Rallying the familiar Subaru Impreza WRC S12 in its new livery for the first time, Roger Skeete and Louis Venezia won the Barbados Rally Club¹s (BRC) Valvoline Shakedown Stages on Sunday (May 6) by just under 10 seconds from Trinidad¹s John Powell. On a day of changing fortunes, Skeete won four of the 10 stages, Powell and last year¹s winner Paul Bourne sharing the other six equally.
Skeete¹s victory was overshadowed, however, by the late-afternoon incident in which motor sport journalist Trevor Thorpe and Island Constable Samuel Hackett were injured after being struck by a competing car. While prompt action by the BRC¹s emergency services resulted in their swift transfer to QEH - both were discharged overnight after thorough tests - the mood on Sunday evening was muted.
On Monday, Clerk of the Course Barry Gale said: ³It is excellent news that they have been discharged, and I would like to echo everyone¹s best wishes to both gentlemen. I must say a massive Œthank-you¹, not just to Dr Brian Charles and our own emergency services team, but also for the impressive response from a number of medically-trained spectators, who assisted in whatever way they could.²
Satisfied with his day¹s work in the Sol, Michelin, Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre and Simpson Motors-backed Impreza, Skeete said: ³We had no problems, as we had prepared well for the event. The shakedown served its purpose, because we know some little areas we have to work on.²
For Powell, co-driven in the Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring & Launch Services/FT Farfan/Shell Impreza WRC S14 by local hero Trevor Manning, it was a step in the right direction, ahead of Sol Rally Barbados (June 9/10): ³I enjoyed having Trevor sitting next to me, and it was definitely good to win a few stages, as I¹ve never actually won stages in Barbados. I¹m looking forward to next month, because the car and the driver have the potential . . . but it will be a tight one.²
Thirdplaced Sean Gill was another driver happy with the outcome: ³We were a bit slow at the start, but were able to do top three times all day. It was a good shakedown and the car was flawless.² In the Simpson Motors/Automotive Art/Monster Energy/Shell V-Power Suzuki SX4 WRC, Gill and Michael Cummins were six seconds behind Powell.
Neil Armstrong and Barry Ward came fourth overall in the SuperModified 10 Chefette/Lubriguard/Hankook/Nassco/Redline Fuels/ARMAG Rentals Toyota Starlet; Skeete was the only driver they did not beat at least once and they led two-wheel-drive all day, despite minor brake issues.
Behind them came Stuart Maloney/Trevor Perkins (Automotive Art/Sign Station/Valvoline Peugeot 306 Maxi) and Roger and Barry Mayers, battling gearbox problems with the Chefette/Digicel/Automotive Art/Illusion Graphics Toyota Starlet. They were eighth and 10th overall and winners, respectively, of SM11 and SM9.
Seeded at number one with Megan Bryant co-driving the Chefette/LIME/Banks/Slam 101/MQI/Castrol Ford Focus WRC07, Bourne lost 10secs with a launch control problem on the first stage, then had recurring issues. He finished fifth, ahead of the remaining Modified 8-WRC drivers, Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC) and Dean Serrao (Sugar Ultra Lounge/Rush Restaurant Impreza WRC S9).
Hill said: ³I still don¹t think the car is working up to scratch and we had an interesting moment in the fast right before the Colleton 90, which was not a flat sixth-gear corner for me . . . but I tried to make it one, ending up well into the field, but I kept my foot down and got it back on the road.²
Winner Geoff Noel (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) was ninth overall, winning Group N by nine seconds from Andrew Mallalieu (Impreza N10), who had one of his best outings since returning to the sport: ³We won two Malvern runs in the morning, and were trading times with Geoff after lunch, which is a big improvement over last year.² Mark Hamilton (Evo IX) had been in the mix early on, leading by nearly two seconds when a selector shaft split on stage six, ³a minor issue with a major consequence,² as he noted.
There were some stellar 2wd performances down the order, with M7 winner Daryl Clarke (Honda Civic), SM10 runner-up Ralph White (Starlet) and the
SM11 BMW M3s of Brian Gill and Logan Watson all missing out on top 10 stage times by less than a second, Watson on no fewer than three occasions.
