Six decades of motor sport were celebrated on Saturday evening (February 3) when the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) combined its Annual Prizegiving at Mahogany Ridge, St Thomas, with a celebration of its 60th Anniversary, reached in 2017. The outstanding contributions of four long-standing members were rewarded with Lifetime Achievement Awards, while a number of the Club’s commercial partners were also recognised, along with the marshals, medical support teams and the media.
 Club Chairman Mark Hamilton said: “Any Club is only as good as its membership and its volunteer base. The success we have enjoyed over the past 60 years has not been an accident. We have been fortunate to be blessed with committed and enthusiastic persons, many of them descended from our Founders, and all of whom have thrown their weight behind the Club and its future.”
 The Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to: Biddy Barber, who first joined the Club as a teenager and has been a constant presence as a competitor, marshal and organiser, also a pioneer in the representation of Women in Motorsport; John Corbin, who was recognised as a passionate supporter of club motor sport and inspiration to the younger generation; John Sealy, a committee member as early as 1962, Club Chairman in the 1980s, Clerk of the Course at Bushy Park in the 1970s and 1990s and a Trustee now; and Roger Skeete, for being a relentless competitor and catalyst of the competitive environment, as well as in recognition of his outstanding individual achievements. Sealy also received an award from Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) President Andrew Mallalieu to mark his recent retirement as BMF Vice-President.
 Introducing the Partners Awards, Hamilton said: “We have been fortunate, in that there have been many contributions to the cause through the past 60 years. All, of whatever size or scope, have been among our building blocks, and all have been very important. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all, whether a current partner or a past supporter, for your contribution. As part of tonight’s proceedings we will recognise, in no particular order of significance, several of those who have played critical roles at critical times through the years.” Awards were presented to Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, Chefette Restaurants, Flow, Simpson Motors and Sol (Barbados) Ltd.
 Although absent, as he was travelling on business, Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton was one of the night’s big winners from the 2017 Driver’s & Class Championships; in addition to being the first overseas competitor to win the Champion Driver trophy, Panton was the WRC and 4wd Champion and was also awarded the Club’s annual tongue-in-cheek Golden Turkey Award, presented to acknowledge some lapse on the part of the competitor (in his case, a heart-stopping moment, when he struck a wall on the Padmore stage in the closing stages of Sol Rally Barbados).
 Second in the overall standings was a career-best result for Andrew Jones, who also won SuperModified 3, while co-driver Lindsey Pilkington won the highest-placed Female Co-driver Award for the fourth straight year. Clubman 2 class-winner Stuart Garcia finished an impressive third overall, also collecting the Rookie Award and an Automotive Art voucher for $1,000. Fourth overall Barry Mayers was crowned the 2wd Champion, while the Richard Roett Trophy was presented to Stuart McChlery, who was also voted the season’s most spectacular driver by the media and presented with a framed image of his venerable Ford Escort MkI, first campaigned by his parents nearly 40 years ago.
 In the Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, Chris O’Neal won the Sextant Challenge Trophy as Champion Navigator for the fifth year in a row, with Leslie Alleyne winning an eighth Champion Driver title, again taking home the Peter Farmer Memorial Trophy. George and Garry Mendes won the new Shelbury Construction Trophy for MudDogs Driver Challenges, while Jamaica’s Christopher McFarlane won the Autocross title for the third straight year, with Tristan Gibbs the first Champion in the new 2wd category.
Barbados Rally Club Anniversary Awards
Lifetime Achievement Awards:
Biddy Barber, John Corbin, John Sealy, Roger Skeete
Partner Awards:
Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, Chefette Restaurants, Flow, Simpson Motors, Sol (Barbados) Ltd; also the Marshals, Medics and Media
Barbados Rally Club Annual Prizegiving
List of Award Winners
BRC Driver’s Championship
Each driver received a trophy
Champion Driver: Jeffrey Panton - JAM (WRC Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06), 124 points
2nd Andrew Jones (SM3 Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII), 119pts
3rd Stuart Garcia (C2 Intelligent Defence Systems/Smiths Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/Tropical Sunset/Zaccios BMW 318ti Compact), 118pts
4th Barry Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Rubis/Digicel/DHL/Hankook/Illusion Graphics Ford Fiesta), 114pts
5th Daryl Clarke (M2 Flow/Automotive Art/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Collision Repair/Valvoline/eCarib Classifieds Honda Civic), 108pts
6th Edward Corbin (M1 Automotive Art/Hilti Daihatsu Charmant), 106pts *
