ALL SET FOR SUMMER NIGHTS TARMAC STAGES

Preparations are in full swing for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Summer Nights Tarmac Stages on Saturday, August 11, which brings to an end the two-month break in the Virgin Atlantic Driver’s and Class Championships . . . and every point counts for Championship contenders, as the season approaches its climax.   Entries open today (July 30) at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall and are slated to close at noon on Wednesday, August 8; with two Bank Holidays during that entry period, however, and entries also currently open for forthcoming events being run by two of the island’s other organising clubs, competitors are being encouraged to enter promptly.   BRC Competitions Secretary Neil Corbin notes: “Motorsport Services will not be open on either Emancipation Day or Kadooment to accommodate entries, so competitors are urged to enter as early as possible this week.”   Slated to start at 5.00pm from St Lucy’s Church, the BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Stages will run between Pickerings and Hope Road; the stage will be run three times in that direction before the dinner halt, then be reversed to run in the opposite direction after sundown. The briefing meeting will be held at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association Clubhouse at Searles, Christ Church at 7.00pm on Thursday, August 9.   The seventh of 10 rounds in the Club’s 2012 Virgin Atlantic Championships, it comes at a crucial time in the competition; in the Overall Class Championship battle, Modified 7 leader Daryl Clarke (Honda Civic) retains his early advantage, with a total of 108 points, five ahead of Neil Corbin (Toyota Starlet) and Geoff Noel (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), the leaders of M6 and Production 4, who are tied for second, with SuperModified 11 leader Logan Watson (BMW M3) a further three points behind in fourth.   At year-end, a competitor’s lowest score is dropped – applying that rule now shakes up the top 10 considerably: both Noel and Watson would move ahead of Corbin, tied in second place three points behind Clarke, while the spread of points across the top 10 would be slashed from 30 to 19. In addition, the likes of Carlos Edwards and Neil Armstrong, both in Starlets, and Sean Gill (Suzuki SX4) would move up the order, having either missed a round or failed to score.   Paul Bourne (Ford Focus WRC07) leads the four-wheel-drive title chase, six points ahead of Gill, with Noel and Roger Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) third and fourth, while the two-wheel-drive points are even closer: Armstrong and Watson each has 75 points, with Clarke third, ahead of early leader Stuart Maloney (Peugeot 306 Maxi). Virgin Atlantic BRC Class Championship Overall positions after round 6: 1st Daryl Clarke (M7 Ellco Rentals/Mom's Pasta Products/MQI/Roberts Manufacturing Honda Civic), 108 points 2nd equal Neil Corbin (M6 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Castrol Toyota Starlet) & Geoffrey Noel (P4 Globe Finance/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Cargo Solutions International/Mix 96.9FM/CIAC Air Conditioners Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 103pts 4th Logan Watson (SM11 Oreo/Chips Ahoy!/Club Social/Formula1 High Performance Auto Care Products/Liquid Wrench/Sign Depot/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 100pts 5th Jeremy Croney (Clubman ReMax Lifestyles/Sweet Temptations/Sign Station/Gunk Peugeot 206), 93pts 6th Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Chefette/LIME/Slam 101/MQI/Banks/Castrol Ford Focus WRC07), 90pts 7th Avinash Chatrani (M8-A Electric Avenue/Hankook/Solder Seal Gunk/Niagra Water/Sign Station Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 85pts 8th Allan Maynard (SM9 Marshal Trading/Roberts Manufacturing Toyota Starlet), 84pts 9th Carlos Edwards (SM9 Courts I-Finance/Enermax Toyota Starlet), 81pts 10th equal Neil Armstrong (SM10 Chefette/Lubriguard/Hankook Tyres/Nassco/Redline Fuels/ARMAG Rentals Toyota Starlet) & Sean Gill (M8-WRC Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power/Automotive Art/Monster Energy Drink Suzuki SX4 WRC), 78pts BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Bourne, 84pts; 2nd Gill, 78pts; 3rd Noel, 67pts; 4th Skeete, 59pts; 5th Roger Hill (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 57pts; 6th Chatrani, 55pts; 7th Dean Serrao (M8-WRC Sugar Ultra Lounge/Rush Restaurant Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 39pts; 8th Andrew Mallalieu (P4 Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 29pts; 9th Graeme Finlayson (M8-A www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III), 21pts; 10th Mark Hamilton (P4 CIBC-FCIB/Simpson Motors/MAXI Malta/PowerMaster/Boston Seasoning/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 15pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st equal Armstrong & Watson, 75pts; 3rd Clarke, 55pts; 4th Stuart Maloney (SM11 Automotive Art/Sign Station/Valvoline Peugeot 306 Maxi), 50pts; 5th Roger Mayers (SM9 Chefette/Digicel/Delaware Dispensary/Illusion Graphics/Barbados Today WR Starlet), 46pts; 6th Ian Warren (SM10 Automotive Art/Simpson Motors/Degree Suzuki Swift), 41pts; 7th Josh Read (SM10 Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/EZone/Weetabix/SDRR/Royal Purple Toyota Starlet), 40pts; 8th N Corbin, 34pts; 9th Ralph White (SM10 Barbados Villa Services/Island Safari/Amsoil Toyota Starlet), 29pts; 10th equal Sammy Cumberbatch (SM11 LIME/F Taylor Associates/Castrol BMW M3) & Kyle Catwell (M7 Chicken Pen Racing/Kumho/Valvoline/Mackeson/Ellesmere Quarries Volkswagen Golf GTI), 21pts; etc For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com; www.rallybarbados.bb