Stuart Maloney lays down marker for BCIC RB24

Stuart Maloney started his preparations for BCIC Rally Barbados (May 31-June 2) in determined fashion with victory on Sunday’s (April 28) BRC Shakedown Stages. Island fans turned out in their numbers for the first closed-road rally of the season, enjoying some first-class action in the second of two back-to-back rounds of the Barbados Rally Club Driver’s & Class Championships, although a high attrition rate left only 37 official finishers from the 61 starters.
  Driving his new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, Maloney survived a strong challenge from early leader Josh Read (Ford Fiesta R5) and a late charge from Jamaican Kyle Gregg (Fiesta Rally2) to defeat them by nine and 11 seconds respectively. After finishing second to brother Mark (Fabia Rally2 evo) in Saturday’s Bushy Park RallySprint, Maloney was still getting used to the Fabia’s latest evolution: “The changes between the different versions are incremental but it is a better car and can give a good showing on Rally Barbados once I gel with the car like how Josh is now gelled with his car. He was flying today.”
  Maloney won the day’s opening 3.6-kilometre stage between Lamberts to Luke Hill in St Lucy, 12 hundredths quicker than Dane Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12), who would retire on the next stage. Read was fastest on the first run from French Village to Four Hills (3.7kms) in St Peter, assuming the lead, but Maloney fought back, arriving at lunch ahead by just over 1sec after four stages, with England’s Rob Swann (Fabia Rally2 evo) third, another 2.5secs adrift with three top three times to his credit.
  Gregg and fellow Jamaican Jeff Panton (Fabia Rally2 evo) had started the day uncharacteristically slowly, Gregg seventh at lunch, 9secs off the leader, while Panton had clawed back from finishing SS1 in eighth to lie fourth. Panton would not move up over the afternoon’s five stages, three Luke Hill to Lamberts reversed and French Village to Four Hills running in the same direction, but Gregg would.
  Maloney won the first three, stretching his advantage over Read to 7.6secs, with Read also now coming under pressure from Gregg. The Jamaican had been faster than the Bajan on each run, moving up to third, also passing Mark Maloney, Panton and Swann on the way and cutting the 8secs lunchtime gap to just 3.6secs with two stages to go. Just as he had at the Motoring Club Barbados Inc Spring Blaze in March, he won the final two stages to narrow the gap even further but still had to settle for third.
  Like Maloney, Gregg is planning ahead for Rally Barbados: “The worst part of today was sweeping the road after Dane went out, which means more caution is needed; you want to be 'up there' but you still don't want to sweep the road, you want to win King of the Hill but you don't want to start at the front for Rally Barbados, so we'll have to figure out how to do that one.” Panton, Swann and Mark Maloney completed the top six, with the leading 2wd finisher Roger Mayers ahead of FIA R5 runners Roger Hill (Fabia R5), Logan Watson (Fabia Rally2 evo) and Andrew Mallalieu (Fiesta R5).
  Roger Mayers dominated the 2wd battle from the off in his Toyota WR Starlet with some stunning times in the morning – second overall from French Village to Four Hills – placing him fifth overall at lunch. While his pace slipped a little in the afternoon, he still finished seventh overall, winning SuperModified 2 and very happy with the day: “I wasn't focusing on times, just drove as fast as I could to see where we ended up.”
  Brother Barry (Fiesta), who was top 2wd in Saturday’s RallySprint which Roger did not enter, failed to make Sunday with engine issues, while Andrew Jones (Ford Escort MkII) failed to finish the first stage. Rhett Watson (BMW M3) was second in 2wd and SM2 and 12th overall - “Roger is in a different league, so there's no going head-to-head with him.” - while a combination of his own speed and the high rate of attrition elsewhere placed Modified 2 winner Neil Corbin (Toyota GT86 CS-R3) third in 2wd and 15th overall.
  Other prominent casualties in 2wd included Jamaican Horatio Brown (Citroen C2) and Justin Campbell (M3), who completed only one stage; Ross Callender (Starlet) and Mark Kinch (M3), who completed two; returning Champion Driver Daryl Clarke, whose Honda-powered Suzuki Swift S2 was not seen after lunch, while Edward Corbin also retired at lunch after leading SM1 in his Daihatsu Charmant.
  Those with something to celebrate included Scotland’s Fraser Louden, using the event for some pre-BCIC RB24 seat time, who won the WRC class in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Proto after Skeete retired; Kurt Thompson, who won Modified 4 on his 4wd debut in the ex-George Sherman Lancer Evo IX; Jonathan Still, who beat Stuart Garcia and David Husbands to win the M3 battle of the BMW M3s; Chadane Holder (Starlet), Andre Corbin (Toyota Corolla) and Seth Edwards (Citroen C2), the only survivors – in that order – of the seven who started in SM1; finally, Chris Hoad and Kyle Gill (Mitsubishi Mirage Clone), who won Clubman 2 and C1 respectively.

