C & C Autoservices/Target Design Studio BMW M3)
17 Calvin Briggs/Paul Inniss (SM11 Ultra Lubricants Ford Escort MkII)
18 Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (SM10 Ellco Rentals/Mom’s Pasta Products/Area 5 Auto Works/Paintless Dent Removal Mitsubishi Mirage)
19 Ralph White/Joe Troulan (SM10 Barbados Villa Services/Island Safari Toyota Starlet)
20 Eric Allamby/Jonathan Reece (SM10 Shelbury Construction Mitsubishi Lancer)
21 Neil Corbin/Zach Heaselgrave (SM9 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet)
22 Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (M7 Gale’s Hatcheries/redlinefuels.com/Nassco Toyota Corolla RunX)
23 John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (M7 Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio/Automotive Art Toyota Corolla)
24 Kyle Catwell/Norman Catwell (M7 Chicken Pen Racing/Cutters of Barbados/Carib/Freekz Customz/Auto Plus Motors Volkswagen Golf GTI)
25 Ron Greaves/Dario Hoyte (M7 Claytons Kick Energy Drink/Chicken Pen Racing/Ellesmere Quarries/McCarthy’s Garage Honda Civic Type-R)
26 Edward Corbin/Justin Harrison (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage Daihatsu Charmant)
27 Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (M6 Williams Trading/AMAT Trading/Big John’s Inc Peugeot 206)
28 Jamal Brathwaite/Talia Mapp (M6 AM Electrical/FG Wilson/Ellesmere Quarries/Meridian Windows/Carib/D2 Suspension/Starfish Designs/Valvoline/Freekz Customz/Auto Plus Motors Mitsubishi Mirage RS)
29 Danny Williams/Reuben Nelson (M6 Cutters of Barbados/Lexy’s Piano Bar/Sunbury Plantation House/Lucky Horseshoe/Sitar Ford Fiesta)
30 Sean Cox/Adam Cox (M5 Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift)
31 Conor Roach/Rhett D’Andrade (P2 Peugeot 106)
32 Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (P2 Barbados Business Listings/Crimson Jade/RCR Tours/Bovell Auto Repair/Big P Customs Brokers/De Fx-Bar Suzuki Ignis Sport)

Historics Running Order
101 Jimmy McRae - SCO/Campbell Roy - SCO (Francis Tuthill Ltd Porsche 911)
102 Francis Tuthill - ENG/Bud McKenzie (Francis Tuthill Ltd Porsche 911)
103 Andrew Jones/Jeremy Foster (Quix Lime/A P Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII)
104 Greg Cozier/Jamie Marsh (Mahindra/Penzoil Ford Escort MkII)
105 Stuart White/Jason O’Neal (3W’s/Propac/Rockstar Energy Drink/Catch Chocolate/Maxi Malta Toyota Starlet)
106 Graham Willcock – ENG/John Coates – ENG (Opel Manta)
107 Nick Cook – ENG/Nigel Hutchinson – ENG (Ford Escort MkI)
108 Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (Black Bess Quarry/Citgo/Wolverine Shoes Ford Escort MkI)
109 Ryan Wood/Raymond Parris (3W’s/Propac/Rockstar Energy Drink/Catch Chocolate/Maxi Malta Toyota Starlet)
110 Ding Boston – ENG/Ingo Jahn – GER (Virgin Atlantic/Phillips Tyres/NGK/Just Grillin’ Riley 1.5)
111 Andrew Skeete/Bradley Weekes (Fasteners Barbados/Hitachi Power Tools/Metal Stud Ltd/Rentequip Mitsubishi Lancer)
112 Bernard Northmore – ENG/Peter Brace – ENG (Renault 12 Gordini)
113 Spencer Hutchinson/Antonio Da Silva (Black Bess Quarry/Citgo Peugeot 205)

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e-mail - robin@bradfax.com