NASSCO SAFARI ‘LAST CHANCE SALOON’ FOR MUD DOGS

The fifth and final round of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Mud Dogs Safari Championship – the Nassco October Safari – provides crews with their last chance to score points in this competitive series on Sunday (October 17).
The first crew will leave the start at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church, at 8.01am 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.
Of the four crews which have won this year’s earlier Safaris, only former Champions Barry Gale and Neil Barnard – winners of the Chefette April Safari – are absent, so a day of intense competition is in prospect; the standings are led, as they have been since the start of the season, by Dustin Edwards and Ryan Corbin, who were victorious in the ARMAG March Safari in the Blockman/Corbin’s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux.
Edwards and Corbin were also winners of the 2009 Nassco Safari, run a month later in November, which they may well consider a good omen. Nevertheless, they have to face the winners of this year’s Shelbury Construction June Safari, Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), and the Regional Fire & Security September Safari, the Novice crew of Ben Norris and Darnley Rayside (Glacial Ice/Electric Avenue/Pitbull Energy Drink/Ace Engineering Land Rover Discovery).
In a season which has seen fortunes rise and fall, however, there is every chance that a fifth crew could emerge victorious: these include 2008 Novice Champions, Damian Brooker/Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker's Building/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux) and Colin Goodman, who has 2007 Champion Navigator Robin Hinds alongside him in his Suzuki Samurai. Meanwhile, the return to the Mud Dogs of Ian Warren, replacing Darrin White as driver to his brother – and reigning Champion Navigator - Robert in the Lucky Locks/Rockstar Nissan Frontier, brings another experienced crew into play.
The 20 crews entered on Sunday include seven in the Novice Class, where competition this year has been every bit as intense as in the Pro Class.
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. The navigation will be a mixture of the BRC, straight-line and Tulip systems, with a new twist to the Tulip system comprising a relatively short section of the route, for which all of the diagrams are drawn at 90 degrees, regardless of the angle of the actual road.
There will be a marshals’ meeting for the Nassco October Safari at the BCTSA Club House at Searles on Friday (October 15) at 5.00pm.

Nassco October Safari – October 17
Mud Dogs BRC Safari Championship, round 5

Running order - Novice class
1 Meghan Campbell/Gary Mendes (G & G Sales and Service/LG Trading/Lunatics Inc/Appleby Filling Station/Barbados Muffler Centre Isuzu D-Max)
2 Simon Parravacino/Christian Duncan (Sweet Temptations Inc Toyota Hilux)
3 Richard Hinkson/Rasheed Mapp (Suzuki Samurai)
5 Ben Norris/Darnley Rayside (Glacial Ice/Electric Avenue/Pitbull Energy Drink/Ace Engineering Land Rover Discovery)
6 Nicholas Pinto/Jamal Brathwaite (Suzuki Samurai)
10 Sean Field/Jen Reader (Field Insurance Brokers/Castrol/Ackee Tree/Landscapes in Harmony Mazda B2500)
13 Adrian Sinckler/Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai)

Pro class
4 Gregory Dickenson/Peter Bradshaw (Toyota Hilux)
7 Edson Arthur/Renata Roett (Toyota Hilux)
8 Colin Goodman/Robin Hinds (Suzuki Samurai)
9 Matthew Ward/Warrick Eastmond (High Gear Maintenance/Mellotec Suzuki Samurai)
11 Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux)
12 Ian Warren/Robert Warren (Lucky Locks/Rockstar Nissan Frontier)
14 Damian Brooker/Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker's Building/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux)
15 Brett Barber/Warren Gollop (Biddy’s Information Centre/JE Security Mitsubishi Pajero)
16 Dustin Edwards/Ryan Corbin (Blockman/Corbin’s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux)
17 Wayne Manning/Kirk Watkins (Black Bess Quarry Toyota Hilux)
18 Kerry Renee/Jason Downey (Suzuki Samurai)
19 Michael Ward/Willie Hinds (Country Notions Maintenance/Jammin Catamaran Cruises/Maxxis Tyres Suzuki Samurai)
20 Courtney Holder/Tiffany Marshall (Mitsubishi L200)

For further media information, robin@bradfax.com