NASSCO OCTOBER SAFARI TO END MUD DOGS SEASON

Competitors in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Mud Dogs Safari Championship are preparing for their last chance to score points this season, which culminates in the Nassco October Safari, slated for Sunday, October 17.
The recent weather system in the Atlantic Ocean, which this week caused major flooding, particularly in the west of the island, has really helped put the ‘Mud’ back into Mud Dogs for the fifth and final Safari of the year, which promises to be a major challenge for all crews.
Each of this year’s Safaris has produced a different winning crew, and there is every chance of a fifth pairing joining the roll of honour: in the ARMAG March Safari, Dustin Edwards and Ryan Corbin were victorious – and have remained at the head of the points standings ever since. Former Champions Barry Gale/Neil Barnard won the Chefette April Safari, Chris Armstrong helped navigator Wayne Clarke in to the record books when he became the first five-time winner of the June Safari, sponsored again by Shelbury Construction, while the Regional Fire & Security September Safari was claimed by the Novice crew of Ben Norris and Darnley Rayside.
Route setters for the season’s final Safari are Anthony King, Philip McConney and Dave Sealy, while the re-checker was BRC Mud Dogs Chairman Leslie Alleyne, who completed the task last weekend. The navigation will be a mixture of the BRC, straight-line and Tulip systems, with a new twist to the Tulip system.
Alleyne explains: “We are going to introduce a new way of doing Tulip navigation, where all of the diagrams are drawn at 90 degrees, regardless of the angle of the actual road. This is a relatively short section and I had no difficulty in doing it – it will be explained in more detail at the Briefing Meeting.
“My thanks to Anthony, Dave and Philip for setting the event, which I enjoyed re-checking. As you know, there has been no shortage of rain and we still managed to drive the entire route. I found the routes to be very interesting and well thought out – I think it is going to be a really enjoyable event, and a good way to finish the year.
“I had no difficulty in navigating either of the two routes and if I had to score myself I think my biggest problem would have been the timing, given the conditions! They have tried to keep the balance by looking at things from a ‘novice’ perspective. There are some nice tricks in the event, but I found them to be clean.”
The first crew will leave the start at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church, at 8.01am on October 17 for the first of two routes; the stopover will be at Pool Plantation, St John at approximately 11.00am, with the finish back at the BCTSA Club House at Searles slated for around 4.00pm.
Entries for the Nassco October Safari are now open at Motorsport Services, Haggatt Hall, St Michael, and will close at 2.00pm next Tuesday (October 12); the Briefing Meeting will be held at 7.00pm the same evening at the BCTSA Club House.

Practice Safari this Sunday

This Sunday (October 10), the Mud Dogs are running a Practice Safari to give competitors a chance to brush up on their navigational skills, and also allow newcomers to see whether they might enjoy the sport. Competitors are asked to arrive at the BCTSA Club House by 8.00am, for a 9.00am start – the three-hour event will finish at the Sand Dunes Bar & Restaurant on the East Coast Road, where food and drinks will be on sale. Entry fee is just $10 per person (a maximum of four persons per vehicle), plus $15 for a BRC map. The event has been set by Jason Downey and Darnley Rayside using Tulip, BRC and straight-line navigation methods.

Mud Dogs BRC Safari Championship
Positions after round 4 (with lowest score dropped)
Navigators
1st Ryan Corbin (Blockman/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 178 points
2nd Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai), 172pts
3rd Derek Edwards (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 166pts
4th Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 164pts
5th Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Samurai & Toyota Hilux), 158pts
6th Kirk Watkins (Axis Inc Isuzu D-max), 150pts
7th Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish/Lucky Locks Nissan Frontier), 138pts
8th equal Darney Rayside (Electric Avenue/Pitbull Energy Drink/Ace Engineering Land Rover Discovery) & Warren Gollop (Mitsubishi Pajero), 132pts
10th Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai), 122pts
etc
Novice Navigators
1st Rayside, 132pts – equal 8th overall
2nd Murrell, 122pts
3rd Gary Mendes (LG Trading/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 98pts
etc

Drivers
1st Dustin Edwards (Blockman/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 178pts
2nd Chris Armstrong (Suzuki Samurai), 172pts
3rd Damian Brooker (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 166pts
4th Dominic Brooker (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 164pts
5th Ben Norris (Pitbull Energy Drink/ACE Engineering Land Rover Discovery), 148pts
6th Darrin White (Flyin’ Fish/Lucky Locks Nissan Frontier), 138pts
7th Brett Barber (Mitsubishi Pajero), 132pts
8th Gregory Dickenson (Toyota Hilux), 130pts
9th Adrian Sinckler (Suzuki Samurai), 122pts
10th Edson Arthur (Toyota Hilux), 120pts
etc
Novice Drivers
1st Norris, 148pts – 5th overall
2nd Sinckler, 122pts
3rd Luke Gittens (LG Trading/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 98pts
etc

For further media information, robin@bradfax.com