WATSON DRAWS LEVEL WITH CLARKE IN TITLE CHASE

With five rounds run and just three to go, Daryl Clarke and Rhett Watson are now joint leaders in the battle to become Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Champion Driver for 2014. With only eight points covering the top six drivers, however, the championship is still wide open, and with the year-end dropped score rule yet to be taken into account.

Last month's Scotiabank King of the Hill and Sol Rally Barbados 2014 gave competitors three chances to score points, as Saturday and Sunday of Sol RB14 count as separate rounds, with bonus class points for the top three drivers on each day's Power Stage. None were awarded for Saturday, however, after the stage was cancelled part-way through, although the adjusted times for those who did not complete the stage remained in the event results.

Although each had already claimed two class wins, Watson had been trailing Clarke by two points, because SuperModified 12, where he campaigns his BMW M3, was not a fully-subscribed class in the first round, which affects the number of points awarded. For the season's two biggest events, however, that was not a problem, Watson claiming three more class wins, to carry his total to 88; although he was fastest in class on 16 of the 23 stages of Sol RB, they did not include the Bushy Park Power Stages, however, where he was beaten by Owen Cumberbatch on Friday, then by Brian Gill and Martin Atwell on Sunday. Just three bonus points, therefore, bring his total up to 91.

Clarke won his class at KotH and on day one of Sol RB14, but lost well over two minutes to a broken gear linkage on the first Malvern stage on Sunday. He completed the stage in one gear to remain in the overall running - he finished an impressive 12th overall - but the time lost dropped his Honda Civic to third in Modified 7 on Sunday for a total of 85, boosted to 91 thanks to a maximum six points on the two Power Stages.

Stuart White is currently third overall, on 88, having won the Historic class four times in his BMW 325 - Greg Cozier, who won at Sol RB14, is not registered for the Championship, so White claims maximum points - with Roger Skeete, Josh Read and Erci Allamby on 87, 85 and 83 respectively.

Skeete has a perfect record of WRC-1 class wins in his Subaru Impreza WRC S12, while Read (SM10 Toyota Starlet) and Allamby (Clubman Toyota Corolla) have each won four times; all have lost a couple of points here and there to a unsubscribed class, which might work in their favour when the lowest score is dropped at year-end.

Skeete leads the 4wd standings from Paul Bourne (WRC-1 Ford Focus WRC07) and Andrew Mallalieu (Group N Subaru Impreza N10), while Watson has replaced Read at the head of the 2wd standings, based on overall results - Read missed one stage of Sol RB14 on Saturday, so did not score - with Clarke third.

BRC Class Championship

Provisional positions after round 5:

WRC-1: 1st Roger Skeete (Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Michelin/Williams Trading Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 87 points; 2nd Paul Bourne (Chefette/Banks/MQI/Flow Ford Focus WRC07), 64pts

WRC-2: 1st Roger Hill (Nassco/Esso/Pennzoil/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 55pts

Group N: 1st Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 81pts; 2nd Mark Thompson (Glassesco Hardware/Stag Beer/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Valvoline Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 63pts; 3rd Geoff Noel (Kola Kick/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Automotive Art/CIAC Air Conditioners/Dewalt Tools Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 27pts

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), 91pts; 2nd Justin Campbell (Hilton Barbados/Dream Solutions/Castrol Edge/C & C Auto Services/Acton Corporate Services/Transtech BMW M3), 58pts; 3rd David St Hill (BMW M3), 51pts; etc

SM11: 1st Andrew Jones (AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Lucozade/Panadol/Precision Racing Ford Escort MkII), 57pts; 2nd Stuart McChlery (Lubriguard/Gunk Ford Escort MkI), 49pts; 3rd Dane Skeete (Rubis/Williams Trading Inc/LIME/Michelin Peugeot 306 Maxi), 29pts

SM10: 1st Josh Read (Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/Cell Hut/Royal Purple/Weetabix/Chutney's/Ezone Toyota Starlet), 85pts; 2nd Cliff Roett (Nassco/Roett's Garage/Mark's Auto Spares/Flock it Electrostatic Coatings Toyota Starlet), 33pts; 3rd Ralph White (Easy Eats & Catering Services/Barbados Villa Services/Billfisher Fishing Charters/Amsoil Toyota Starlet WTR), 22pts; etc

Modified 7: 1st Daryl Clarke (Roberts Manufacturing/P & N Hardware/Valvoline/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Quality/Mum’s Pasta Honda Civic), 91pts; 2nd Jamal Brathwaite (Valvoline/Automotive Art/Mackeson/Ellesmere/Chicken Pen Racing Honda Civic Type-R), 64pts; 3rd Freddie Gale (Gale’s Hatcheries/Redline Fuels/Nassco Toyota Corolla RunX), 49pts; etc

M6: equal 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Valvoline/BG Products & Services Toyota Starlet) & Brendon Mckenzie (Mck Motorsport/Turbo Plus Drink Mix/Do-It-Best Quality Paints/Colour XL/PromoTech Computers Toyota Corolla), 65pts; 3rd Jeremy Gonsalves (Makita/SSP/Star Products/Yamaha Opel Corsa), 51pts

Clubman: 1st Eric Allamby (Shelbury Construction/Scrap Man Recycling/MC Buccaneer Toyota Corolla), 83pts; 2nd Fabien Clarke (RCR Tours/Bovell Auto Repair/Barbados Business Listings Suzuki Ignis Sport), 44pts; 3rd Trevor Mapp (Ellesmere Quarries/AS Autostop/Codgi's Insurance Brokers/Chicken Pen Racing Mitsubishi Colt), 42pts; etc

Historic: 1st Stuart White (39 Steps Wine Bar/Hunikom Swim Wear/UpBeat Wholesale/Makita/Guava Tech BMW 325), 88pts; 2nd Wayne Archer (Archers Hall Design Centre/Calvin Alkins Customs Services/Diamonds International BMW 325), 72pts; 3rd John Corbin (Valvoline/Automotive Art/Prosales/Corbins Garage Toyota Corolla), 42pts; etc

Group B: 1st Geoffrey Ullyett (Ullyett's Machine Shop Service/Chesterton Hydraulic Seals & Gaskets/Valvoline Oil/Algae-X Nissan 200T), 47pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st R Skeete, 90pts; 2nd Bourne, 64pts; 3rd Mallalieu, 62pts; 4th Hill, 50pts; equal 5th Thompson & Noel, 19pts

BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Watson, 73pts; 2nd Read, 66pts; 3rd Clarke, 45pts; 4th Jones, 39pts; 5th Brian Gill (SM12 Coca Cola BMW M3), 29pts; 6th Gale, 27pts; equal 7th Paul Horton - TCI (Sky Motorsports/Java Island/H Racing/Precision Racing Ford Escort MkI) & Mckenzie, 26pts; equal 9th Campbell & N Corbin, 25pts; 10th D Skeete, 24pts; etc