WINNER PANTON PRAISES FLOW SUPER SPRINT FORMAT

Mayers and Skeete top Leader Boards for Rwd and Fwd

Winner of the inaugural Flow SuperSprint Series, Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton, was full of praise for the new-for-2018 competition and for his day-long rival, Britain’s Rob Swann, after Sunday’s (October 28) double-header finale at Stewarts Hill in St Philip. After an exhilarating day of cut and thrust battles, with margins measured in mere tenths and hundredths of a second, fastest overall Panton, Barry Mayers and Dane Skeete - respectively the fastest Rwd and Fwd - each received a 50-inch Smart TV at the post-event Prizegiving, courtesy of the event sponsor.

Panton (Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06) said: “It was a very competitive day and Rob definitely brought his ‘A-Game’ today, as he was on fire. There wasn't much between us all day and he really pushed me to be more committed to my lines. I think this Super Sprint Series is a great format, Flow and the Rally Club have definitely stepped up the game and I would like to see another round added in the future.”

Competing for the first time ever without a co-driver, Swann was quick right out of the box in his Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury/Cygnet Plant Subaru Impreza WRC S12B. When he beat Panton in the first downhill run on the 4.2-kilometre course from Stewarts Hill to Mapps by 2.84 seconds, he also briefly headed the Flow SuperSprint Series Overall Leader Board, based on each driver’s best time from Flow King of the Hill plus Sunday’s times in each direction; Panton had started the day with a cushion of 2.28secs.

Both drivers bettered their times on the second run, Swann still ahead, but now by only five hundredths of a second; the pendulum swung on run three, Panton improving by nearly 3secs to lead Swann for the first time, by 11/100ths, after which he went even faster on the final run to win by just over half-a-second, as Swann failed to improve.

Panton was the early leader in the uphill direction, beating Swann by nine-tenths on the first run; Swann reduced the gap to just over half-a-second on run two, then moved ahead on the third pass, leading by two-tenths. Despite Swann shaving another half-second off his time on the last run, Panton had the final say; shod with newer rubber than Swann, he carved more than a full second off his time, to win by 0.36s, which won him the Flow SuperSprint Series by an aggregate margin of 3.19secs. Preparing to head back home on Monday to complete his 8,500-mile weekend round trip, Swann sounded upbeat about his brief visit, which was a useful shakedown ahead of next month’s BRC Winter Rally: “I certainly had Jeff on the run! I really enjoyed it, but would have liked one win – ah, well! I had some great runs and a few things on the car worked well. It was very strange not having a co-driver, but you can feel a difference in the car’s handling for sure.”

And it was just as close at the sharp end of two-wheel-drive, too. While Barry Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Digicel/Hankook Ford Fiesta) and Dane Skeete (Sol/Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi) were pretty much certain of winning the rear- and front-drive titles, they scrapped hard for third overall and SuperModified 2: downhill, Mayers led first, with a strong opening run more than 2secs quicker than Skeete, but the Peugeot man drew closer, then ahead (by three-tenths) on run three, only for an impressive final run for Mayers securing victory by 1.98secs. It was far closer uphill, the battling pair never separated by more than 1sec, Mayers prevailing, by just five-hundredths of a second.

Mayers said: “I was very happy, as I had some clean runs competing with Dane. I preferred the high-speed section downhill and I liked the technical section uphill. On the last run of the evening I connected with the chicane, which slowed me down on a run I believe would've been faster.” Skeete added: “I felt like I had a lot of rust to shake off since the last event, so I had to ease myself back into it, but thankfully the car ran without any issues.”

In GpA, life was just as fraught during the downhill runs: first Mark Thompson (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Automotive Art/SLAM 101.1FM/King’s Ocean/Berger Paints Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), then Trinidad & Tobago’s David Coelho (Subway Ford Fiesta R5) and finally Andrew Mallalieu (GpA Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza) led the class times on the first three runs, but Coelho prevailed on the fourth pass, seventh overall, the 1.5secs spread across the three the biggest of the day so far. It was more clear cut uphill, Mallalieu fastest throughout, with Thompson his closest challenger on the first two runs until a misfire developed, replaced by Coelho for the last two, Mallalieu’s winning margin exactly three-quarters of a second.

