CREWS MAKE READY FOR VALVOLINE RALLY

As competitors in the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s and Class Championships start preparations for the upcoming Valvoline Rally (Sunday, April 13), the second of eight rounds this year, there is a three-way tie in the Champion Driver’s title chase between Andrew Mallalieu, Josh Read and Daryl Clarke.

Entries for the Valvoline Rally opened today (Wednesday) at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall, also on-line at www.barbadosrallyclub.com, and will close at 1.00pm next Wednesday, April 9; the Briefing Meeting will be at 7.00pm on Thursday, April 10, at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House, Searles, Christ Church, when the running order will be published.

The Additional Supplementary Regulations (ASRs) for the event, released today, list 10 special stages, with the 9.30am start, lunch break and finish (approximately 4.00pm) at the Greenland Agricultural Station in St Andrew. Scrutineering will be at Automotive Art, Welches, on Saturday, April 12, between noon and 5.00pm, to which fans are invited to mix and interact with competitors.

The stage venues are Orange Hill to Four Hills, which will run three times in the morning, alternating with two runs from Pickerings to Luke Hill; in the afternoon, the stages will be reversed, with three runs of Luke Hill to Pickerings and two from Four Hills to Orange Hill. There will be a chicane on the Pickerings stage, in a different location depending on the direction of travel.

BRC Competition Secretary Neil Corbin: “We are hoping for a good turn-out for this event, which is the first tarmac rally for the season. The cars which travelled overseas for Rally Trinidad will be back in the island and the drivers eager to start scoring points. We look forward to a safe and enjoyable event, which will end with a Prizegiving at Greenland at around 6.00pm.”

The BRC’s points-scoring for the season opened at the Spring Blaze 14 tarmac sprint, organized by the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc; only three BRC classes were fully-subscribed, which has allowed Mallalieu (Group N Subaru Imprea), Read (SuperModified 10 Toyota Starlet) and Clarke (Modified 7 Honda Civic) to edge ahead with 15 points each – if there are fewer than three starters in a class, reduced points are awarded.

A further six drivers are tied on 13 points – Mark Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), Ian Warren (Suzuki Swift) and Edward Corbin (Toyota Corolla RunX) finished second in Group N, SM10 and M7 respectively, while Rhett Watson (SM12 BMW M3), Brendon McKenzie (M6 Corolla) and Eric Allamby (Clubman Corolla) each won an under-subscribed class.

Roger Skeete (WRC-1 Subaru Impreza WRC S12) leads the 4wd standings from Roger Hill (WRC-2 Corolla WRC), Mallalieu, Thompson and Geoff Noel (GpN Evo IX), while Read finished as top 2wd, ahead of Warren, SM11 winner Dane Skeete (Peugeot 306 Maxi), Watson and Stuart Maloney, who finished third in SM10 on the debut of his recently-acquired 306 Maxi.

BRC Class Championship

Provisional positions after round 1:

WRC-1: 1st Roger Skeete (Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Michelin Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 11pts

WRC-2: 1st Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 11pts Group N: 1st Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 15pts; 2nd Mark Thompson (Glassesco Hardware/Stag Beer/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Valvoline Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 13pts; 3rd Geoff Noel (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 11pts SuperModified 12: 1st Rhett Watson (Power King Batteries/Carter's Pitstop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 13pts; 2nd Brian Gill (BMW M3), 11pts

SM11: 1st Dane Skeete (Rubis/Williams Trading Inc/LIME/Michelin Peugeot 306 Maxi), 11pts

SM10: 1st Josh Read (Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook Tyres/Weetabix/SDRR/Royal Purple/EZone Toyota Starlet), 15pts; 2nd Ian Warren (Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift), 13pts; 3rd Stuart Maloney (Peugeot 306 Maxi), 11pts; etc

M7: 1st Daryl Clarke (Honda Civic), 15pts; 2nd Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Automotive Art/Prosales Toyota Corolla RunX), 13pts; 3rd Jamal Brathwaite (Valvoline/Automotive Art/Mackeson/Ellesmere/Chicken Pen Racing Honda Civic Type-R), 11pts; etc

M6: 1st Brendon Mckenzie (Mck Motorsport Toyota Corolla), 13pts; 2nd Neil Corbin (Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Castrol/Emtage Electric Toyota Starlet), 11pts

Clubman: 1st Eric Allamby (Toyota Corolla), 13pts; 2nd Trevor Mapp (StC Racing/Chicken Pen Racing Mitsubishi Colt), 11pts

Historic: 1st Stuart White (BMW 325), 11pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st R Skeete, 15pts; 2nd Hill, 13pts; 3rd Mallalieu, 11pts; 4th Thompson, 10pts; 5th Noel, 9pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Read, 15pts; 2nd Warren, 13pts; 3rd D Skeete, 11pts; 4th Watson, 10pts; 5th Maloney, 9pts; 6th Gill, 8pts; 7th Ralph White (SM10 Easy Eats & Catering Services/Barbados Villa Services/Billfisher Fishing Charters/Amsoil Toyota Starlet WTR), 7pts; 8th Clarke, 6pts; 9th E Corbin, 5pts; 10th Brathwaite, 4pts; etc