7th Trevor Mapp (C2 Automotive Art/Sign Station/Ellesmere Quarries/JSB Motorsport Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), 106pts *
8th Paul Horton - TCI (M2 Turks Head Brewery/Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX), 104pts
9th Roger Hill (WRC Esso/Nassco/MaxMeyer/MotorMac/Pennzoil Toyota Corolla WRC), 98pts *
10th Stuart McChlery (SM2 Lubriguard/Gunk Ford Escort MkI), 98pts  *
* tie-breaks decided on each driver’s best overall result
BRC Class Championship
Each driver received a trophy. Panton (4wd), Jones (SuperModified), Clarke (Modified), Wayne Archer (Historic) and Garcia (Clubman) also won free entry (not inc insurance) to the 2018 BRC Championship
WRC - Champion: Panton, 124 points; 2nd Hill, 98pts; 3rd Roger Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Simpson Motors/WTI Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 64pts
Group A – Champion: Avinash Chatrani (Lenovo/PowerBass/Gunk/iShop/Genius Lynk/Copacabana Beach Club Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 67pts; 2nd David Coelho – TRI (Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 28pts
Group N - Champion: Mark Thompson (Automotive Art/Stag Beer/Glassesco/NKM/Bio Beauty/SLAM 101.1FM Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 88pts; 2nd Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 67pts
SuperModified 3 - Champion: Jones, 119pts; 2nd David St Hill (St Hill & Sons Garage BMW M3), 92pts; 3rd Justin Campbell (Republic Bank/Five Star Fast Track/Hilton Barbados Resort/Dream Solutions/Automotive Art/Hilti/#RAY/Campbell Racing Team BMW M3), 82pts
SM2 - Champion: B Mayers, 114pts; 2nd McChlery, 98pts; 3rd Dane Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi), 53pts
SM1 - Champion: 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), 66pts; 3rd Jeremy Gonsalves (Sign Depot/Valvoline/Makita/John Hardman Engineering Opel Corsa), 37pts
Modified 2 - Champion: Clarke, 108pts; 2nd Horton, 104pts; 3rd Kurt Thompson (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty Day Spa Honda Civic), 45pts
M1 - Champion: E Corbin, 106pts; 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 - Champion: Archer, 98pts; 2nd John Corbin (Automotive Art/Pro Sales Toyota Corolla), 78pts; 3rd Greg Cozier (Barbados Historic Rally Carnival/Geest Line/Jondel Race Engines/Rally and Competition Equipment Ford Escort RS), 53pts
Clubman 2 - Champion: Garcia, 118pts; 2nd Allan Kinch (Jolly Roger/Pirate’s Cove BMW 318ti Compact), 83pts; 3rd Derek Edwards (D & A Mechanical Services/Arrow Construction BMW 318ti Compact), 68pts
Clubman 1 - Champion: Mapp, 106pts; 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), 91pts; 3rd Randy Reid (School Boy Sound System/Bird’s Wrecker Service Toyota Starlet), 40pts
GpB - Champion: Calvin Briggs (Massy Realty/Lucas Oils/Keisha's Cheesecakes Ford Sierra), 46pts
BRC 4wd Championship
Each driver and co-driver received a trophy
Champions: Panton & Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM, 128pts; 2nd Hill & Graham Gittens, 82pts; 3rd M Thompson & Kurt Seabra – GUY, 68pts; 4th R Skeete & Louis Venezia, 64pts; 5th Chatrani & Eric Allamby, 59pts
BRC 2wd Championship
Each driver and co-driver received a trophy
Champions: B Mayers & Ben Norris, 112pts; 2nd Jones & Lindsey Pilkington, 91pts; 3rd Clarke & Russell Brancker, 70pts; 4th Campbell & Juan Watts, 59pts; 5th Rhett Watson & James Hutchinson (SM3 Chefette/Power King Batteries/Gliptone/Stihl/Gunk/The Unknown Entity in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 58pts
Highest-placed female co-driver – Lindsey Pilkington
Special Awards
Rookie Award, a trophy plus a $1,000 Automotive Art voucher – Stuart Garcia
Richard Roett Memorial Trophy – Stuart McChlery
Golden Turkey Award – Jeffrey Panton
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
The Champions received the Sextant Challenge Trophy (Navigator) and the Peter Farmer Memorial Trophy (Driver); second and third Navigator and Driver each received a trophy
Champion Driver & Navigator: Leslie Alleyne & Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 238pts; 2nd Jean-Marc Cozier & Andrew Croney (Honda Pioneer), 236pts; 3rd Ryan Corbin & Dustin Edwards (Mahogany Ridge/Corbin's Catering Services Toyota Hilux), 222pts
Shelbury Construction Trophy
Champions: George & Garry Mendes (G & G Sales & Services Mitsubishi Sportero), 23pts
BRC Autocross Championship
Each driver received a trophy
Champion: Chris McFarlane - JAM (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ), 60 points
2nd Tristan Gibbs (Toyota Trueno), 52pts
3rd Marlon Bell (Nissan Skyline), 47pts
4th Derek Rudder (Subaru Impreza WRX), 35pts
5th Rommel Jackman (Subaru Impreza), 31pts
4wd: 1st McFarlane, 60pts; 2nd Rudder, 35pts; 3rd Jackman, 31pts
2wd: 1st Gibbs, 52pts; 2nd Bell, 47pts; 3rd Jody Forte (Subaru BRZ), 30pts
Marshals Awards
Each awardee received a trophy
Rookie Marshal: Jerome Als, Deshon Edwards, Jamar Millar, Alicia Yearwood
Outstanding Marshal: Owin Benn, Steve Gaskin, Carla Gittins, Nadia Hazell, Tennyson Tull
Longstanding Marshal: Dominique Gooding, Cameron Greenidge, Jimmy Hall, Andrew Moore
MudDogs Marshals: Aswad Bannister, Nigel Johnson, Kristina Pinto
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com; www.muddogsbarbados.com