RALLY CLUB TITLE CONTENDERS PREPARE FOR

Competition is tight in the hunt for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) sought-after Champion Driver title, as the contenders make ready for the 2015 finale, the double-header Winter Sprint at Lamberts to Josey Hill in St Lucy on Sunday, October 11. After a perfect record of class wins by each driver in the previous six events, a spread of just five points covers Reigning Champion Rhett Watson, Wayne Archer and Jeremy Croney.

All is not as simple as it seems, however, as each competitor is required to drop the season’s lowest score at year-end. SuperModified 12 leader Watson (Chefette / Power King / Gliptone / Stihl in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3) has 110 points, from which he would currently drop 15 for a sprint event class win, making his total 95.

Wayne Archer (Archer’s Hall Design Centre / Diamonds International / CACS BMW 325) has won the Historic class at each event, but a reduced scale of points is awarded if a class is under-subscribed, as Historic was in the season-opener in March; from his total of 108, therefore, he drops only 13, which brings him level with Watson.

For Croney (Warrens Lubricants / Sign Station / SRG Engineering / Sweet Temptations Peugeot 206XS), who leads the Clubman class, there have twice been fewer than three starters, so he drops 15 points, but from a lower total of 105, to give him 90.

Fourth in the title chase is Modified 6 leader Neil Corbin (Nassco / Jason Jones / BG Products & Services / Auto Solutions / Valvoline / Max Meyer Paints / Emtage Electric Toyota Starlet), who has 88 points, but with nothing to drop, as he failed to finish the Shakedown Stages in April. John Corbin (Hist Valvoline / Corbins Garage / Pro Sales Toyota Corolla), Roger Hill (WRC-2 Nassco / Esso / Pennzoil / MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC) and Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors / Valvoline / Automotive Art / R S Electrical / Ellesmere Quarries / JSB Motorsport / Chicken Pen Racing / Codgies Customs Brokers Honda Civic Type-R) complete the top seven, with 84, 82 and 81 points respectively; each has a score to drop, however, so fall to the bottom of the top 10 behind others who have either failed to score or missed an event.

After a systems check revealed that Jamaica’s Jeff Panton had mistakenly not registered for the BRC Championship, his totals have been removed by mutual consent and the points readjusted. Roger Skeete now leads WRC-1 in his Sol / Flow / Simpson Motors / Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12, while Hill leads the 4wd Championship from Skeete and Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean / Blue Sky Luxury Subaru Impreza N10).

Following the high rate of attrition in the Carter’s Pit Stop / Power King Batteries Summer Sun & Stars Rally in August, little has changed in the 2wd Championship, Watson maintaining his 19-point advantage over Justin Campbell (Dream Solutions / Itstaboo.com / Hunikom / Campbell Racing Team / Castrol / Hilton Barbados / One Media / Biz Needz BMW M3). M6 leader Corbin, however, has now climbed to an impressive third after finishing second-placed 2wd.

BRC Class Championship Provisional positions after round 6:

WRC-1: 1st Roger Skeete (Sol / Flow / Simpson Motors / Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 56pts; 2nd John Powell – T&T (Intercontinental Shipping / Trinidad Mooring & Launch Services Ford Focus WRC08), 28pts; 3rd Dane Skeete (Sol / Flow / Automotive Art / WTI Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 15pts

WRC-2: 1st Roger Hill (Nassco / Esso / Pennzoil / MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 82pts Group A: 1st Avinash Chatrani (iShop Barbados / Electric Avenue / PowerBass / Lenovo / 1 of K / Copocabana / Sign Station Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 56pts

