LAST CHANCE SALOON FOR RALLY CLUB TITLE-CHASERS

photo credit Gerrard Wilson Photography

While motor sport fans will be delighted to learn that Jamaican Jeff Panton is returning to do battle with island ace Roger Skeete in Sunday’s (October 12) Winter Tarmac Sprint, they will be just as pleased to hear that more than 30 drivers have entered for the final rounds of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2014 Driver’s and Class Championships, a record number in recent years.

And there’s good news, too, for front-runners Daryl Clarke, Rhett Watson and Stuart White, as they go down to the wire in their chase for the prestigious Champion Driver title: all have fully-subscribed classes, at least for the first part of the weekend’s double-header, so no points should be lost to lack of competition, an issue suffered by both Watson and White earlier in the year.

After Scrutineering at the MTW Chance Hall Depot in St Lucy at 8.30am on Sunday, the event is slated for a 10.00am start. Round seven of the BRC Championship will run from Josey Hill to Lamberts, with the direction being reversed for round eight. The lunch break will be at around noon, with the finish expected to be at approximately 3.00pm.

Entries for the BRC’s season finale have rarely exceeded 20 in the past decade, most recently in the 2010 Karcher Winter Rally, also a tarmac event. BRC Competition Secretary Neil Corbin said: “We are all delighted with the excellent turn-out, with both quality and quantity for the last event of the season, and it would seem to support the Club’s decision to abandon gravel events for this year’s championship.

“Our decision to run only tarmac events was made after careful thought, as we know there are many competitors who enjoy that environment, and spectators as well. But, with fewer suitable venues available and the increasing costs of preparing the courses to make them as driver and car-friendly as possible, we really had no choice.”

With one dropped score taken into account, reigning SuperModified 12 Champion Watson (Power King Batteries/Carter's Pit-stop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3) leads with 103 points. White (39 Steps Wine Bar/Hunikom Swim Wear/UpBeat Wholesale/Makita/Guava Tech BMW 325), who won the BRC’s new Historic class title last year, is second on 102, with former Modified 7 title-winner Clarke (Roberts Manufacturing/P & N Hardware/Valvoline/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Quality/Mum’s Pasta Honda Civic) third on 101.

Sunday’s double-header format makes predictions impossible, but competitors and spectators alike are promised an excellent day of competition on a rarely-used stage format. As BRC CompSec Corbin put it: “It is a event not to be missed . . . and may the best man win!”

BRC Winter Tarmac Sprint

Provisional running order at October 10

1 Stuart White (Hist 39 Steps Wine Bar/Hunikom Swim Wear/UpBeat Wholesale/Makita/Guava Tech BMW 325)

2 Roger Skeete (WRC-1 Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Williams Trading Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S12)

3 Jeffrey Panton – JAM (WRC-1 KIG/Rubis/Blue Orchids Hotel Ford Focus WRC06)

4 Neil Armstrong (SM10 Chefette/Lubriguard/Redline Fuel Toyota Starlet)

5 Barry Mayers (SM10 Chefette/Digicel/Illusion Graphics/Pennzoil WR Starlet)

6 Rhett Watson (SM12 Power King Batteries/Carter's Pit-stop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3)

7 Andrew Mallalieu (GpN Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10)

8 Mark Thompson (GpN Glassesco Hardware/Stag Beer/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Valvoline Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

9 Geoff Noel (GpN Kola Kick/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Automotive Art/CIAC Air Conditioners/Dewalt Tools Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

10 David Coelho – TRI (WRC-1 Total/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi/www.machinerysalestrinidad.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

11 Andrew Jones (SM11 AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Lucozade/Panadol/Precision Racing Ford Escort MkII)

12 Brian Gill (SM12 Coca-Cola BMW M3)

14 Justin Campbell (SM12 Hilton Barbados/Dream Solutions/Castrol Edge/C & C Auto Services/Acton Corporate Services/Transtech BMW M3)

15 Cliff Roett (SM10 Nassco/Roett's Garage/Mark's Auto Spares/Flock it Electrostatic Coatings Toyota Starlet)

16 Daryl Clarke (M7 Roberts Manufacturing/P & N Hardware/Valvoline/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Quality/Mum’s Pasta Honda Civic)

17 Edward Corbin (M7 Valvoline/Prosales Toyota Corolla RunX)

18 Jamal Brathwaite (M7 Valvoline/Automotive Art/Mackeson/Ellesmere/Chicken Pen Racing Honda Civic Type-R)

19 Neil Corbin (M6 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Valvoline/BG Products & Services Toyota Starlet)

20 Brendon Mckenzie (M6 Mck Motorsport/Turbo Plus Drink Mix/Do-It-Best Quality Paints/Colour XL/PromoTech Computers Toyota Corolla)

21 Jeremy Gonsalves (M6 Makita/SSP/Star Products/Yamaha Opel Corsa)

22 Stuart McChlery (SM12 Lubriguard/Gunk Ford Escort MkI)

23 Jeremy Sisnett (M7 The Tiki Bar/Autolink/Indoor Plant Services Ford Fiesta ST)

24 Sean Field (M7 Field Insurance Brokers/Castrol/Beacon Insurance Peugeot 306 GTi6)

25 Harold Morley - ENG (S12 Ontrac Telematics/Massy Shipping/Bajanloveshop.com Porsche GT3)

26 Wayne Archer (Hist Archers Hall Design Centre/Calvin Alkins Customs Services/Diamonds International BMW 325)

27 Eric Allamby (Club Shelbury Construction/Scrap Man Recycling/MC Buccaneer Toyota Corolla)

28 Philip Moe (S10 Toyota Corolla)

29 Trevor Mapp (Club Ellesmere Quarries/AS Autostop/Codgi's Insurance Brokers/Chicken Pen Racing Mitsubishi Colt)

30 Jonathan Ince (Hist Ocean Fisheries Ltd Daihatsu Charmant)

31 John Corbin (Hist Valvoline/Automotive Art/Prosales/Corbins Garage Toyota Corolla)

32 Sean Corbin (S12 Power King Batteries/Carter's Pit-stop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3)

33 John Boland (Hist 39 Steps Wine Bar/Hunikom Swim Wear/UpBeat Wholesale/Makita/Guava Tech BMW 325)