BRC Shakedown Stages - Sunday, April 28
2024 BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 2

Results – overall:
1st Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), 18m 19.93s
2nd Josh Read/Mark Jordan (FIA R5 Automotive Art/Weetabix Ford Fiesta R5), + 09.21
3rd Kyle Gregg – JAM/Orry Hunte (FIA R5 York Investments/B D Gregg Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 11.17
4th Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (FIA R5 KIG/Sandals Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 15.32
5th Rob Swann – ENG/Dylan Thomas – WAL (FIA R5 Cygnet Plant Ltd Export and Sales/GO Rent A Car/R A Swann Ltd Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 18.31
6th Mark Maloney/Justin Maloney (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 20.18
7th Roger Mayers/Barry Ward (SM2 Chefette/Frosteez/Kooyman/Hankook/Packaging Center/Sign Depot Toyota WR Starlet), + 24.76
8th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (FIA R5 Mobil 1/Motormac/Max Mayer/PPG Paint Skoda Fabia R5), +33.91
9th Logan Watson/Kreigg Yearwood (FIA R5 Cargo BGI/Packaging Centre Ltd/Pressure On/Shell Lubricants/Jack Daniels/Bajan Pure Water/Luxe Caribbean Properties Inc/Boot Camp Central/Hankook/Stihl/C3 Communications/Colour XL Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 37.71
10th Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (FIA R5 Terra Caribbean Ford Fiesta R5), + 1:00.60
etc

WRC: 1st Fraser Louden – SCO/Ashleigh Will (F) - SCO (WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Proto), 21:22.83 – 17th overall
FIA R5: 1st S Maloney/Yearwood; 2nd Read/Jordan; 3rd Gregg – JAM/Hunte; etc
Modified 4: 1st Kurt Thompson/Adam Straker (Glassesco Hardware/Automotive Art/Valvoline/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty Day Spa/Realtors Ltd Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 19:50.42 – 13th o/a; 2nd Avinash Chatrani/Julian Goddard iShop Barbados/Axe Solutions Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), + 09.19; 3rd Kyle Catwell/Kayleigh Catwell (F) (Valvoline Oils/Automotive Art/Blue Waters/Stag/Ellesmere Quarries Ltd/BCR Car Rental/Thomas Tours/Chicken Pen Racing Audi TT-R), + 1:00.03
SuperModified 2: 1st Mayers/Ward, 18:44.69; 2nd Rhett Watson/Andrew Croney (Chefette/Frosteez/Finlandia Vodka/Stihl/Gliptone/Bajan Pure Water/Motul Oils/Hankook BMW M3), + 50.41; 3rd Paul Inniss/Ryan O Wood (Caribbean LED Lighting Inc/Huntes Auto Spares Inc/Trident Insurance/Caribbean Villa Chefs/JJ Racing Team/Performance Plus/J's A/C Services Honda Civic), + 4:50.74
SM1: 1st Chadane Holder/Shaquille Mayers (Carnique Transport Inc/Seven Creative Media/City of Bridgetown Credit Union Toyota Starlet), 23:25.85 – 27th o/a; 2nd Andre Corbin/Mark Brome (Corbin’s Transport & Taxi Service/Parts Plus/Hi-Speed Performance Parts/Ice-Line Design/Fusionz Boutique/Prestigious Wheels/Empire Auto Solutions Toyota Corolla), + 27.45; 3rd Seth Edwards/Elijah Marshall (Citroen C2R2 MAX), + 1:08.13
M3: 1st Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (Suga Apple Swim/InoGro-Hydroponics/Weddings by Melissa/New York Pizza/Bajan Pure Water/Young Island BMW M3), 21:25.04 – 18th o/a; 2nd Stuart Garcia/Rasheed Smith (Time Out Car/Kirba Inc/Four & Twenty Bakery/Guava Tech/Forin BMW Compact), + 19.90s; 3rd David Husbands/Ryan Carrington (BMW M3), + 2:30.81; etc
M2: 1st Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (Nassco Limited/Stamina Energy/Colour XL/Auto Solutions/Pressout Performance/Bajan Vending Toyota GT86 CS-R3), 20:10.60 – 15th o/a; 2nd Sean Corbin/James Hutchinson (Super-S Premium Lubricants/Carters Pitstop/Kikks Slippas/Westlake/First Step Security/Guava Tech/Gunk/Fabblast Barbados/M&M Tuning BMW 318ti Compact), + 1:39.62
Hist 1: 1st Harold Morley/Lance Bourne (Spectrum Antimicrobials Inc Porsche 911RS), 26:15.75 – 35th o/a
Clubman 3: 1st Kevin Armstrong/Kareem Gaskin (Armstrong Auto BMW), 22:59.11 – 23rd o/a
C2: 1st Chris Hoad/Alan Alkins (Subway/Dasani Water/Color XL/Shell Lubricants/Guava Tech BimmaCup), 21:58.40 – 21st o/a; 2nd Spencer Hutchinson/Gayle Hutchinson (F) (Perkins & Sons ‘75’ Barbados Rum BimmaCup), + 53.85; 3rd David-Anthony Balgobin/Alister Nurse (BimmaCup), + 01:01.55; etc
C2: 1st Kyle Gill/Rashid Phillips (Adhoc Industries/Chicken Stop Barbados Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone), 23:53.78 – 30th o/a; 2nd Shawn Brathwaite/Johnathan King (Executive Air Toyota Corolla), + 3:58.97
Group B: no finishers

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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