GpN: 1st Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean / Blue Sky Luxury Subaru Impreza N10), 80pts; 2nd David Coelho – T&T (Total / Lubetech / Zanzibar / Kaizan Sushi / www.machinerysalestrinidad.com / Quipsol Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 56pts; equal 3rd Harold Morley - ENG (www.bajanloveshop.com / 10 Saints / Red Square / Costco Subaru Impreza WRX STi R4) & John Powell – T&T (Intercontinental Shipping Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 37pts; etc SuperModified 12: 1st Rhett Watson (Chefette / Power King / Gliptone / Stihl in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 110pts; 2nd Justin Campbell (Dream Solutions / Itstaboo.com / Hunikom / Campbell Racing Team / Castrol / Hilton Barbados / One Media / Biz Needz BMW M3), 77pts; 3rd Stan Hartling - CDN (Bambarra Rum BMW M3), 51pts; etc

SM11: 1st Andrew Jones (AP Jones Pharmacy / Southern Surf Beach Apartments / Lucozade Ford Escort MkII), 61pts; 2nd Dane Skeete (Sol / Flow / Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi), 47pts; 3rd Stuart McChlery (Lubriguard / Gunk Ford Escort MkI), 31pts

SM10: 1st Josh Read (Stihl / Gliptone / Sprite / Hankook / Weetabix / Chutney’s / Royal Purple / EZone Toyota Starlet), 55pts; 2nd Neil Armstrong (Rubis / Chefette / Hankook / Nassco / GUNK Toyota Starlet), 50pts; equal 3rd Roger Mayers (Chefette / Sol / Digicel / DHL / Hankook / Illusion Graphics WR Starlet) & Cliff Roett (Nassco / Paulo’s Churrasco do Brazil / Roett's Garage Toyota Starlet), 28pts; etc

SM9: 1st Clifford Cox (Snorkel Toyota Starlet), 58pts; 2nd Mark Kinch (Black Pearl Party Cruises / Jolly Roger 1 / Rubis Kirtons / Ultraviolet Entertainment / Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum Toyota Starlet), 45pts Modified 7: 1st Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors / Valvoline / Automotive Art / R S Electrical / Ellesmere Quarries / JSB Motorsport / Chicken Pen Racing / Codgies Customs Brokers Honda Civic Type-R), 81pts; 2nd Daryl Clarke (MQI Collision Repair / Mom’s Pasta Products / Roberts Manufacturing / Valvoline Honda Civic), 72pts; 3rd Paul Horton - TCI (Sky Motorsports / Java Island / Real Ford Escort MkI), 58pts; etc

M6: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco / Jason Jones / BG Products & Services / Auto Solutions / Valvoline / Max Meyer Paints / Emtage Electric Toyota Starlet), 88pts; 2nd Paul Inniss (Durex / Sun General Insurance / Caribbean Villa Chefs / Chicken Stop Inc / Illusion Graphics / Hugh Auto Body / HIV Aids Commission / Erie Tyre Service / JJ Racing Team Honda Civic), 78pts; 3rd Chris Williams (Cutters Barbados / Sun Flower Events / Solo / Royal Chinese Restaurant Ford Fiesta), 65pts; etc

Clubman: 1st Jeremy Croney (Warrens Lubricants / Sign Station / SRG Engineering / Sweet Temptations Peugeot 206XS), 105pts; 2nd Pierre Clarke (SDRR Hydraulics & Industrial Spares Honda Civic), 61pts; 3rd Rommell Martin (Winston Enterprise / Fusion Boutique / VV&K Rentals / B3 Imaging / Candy Lane / Rallymaxx Toyota Starlet), 58pts; etc

Historic: 1st Wayne Archer (Archer’s Hall Design Centre / Diamonds International / CACS BMW 325), 108pts; 2nd John Corbin (Valvoline / Corbins Garage / Pro Sales Toyota Corolla), 84pts; 3rd Jonathan Ince (Ocean Fisheries / Hankook Daihatsu Charmant), 79pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Hill, 94pts; 2nd R Skeete, 72pts; 3rd Mallalieu, 65pts; 4th Powell, 62pts; 5th Coelho, 47pts; 6th Chatrani, 45pts; etc BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Watson, 78pts; 2nd Campbell, 59pts; 3rd N Corbin, 54pts; 4th Jones, 52pts; 5th Armstrong, 48pts; 6th Archer, 46pts; etc