Sol Rally Barbados, Shell V-Power King of the Hill and the Valvoline Shakedown Stages are organised and promoted by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB12 is the 23rd running of the Club¹s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the fifth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean¹s largest independent oil company.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com web sites: www.rallybarbados.bb; www.barbadosrallyclub.com
Sol RB12-26: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 7, 2012
VALVOLINE SHAKEDOWN STAGES
Provisional results
1st Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (M8-WRC Sol/Michelin/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre/Simpson Motors Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 19m 49.27s 2nd John Powell - TRI/Trevor Manning (M8-WRC Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring & Launch Services/FT Farfan/Shell Subaru Impreza WRC S14), 19m 59.15s 3rd Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (M8-WRC Simpson Motors/Automotive Art/Monster Energy/Shell V-Power Suzuki SX4 WRC), 20m 05.84s 4th Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (SM10 Chefette/Lubriguard/Hankook/Nassco/Redline Fuels/ARMAG Rentals Toyota Starlet), 20m 13.72s 5th Paul Bourne/Megan Bryant (M8-WRC Chefette/LIME/Banks/Slam 101/MQI/Castrol Ford Focus WRC07), 20m 16.24s 6th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 20m 51.39s 7th Dean Serrao/Clint Gregory (M8-WRC Sugar Ultra Lounge/Rush Restaurant Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 21m 15.06s 8th Stuart Maloney/Trevor Perkins (SM11 Automotive Art/Sign Station/Valvoline Peugeot 306 Maxi), 21m 16.54s 9th Geoff Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Globe Finance/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Cargo Solutions International Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 21m 26.80s 10th Roger Mayers/Barry Mayers (SM9 Chefette/Digicel/Automotive Art/Illusion Graphics Toyota Starlet), 21m 26.94s etc Modified 8-WRC: 1st Skeete/Venezia; 2nd Powell/Manning; 3rd S Gill/Cummins; etc Modified 8-A: 1st Avinash Chatrani/Martin Goddard (Electric Avenue/Hankook/Solder Seal Gunk/Lubriguard/Sign Station Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) Production 4: 1st Noel/Yearwood; 2nd Andrew Mallalieu/Jeremy Foster (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10); 3rd Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (CIBC-FCIB/Simpson Motors/MAXI Malta/PowerMaster/Boston Seasoning/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) SuperModified 11: 1st Maloney/Perkins; 2nd Logan Watson/Rhett Watson (Oreo/Chips Ahoy!/Club Social/Formula1 High Performance Auto Care Products/Liquid Wrench/Sign Depot/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3); 3rd, Brian Gill/Heath Hazell (Coca Cola BMW M3); etc
SM10: 1st Armstrong/Ward; 2nd Ralph White/Joe Troulan (Barbados Villa Services/Island Safari/Amsoil Toyota Starlet); 3rd Nigel Reece/David Reece (Subzero Services/IGM Air Conditioners/Ullyetts Machine Shop Service/Valvoline/Gatorade/Frito-Lay/Trident International Ford Escort MkI); etc
SM9: 1st Mayers/Mayers; 2nd Allan Maynard/Marcus Beck (Marshall Trading/Lubriguard/Roberts Manufacturing Toyota Starlet); 3rd Carlos Edwards/Andre Waithe (Courts I-Finance/Enermax Toyota Starlet); etc
M7: 1st Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (Ellco Rentals/Mom's Pasta Products/MQI/Roberts Manufacturing Honda Civic); 2nd Kyle Catwell/Norman Catwell (Chicken Pen Racing/Kumho/Valvoline/Mackeson/Ellesmere Quarries Volkswagen Golf GTI); 3rd Sean Field/Darnley Rayside (Beacon Insurance/Castrol/Landscapes in Harmony/Field Insurance Brokers/Ackee Tree Restaurant Peugeot 306 GTi6); etc
M6: 1st Jamal Brathwaite/Dario Hoyte (Valvoline/Mackeson/Kumho/Ellesmere
Quarries/Codgi¹s Customs Brokers/Chicken Pen Racing/AutoPlus Motors Mitsubishi Mirage RS); 2nd Jeremy Croney/Damien Johnson (Peugeot 206); 3rd Shareef Walcott/Rashid Phillips (Castrol/Melwani¹s/Rallymaxx/Sammy Lee Towing & Recovery Toyota Corolla); etc
P2: 1st Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (Barbados Business Listings/RCR Tours/Bovell Auto Repair/Simple Trucking Suzuki Ignis Sport); 2nd Paul Inniss/Jan-Yves Hinds (HIV Aids Commission/Illusion Graphics/Bartex Concrete Works/Downes Auto Body Repair/Erie Tyre Services/J¹s Freighting Honda Civic)
Sol Rally Barbados, Shell V-Power King of the Hill and the Valvoline Shakedown Stages are organised and promoted by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB12 is the 23rd running of the Club¹s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the fifth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean¹s largest independent oil company.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com web sites: www.rallybarbados.bb; www.barbadosrallyclub.com