There was good action, too, in SM3 and Modified 2: in the former, Logan Watson (Leafy Organics/Sign Depot/Subzero Services/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Hankook/Cargo BGI/Stihl BMW M3) celebrated his first class win since returning to action after a long lay-off last year following a ding-dong battle with a hugely-committed Andrew Jones (Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/AP Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII) – these two were never outside the top eight; in M2, Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors/Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance Honda Civic Type-R) eventually beat Paul Horton of the Turks & Caicos Islands (Arbikie Highland Estate/Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX) in a gripping battle, joined by M1 winner Neil Corbin (Nassco/H Jason Jones/General Electric/Refresh your Car/Valvoline/California Scents/Sun General Insurance/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet), just 0.84secs spread across these three downhill and little over 1sec uphill.

Flow SuperSprint Series, round 2 (Stewarts Hill to Mapps)

Overall:
1st Jeffrey Panton – JAM (WRC Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06), 1m 54.62s
2nd Rob Swann – ENG (WRC Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury/Cygnet Plant Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), + 00.55s
3rd Barry Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Rubis/Digicel/Hankook Ford Fiesta), + 02.90s
4th Dane Skeete (SM2 Sol/Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi), + 04.88s
5th Logan Watson (SM3 Leafy Organics/Sign Depot/Subzero Services/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Hankook/Cargo BGI/Stihl BMW M3), + 06.77s
6th Roger Hill (WRC Esso/Nassco/MaxMeyer/Pennzoil/Energizer/Refresh your Car/California Scents Toyota Corolla WRC), + 07.46s
7th David Coelho – T&T (GpA Subway Ford Fiesta R5), + 08.75s
8th Andrew Jones (SM3 Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/AP Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII), + 09.34s
9th Mark Thompson (GpA Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Automotive Art/SLAM 101.1FM/King’s Ocean/Berger Paints Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), + 09.61s
10th Andrew Mallalieu (GpA Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza), + 10.31s etc
WRC: 1st Panton, 1m 54.62s; 2nd Swann, + 00.55s; 3rd Hill, + 07.46s

Group A:
1st Coelho, 2m 03.37s; 2nd M Thompson, + 00.86s; 3rd Mallalieu, + 01.56s
SuperModified 3: 1st Watson, 2m 01.39s; 2nd Jones, + 02.57s; 3rd Stan Hartling – TCI (Bambarra Rum BMW M3), + 04.46s
SM2: 1st Mayers, 1m 57.52s; 2nd Skeete + 01.98s
SM1: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/H Jason Jones/General Electric/Refresh your Car/Valvoline/California Scents/Sun General Insurance/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet), 2m 08.10s – 12th overall; 2nd Winston Thompson (Chicken Pen Racing/Ellesmere Quarries/BCR Car Rental/Seawell Automotive Centre Toyota Starlet), + 08.80s
Modified 2: 1st Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors/Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance Honda Civic Type-R), 2m 08.26s – 13th o/a; 2nd Paul Horton - TCI (Arbikie Highland Estate/Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX), + 00.68s
M1: 1st Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Express Imports Daihatsu Charmant), 2m 12.30s – 17th o/a; 2nd Paul Inniss (Brydens Insurance/Cockspur/Caribbean Villa Chefs/East Point Grill/Chef Byer Catering/Going Places Travel/Drive-a-Matic Car Rentals/Hugh Autobody/JJ Racing Team/K Tech Auto/Castrol/Sign Station Honda Civic), + 06.24s; 3rd Derek Edwards (Arrow Construction/Arrow Woodworking/D & A Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Peugeot 206), + 11.28s
Historic 2: 1st Wayne Archer (RW Water/Arrow Construction/Arrow Woodworking/Archers Hall Design Centre/D & A Air Conditioning BMW 325), 2m 11.47s – 16th o/a; 2nd John Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti Toyota Corolla), + 16.18s
Clubman 2: 1st Stuart Garcia (Intelligent Defence Systems/Kirba Inc/Four & Twenty Bakery/Smith’s Engineering Works/Zaccios BMW 318ti Compact), 2m 24.33s – 24th o/a C1: 1st Jermin Pope (Good Time Snacks/Uniform Factory Outlet/Glassesco Honda Civic), 2m 18.90s – 20th o/a; 2nd Trevor Mapp (JSB Motorsport/Sign Station/Ellesmere Quarries/Valvoline Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), + 10.67s; 3rd Kevin Wiggins (Therapy Charters/Johnson Auto/Zak Auto/Speed Shop 246 Toyota Starlet), + 48.60s
GpB: 1st Jonathan Still (Sharkey’s Bar/Castrol/Suga Apple Swimwear/Paints Plus/Castrol/Markham Construction BMW M3), 2m 09.37s; 2nd Shawn Eversley (SE Performance/L & N Fabricators/Structural Systems/Luxury Hotel & Apartments Guyana Suzuki Swift), + 12.77s; 3rd Calvin Briggs (Ford Sierra), + 12.91s

