THIRD YEAR OF CHEFETTE SPONSORSHIP FOR MUDDOGS

Chefette Restaurants has been confirmed as title sponsor of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) MudDogs Safari & Safari Novice Championships for the third year, continuing its enthusiastic backing for the series, which began with the awarding of Novice trophies in 2010. Competitors are now making preparations for the new season, which kicks off with Sunday’s (March 1) March Safari.

Four months since the Nassco November Safari sealed the Champion Navigator and Driver titles for Chris O’Neal and Leslie Alleyne respectively for the second year in a row, the MudDogs – the BRC’s off-road division – are preparing to do battle once again for the prized Sextant Challenge Trophy and the Peter Farmer Memorial Trophy.

Alleyne and O’Neal begin their title defence on Sunday in the Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max, one of 14 crews confirmed at last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church . . . but it will not be an easy task.

Route-setters for the season-opener are Phillip McConney, Brian Fernandes and MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder; the first crew will leave the start at Chefette Wildey, St Michael, at 8.00am on Sunday, to tackle two routes in the centre of the island, with the lunch halt and the finish at Chefette Charles Rowe Bridge, St George. There will be three Driver Challenges along the way, two in route one and one in route two.

Ahead of the new season, Holder said: “As the MudDogs prepare for the new season, I must thank Chefette for their continued support of the Championship; the efforts they make to provide us with locations for us to start and finish our events and the enthusiasm with which they cater for our competitors and marshals make such a big difference to what we do.”

Sunday’s event is the first of five between now and November, which qualify for the 2015 Championship, with two separate MudFest events also on the MudDogs calendar. As before, crews are required to compete in four out of the five Safaris to be eligible for year-end Championship points; if they compete in all five Safaris, then their best four scores will count. First place on each Safari earns 60 points, second place earns 58, decreasing by two points per position down to 30th, which earns two points. All positions after 30th will earn one point.

Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship & Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship Round 1 - March 1 - March Safari Pro Class

1 Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max)

2 Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Birdies Restaurant Ford Ranger)

3 Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (AS Auto Stop Suzuki Samurai)

5 Noel Edwards/Mark Western (Rubis West Indies/Barbarees Service Station Toyota Tundra)

6 Damien Johnson/Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai)

7 Michael Ward/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny)

8 Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Vitara)

9 John Pinto/Nicholas Branson (Amsoil/Paints Plus GMC Sonowa)

10 George Mendes/Gary Mendes (Mitsubishi L200 Sportero)

11 Nicholas Pinto/Jamal Brathwaite (Power King/Batteries Jeep Grand Cherokee)

13 Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Brokers & Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero)

14 Nicholas Lorde/Brett Barber (NL Engineering/Comfeet/Sam Lorde’s Enterprises Range Rover)

Novice Class

4 Richard Hinkson/Kevin Maninng (Suzuki Samurai)

12 Derek Pinto/Adam Hunte (Toyota Hilux)

Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship & Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship Round 1 - March 1 - BRC MudDogs March Safari Round 2 - April 4 – BRC MudDogs April Safari MudFest - May 2 Round 3 - June 27/28 – BRC MudDogs June Safari Round 4 - September 20 - BRC MudDogs September Safari MudFest - October 4 Round 5 - November 8 - BRC MudDogs November Safari