Derek Gill and Andrew Croney in the Insurance Brokers & Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero will lead the Pro field off in Saturday’s (April 11) April Safari, round two of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Chefette MudDogs Safari & Safari Novice Championships. Runners-up in last year Championship, they started the season well with victory in last month’s opening round.
That win has given them a sound early-season lead over Reigning Champions Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal, who finished sixth in the Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max. Second in March were Damien and Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai), with Audley and Jeremy Croney third, the father and and outfit replacing their Suzuki Vitara with a Mitsubishi L200 this weekend.
First away on Saturday will be the March Safari’s winning Novice crew, Derek Pinto and Adam Hunte in the Impulse Services Toyota Hilux, who will face Richard Hinkson and Kevin-Jon Manning (Suzuki Samurai) and rookies Alvin Leon and Nathan John, also Samurai-mounted.
A total of 16 crews were confirmed at last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church. Former Champions Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke are making their first appearance of the season which, along with a couple of driver or navigator changes, bring to 35 the number of participants in MudDogs events for the season so far.
Route-setters for the April Safari are George and Gary Mendes, who finished fourth in the season’s opening event four weeks ago, having finished third in the Chefette Safari Championship in 2014; the first crew will leave the start at Chefette Speightstown, St Peter, at 2.00pm on Saturday, with the dinner Stop at Chefette Six Roads, St Philip at around 6.00pm and the finish at Chefette Warrens at approximately 11.30pm.
Route one is the longer of the two, at approximately 95 kilometres, and will include three Driver Challenges: the first will be at Maynards, St Peter, the second by the Muffler Centre, Cane Garden, St Thomas, while the third will start opposite Atlantic Marketing in The Belle, St Michael.
After the dinner stop, route two will be approximately 72kms, with a Driver Challenge included in the distance at an undeclared location in this route. Crews will be required to use a number of navigational methods - straight-line by map, BRC, Tulip as you see it, 90-degree tulip, straight-line as you see it – so will need to be on their toes.
MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “This looks like an excellent event for our second Safari of the year, and I’m pleased to say we also have a new Novice crew. I would like to welcome Alvin Leon and Nathan John to the MudDogs family, I hope that they enjoy themselves at the weekend, and look forward to them competing in future events.”
Saturday’s event is the second of five which qualify for the 2015 Championship, with two separate MudFests also on the MudDogs calendar. As before, crews are required to compete in four out of the five Safaris to be eligible for year-end Championship points; if they compete in all five Safaris, then their best four scores will count. First place on each Safari earns 60 points, second place earns 58, decreasing by two points per position down to 30th, which earns two points. All positions after 30th will earn one point.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
& Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship
Round 2 – April 11 - April Safari
Novice Class
1 Derek Pinto/Adam Hunte (Impulse Services Toyota Hilux)
7 Alvin Leon/Nathan John (Suzuki Samurai)
14 Richard Hinkson/Kevin-Jon Manning (Suzuki Samurai)
Pro Class
2 Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Brokers & Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero)
3 Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux)
4 Nicholas Pinto/Jamal Brathwaite (Power King Batteries Jeep Grand Cherokee)
5 Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (Mitsubishi L200)
6 Nicholas Lorde/Brett Barber (NL Engineering Mitsubishi L200 Sportero)
8 Damien Johnson/Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai)
9 Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Birdies Restaurant Ford Ranger)
10 Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (Rubis West Indies/Barbarees Service Station Toyota Tundra)
11 Dean Springer/tba (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger)
12 Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max)
13 John Pinto/Nicholas Branson (Amsoil/Paints Plus GMC Sonowa)
15 Michael Ward/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny)
16 Sean Lashley/Willie Hinds (AS Auto Stop/Zephrins/Quality Tyre Suzuki Samurai)
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
& Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship
MudFest - May 3
Round 3 - June 27/28 – BRC MudDogs June Safari
Round 4 - September 20 - BRC MudDogs September Safari
MudFest - October 4
Round 5 - November 8 - BRC MudDogs November Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com, www.muddogsbarbados.com