Flow SuperSprint Series, round 3 (Mapps to Stewarts Hill)

Overall:
1st Panton, 1m 56.12s
2nd Swann, + 00.36s
3rd Mayers, + 03.91s
4th Skeete, + 03.96s
5th Watson, + 05.61s
6th Hill, + 06.37s
7th Jones, + 07.47s
8th Mallalieu, + 08.48s
9th Coelho, + 10.24s
10th Hartling, + 10.83s
etc
WRC: 1st Panton, 1m 56.12s; 2nd Swann, + 00.36s; 3rd Hill, + 06.37s
Group A: 1st Mallalieu, 2m 04.60s; 2nd Coelho, + 01.76s; 3rd M Thompson, + 02.90s
SuperModified 3: 1st Watson, 2m 01.73s; 2nd Jones, + 01.86s; 3rd Hartling, + 03.36s
SM2: 1st Mayers, 2m 00.03s; 2nd Skeete + 00.05s
SM1: 1st N Corbin, 2m 08.26s – 13th o/a; 2nd W Thompson, + 11.53s
Modified 2: 1st Brathwaite, 2m 07.64s – 12th o/a; 2nd Horton, + 01.05s
M1: 1st E Corbin, 2m 12.80s – 16th o/a; 2nd Inniss, + 07.43s
Historic 2: 1st Archer, 2m 14.70s – 17th o/a; 2nd J Corbin, + 16.65s
Clubman 2: 1st Garcia, 2m 26.07s – 22nd o/a
C1: 1st Pope, 2m 21.56s – 20th o/a; 2nd Mapp, + 11.90s; 3rd Wiggins, + 32.85s
GpB: 1st Still, 2m 09.90s; 2nd Eversley, + 12.35s

Flow SuperSprint Series 2018

Fastest Overall:
Jeffrey Panton – JAM (Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06), 6m 34.49s Fastest Rwd: Barry Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Digicel/Hankook Ford Fiesta), 6m 49.92s
Fastest Fwd: Dane Skeete (Sol/Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi), 6m 52.04s

Class winners
WRC: Panton, 6m 34.49s
Group A: David Coelho – T&T (Subway Ford Fiesta R5/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 7m 01.53s
SuperModified 3: Andrew Jones (Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/AP Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII), 7m 00.94s
SM2: Mayers, 6m 49.92s
SM1: Neil Corbin (Nassco/H Jason Jones/General Electric/Refresh your Car/Valvoline/California Scents/Sun General Insurance/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet), 7m 15.53s
Modified 2: Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors/Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance Honda Civic Type-R), 7m 17.03s
M1: Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Express Imports Daihatsu Charmant), 7m 27.67s
Historic 2: John Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti Toyota Corolla), 8m 35.59s
Clubman 2: Stuart Garcia (Intelligent Defence Systems/Kirba Inc/Four & Twenty Bakery/Smith’s Engineering Works/Zaccios BMW 318ti Compact), 8m 07.24s
C1: Jermin Pope (Good Time Snacks/Uniform Factory Outlet/Glassesco Honda Civic), 8m 01.34s
GpB: Jonathan Still (Sharkey’s Bar/Castrol/Suga Apple Swimwear/Paints Plus/Castrol/Markham Construction BMW M3), 7m 24.89s

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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Website: www.barbadosrallyclub.com