With the dust barely settled after the record-breaking success of last weekend¹s Sol Rally Barbados 2012, the Barbados Rally Club¹s (BRC) blue riband event, preparations are in high gear for the 55th Anniversary June Safari. Taking the Club right back to its roots in navigational rallying, the event runs off over the weekend of June 23/24.
The successful running of the first June Rally on June 16, 1957 was the catalyst to the founding of the BRC, and it remains the oldest-established motor sport event in the region with a continuous history. The title was changed to Safari in 2000, reflecting the transition to off-road events, and this year¹s ŒJune¹ is round three of the BRC MudDogs Safari and Chefette MudDogs Novice Safari Championships.
Competition is expected to be tough at the top. Points are tied at 116 in the battle for overall Driver (Chris Armstrong and Ryan Corbin) and Navigator (Wayne Clarke and Dustin Edwards), with Ben Norris and Darnley Rayside, respectively, just four points behind. In the Chefette Novice standings, there¹s just a handful of points spread across the leading players.
The route-setters are Peter and Judy-Ann Bradshaw, plus Renata Roett, with some tricks also promised from Kenny Croney; re-checkers are Audley and Jeremy Croney. The first crew is scheduled to leave the start of the 55th Anniversary June Safari at Haggatt Hall, St Michael, at 2.01pm on Saturday, June 23, with the finish at Mahogany Ridge, St Thomas, at approximately 9.00am the following morning.
The June is the longest Safari of each season, but this year¹s will have a slightly different format, as BRC MudDogs Chairman Warren Gollop explains:
³In response to some feedback from last year, we have increased the rest stops along the route, to allow teams to be fully refreshed for each of the four shorter routes. So, while the rally will be a couple hours longer overall, this is all rest time.
³Thank you very much to our team of route setters, whose ideas and tricks promise a very exciting - and gruelling - June Safari, entirely in keeping with the illustrious history of the Club¹s oldest event.²
Entries are open at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall and will close on Tuesday, June 19, at Noon; the Briefing Meeting will be at 7.00pm the same evening, at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church, after which the entry list will be released. The Prizegiving for the 55th Anniversary June Safari will be held at the same venue the following Monday (June 25), once results are made final.
BRC MudDogs Safari Championship
Positions after round 2
Navigators
1st equal Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux) & Dustin Edwards (Corbin¹s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipments/SDRR Toyota Hilux), 116 points 3rd Darnley Rayside (Electric Avenue Land Rover Discovery), 112pts 4th equal Willie Hinds (Suzuki Samurai) & Jeremy Croney (CC Motorsports/Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 104pts 6th Andrew Croney (Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 100pts 7th Robin Hinds (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Nissan Patrol), 98pts 8th Rorie McConney (Toyota Hilux), 94pts 9th Jason Downey (Suzuki Samurai), 84pts 10th equal Warrick Eastmond (Niccolls & Edghill Construction/Comfeet/Sam Lorde¹s Activity Centre Land Rover Discovery) & Nyere Jones (Toyota Hilux), 74pts etc
Drivers
1st equal Chris Armstrong (Toyota Hilux) & Ryan Corbin (Corbin¹s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipments/SDRR Toyota Hilux), 116pts 3rd Ben Norris (Electric Avenue Land Rover Discovery), 112pts 4th equal Michael Ward (Suzuki Samurai) & Audley Croney (CC Motorsports/Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 104pts 6th Simon Parravicino (Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 100pts 7th Mark Western (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Nissan Patrol), 98pts 8th Gregory Dickenson (Toyota Hilux), 94pts 9th Dominic Straker (Nissan Patrol), 88pts 10th Kerry Renee (Suzuki Samurai), 84pts etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship Positions after round 2 Navigators 1st Nyere Jones (Toyota Hilux), 114pts 2nd Nicholas Pinto (Nissan Patrol & Suzuki Samurai), 112pts 3rd Nick Branson (Suzuki Jimny), 104pts 4th Shane Defreitas (Nissan Patrol), 60pts 5th Trina Griffith (Green Leaf Design/Midas Magic Auto Valet Suzuki Jimny), 58pts 6th equal Chris Choat (ACE Engineering/Amalie Oil/Quik Liners VW Baja Manx) & Curtis Grazette (Atlantis Seafoods/Betta Computers Suzuki Samurai), 54pts etc
Drivers
1st Dominic Straker (Nissan Patrol), 120pts 2nd Aswad Bannister (Toyota Hilux), 114pts 3rd equal Damien Johnson (Suzuki Samurai) & Johnny Pinto (Suzuki Jimny), 104pts 5th Matthew Durant (Green Leaf Design/Midas Magic Auto Valet Suzuki Jimny), 58pts 6th equal Justin Inniss (ACE Engineering/Amalie Oil/Quik Liners VW Baja
Manx) & Theo Waite (Atlantis Seafoods/Betta Computers Suzuki Samurai), 54pts etc
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com, www.muddogsbarbados.com
