PANTON LEADS RALLY CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

After a dominant run of four straight WRC class wins, Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton is the first competitor from the four-wheel-drive classes to lead the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Champion Driver title chase at the half-way stage since 2011. With four of seven rounds run, he is three points ahead of SuperModified 1 class leader Neil Corbin, while four more drivers are within 10 points of his total of 75.

  In what is already proving to be a very competitive season, more than 50 drivers have scored points, with six class leaders holding on to their advantage by 10 points or less. While Panton has not put a foot wrong so far this year in his Ford Focus WRC06, the same can be said of Corbin (Toyota Starlet), but SM1 was not fully-subscribed for the opening round – three starters are need for full points to be scored - hence his three-point deficit.

  BRC newcomer Stuart Garcia (BMW 318ti Compact) is third overall, another five points behind Corbin, with one class win and three second-place finishes to his credit; he had been trailing Derek Edwards in Clubman 2 until a clutch failure on his similar BMW caused Edwards to retire from day two of Sol Rally Barbados 2017, so Garcia now has an eight-point lead.

  Fourth overall is Wayne Archer (BMW 325), one point behind Garcia but 10 ahead of John Corbin (Toyota Corolla) in Historic 2. Tied for fifth place overall on 65 points, Andrew Jones (Ford Escort MkII) and Barry Mayers (Ford Fiesta) are the respective leaders of SuperModified 3 and SM2; Jones is just three points ahead of Justin Campbell (BMW M3), with whom he enjoyed a titanic battle throughout Sol RB17, while Mayers has a nine-point advantage over Stuart McChlery (Escort MkI), after a number of fancied SM2 runners retired from Sol RB17.

  Three more drivers are tied for seventh on 64 points – Roger Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), who is second in WRC to Panton, Edward Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) and Trevor Mapp (Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), who are the leaders of Modified 1 and C1 respectively, while a further three are tied for 10th place on 62. Adding Group N leader Mark Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), Campbell and Paul Horton from the Turks & Caicos Islands, who leads M2 in his Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX, into the mix means there are no fewer than 10 drivers covered by just five points from third to equal 10th overall.

  With the ‘dropped score’ rule abandoned for this year along with the reduction in qualifying rounds, the rest of the BRC Driver’s and Class Championships look set for a tight contest. There is almost three months before the double-header SuperSprint in October, so those competitors for whom the year has not started so well can regroup.

  Panton also leads the BRC 4wd Championship by 11 points from Skeete, with Roger Hill (Toyota Corolla WRC) a further eight behind. Mayers, who leads the 2wd Championship, has the same margin of 11 points over Jones and Dane Skeete (Peugeot 306 Maxi), who are tied in second place, with Campbell fourth, two more points adrift.

BRC Class Championship Positions after round 4:

WRC: 1st Jeffrey Panton – JAM (Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06), 75 points; 2nd Roger Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Simpson Motors/WTI Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 64pts; 3rd Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/MaxMeyer/MotorMac/Pennzoil Toyota Corolla WRC), 56pts Group A: 1st Avinash Chatrani (Lenovo/PowerBass/Gunk/iShop/Genius Lynk/Copacabana Beach Club Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 45pts; 2nd David Coelho – TRI (Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 28pts

GpN: 1st Mark Thompson (Automotive Art/Stag Beer/Glassesco/NKM/Bio Beauty/SLAM 101.1FM Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 62pts; 2nd Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 45pts SuperModified 3: 1st Andrew Jones (Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII), 65pts; 2nd Justin Campbell (Republic Bank/Five Star Fast Track/Hilton Barbados Resort/Dream Solutions/Automotive Art/Hilti/#RAY/Campbell Racing Team BMW M3), 62pts; 3rd David St Hill (St Hill & Sons Garage BMW M3), 52pts; etc

SM2: 1st Barry Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Digicel/DHL/Hankook/Illusion Graphics Ford Fiesta), 65pts; 2nd Stuart McChlery (Lubriguard/Gunk Ford Escort MkI), 56pts; 3rd Dane Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi), 53pts; etc

SM1: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/H Jason Jones/Emtage Electric/BG Products & Services/Auto Solutions/Valvoline/Sun General Insurance/Maxmeyer Paints Toyota Starlet), 72pts; 2nd Clifford Cox (Hilti/Snorkel/Williams Equipment/JLG Reaching Out/MQ Multiquip/Yanmar/Hankook Toyota Starlet), 44pts; 3rd Philip Moe (Sunbay Hotel/Mark’s Auto Spares/Bajan Motors Toyota Corolla), 13pts; etc Modified 2: 1st Paul Horton - TCI (Turks Head Brewery/Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX), 62pts; 2nd Daryl Clarke (Flow/Automotive Art/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Collision Repair/Valvoline/eCarib Classifieds Honda Civic), 55pts; 3rd Kurt Thompson (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty Day Spa Honda Civic), 45pts; etc

M1: 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Hilti Daihatsu Charmant), 64pts; 2nd Paul Inniss (Durex Barbados/Brydens Insurance/East Point Grill/Auto Derm/Hugh Autobody/K-Tech Auto/Chicken Stop/Tint Plus/Caribbean Villa Chefs/JJ Racing Team Honda Civic), 56pts Historic 2: 1st Wayne Archer (Archers Hall Design Centre/RW Water/Arrow Woodworking/Arrow Construction/D & A Mechanical Services BMW 325), 66pts; 2nd John Corbin (Automotive Art/Pro Sales Toyota Corolla), 56pts; 3rd Greg Cozier (Barbados Historic Rally Carnival/Geest Line/Jondel Race Engines/Rally and Competition Equipment Ford Escort RS), 53pts Clubman 2: 1st Stuart Garcia (Intelligent Defence Systems/Smiths Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/Tropical Sunset/Zaccios BMW 318ti Compact), 67pts; 2nd Derek Edwards (D & A Mechanical Services/Arrow Construction BMW 318ti Compact), 55pts; equal 3rd Allan Kinch (Jolly Roger/Pirate’s Cove BMW 318ti Compact) & Joe Troulan - ENG (Barbados Villa Services/TRU Barbados/Seranus/Serenity Pest Control BMW 318ti Compact), 41pts; etc

C1: 1st Trevor Mapp (Sign Station/JSB Motorsport/Chicken Pen Racing/AS Autostop/Valvoline Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), 64pts; 2nd Jermin Pope (Good Time Snacks/Uniform Factory Outlet/Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty/PEG/Niccolls and Edghill/SLAM 101.1FM/Industries Job Honda Civic), 55pts; 3rd Randy Reid (School Boy Sound System/Bird’s Wrecker Service Toyota Starlet), 40pts; etc

GpB: 1st Calvin Briggs (Massy Realty/Lucas Oils/Keisha's Cheesecakes Ford Sierra), 26pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Panton, 75pts; 2nd R Skeete, 64pts; 3rd Hill, 56pts; 4th M Thompson, 47pts; 5th Chatrani, 38pts; 6th Mallalieu, 36pts; 7th Coelho, 23pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st B Mayers, 62pts; equal 2nd Jones & D Skeete, 51pts; 4th Campbell, 49pts; 5th N Corbin, 41pts; equal 6th Horton & Rhett Watson (Chefette/Power King Batteries/Gliptone/Stihl/Gunk/The Unknown Entity in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 32pts; 8th St Hill, 30pts; 9th Clarke, 29pts; 10th K Thompson, 24pts; etc