THREE-WAY TIE IN CHAMPION DRIVER TITLE CHASE

As competitors in the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s and Class Championships start preparations for the upcoming BRC Shakedown Stages (Sunday, April 19), the second of eight rounds this year, there is a three-way tie in the Champion Driver’s title chase between Edward Corbin, Jeremy Croney and Reigning Champion Rhett Watson.

Entries for the Shakedown Stages opened today (Thursday) at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall, also on-line at www.barbadosrallyclub.com, and will close at 1.00pm next Wednesday, April 15; the Briefing Meeting will be at 6.30pm on Thursday, April 16, at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House, Searles, Christ Church, when the running order will be published.

A quality entry is anticipated for this final shakedown before LIME King of the Hill and Sol Rally Barbados next month. Leading regional entries, including Jamaicans Jeffrey Panton and Kyle Gregg and Trinidad’s John Powell, have already expressed their intention to compete, boosting the competition in the four-wheel-drive classes, while competitors across the island are working against the clock to have their cars ready.

Ten special stages are planned at two venues, with the 9.30am start, lunch break and finish (approximately 4.00pm) at the Greenland Agricultural Station in St Andrew. Scrutineering will be on Saturday, April 18, between 2.00pm and 4.30pm, at a location yet to be finalised.

The stage venues are Four Hills to Orange Hill, which will run three times in the morning, alternating with two runs from Collins to Pickerings; in the afternoon, the stages will be reversed, with three runs of Pickerings to Collins and two from Orange Hill to Four Hills.

The BRC’s points-scoring for the season opened at the Spring Blaze 15 tarmac sprint, organised by the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc last month; only three BRC classes were fully-subscribed, which has allowed Corbin (Modified 7 Toyota Corolla RunX), Croney (Clubman Peugeot 206XS) and Watson (SuperModified 12 BMW M3) to edge ahead with 15 points each – if there are fewer than three starters in a class, reduced points are awarded.

A further five drivers are tied on 13 points – Paul Horton from the Turks & Caicos Islands (Ford Escort MkI), Trevor Mapp (Mitsubishi Mirage RS) and Justin Campbell (M3) finished second in M7, Clubman and SM12 respectively, while Wayne Archer (BMW 325) and Neil Corbin, who shared Jonathan Ince’s Daihatsu Charmant for the day, each won an under-subscribed class.

Roger Hill (WRC-2 Corolla WRC) leads the 4wd standings from Powell (WRC-1 Ford Focus WRC08) and Andrew Mallalieu (GpN Subaru Impreza N10), while Watson finished as top 2wd, ahead of the winners of SM11 and SM10, Andrew Jones (Escort MkII) and Cliff Roett (Starlet) respectively.

BRC Class Championship

Provisional positions after round 1:

WRC-1: 1st John Powell – TRI (Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring & Launch Services Ford Focus WRC08), 11pts

WRC-2: 1st Roger Hill (Nassco/Esso/Pennzoil/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 11pts Group N: 1st Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 11pts SuperModified 12: 1st Rhett Watson (Chefette Restaurants/Power King Batteries/Gliptone/Stihl in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 15pts; 2nd Justin Campbell (Hilton Barbados/Dream Solutions/Biz Needz BMW M3), 13pts; 3rd Stan Hartling - CDN (BMW M3), 11pts

SM11: Andrew Jones (AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Lucozade Ford Escort MkII), 11pts

SM10: 1st Cliff Roett (Nassco/Paulo’s Churrasco Restaurant/Roett's Garage Toyota Starlet), 11pts

M7: 1st Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Prosales Toyota Corolla RunX), 15pts; 2nd Paul Horton - TCI (Sky Motorsports/Java Island/Real Ford Escort MkI), 13pts; 3rd Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors/Valvoline/Automotive Art/R S Electrical/Ellesmere Quarries/JSB Motorsport/Chicken Pen Racing/Codgies Customs Brokers Honda Civic Type-R), 11pts

M6: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/Jason Jones/BG Products & Services/Auto Solutions/Valvoline/Emtage Electrical Toyota Starlet), 13pts; 2nd Chris Williams (Cutters Barbados/10 Saints Beer/Solo/Royal Chinese Restaurant Ford Fiesta), 11pts

Clubman: 1st Jeremy Croney (Warrens Lubricants/Sign Station/SRG Engineering/Sweet Temptations Peugeot 206XS), 15pts; 2nd Trevor Mapp (Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), 13pts

Historic: 1st Wayne Archer (Archer’s Hall Design Centre/Diamonds International BMW 325), 13pts; 2nd John Corbin (Valvoline/Corbins Garage/Prosales Toyota Corolla), 11pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Hill, 15pts; 2nd Powell, 13pts; 3rd Mallalieu, 11pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Watson, 15pts; 2nd Jones, 13pts; 3rd Roett, 11pts; 4th Campbell, 10pts; 5th Hartling, 9pts; 6th E Corbin, 8pts; 7th Horton, 7pts; 8th Croney, 6pts; 9th Archer, 5pts; 10th Brathwaite, 4pts; etc