Victory in Sunday’s (March 16) opening round of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, the March Safari, has given reigning Champion Driver Leslie Alleyne and Navigator Chris O’Neal a perfect start to their title defence . . . but it was not plain sailing, even for such an experienced crew.
  In the Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max, they amassed a total of 766 penalties, winning by a margin of nearly 200; behind them, two other expert crews were separated by just three points, Derek Gill and Andrew Croney (Mitsubishi Pajero) edging out returning former Champions Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards in the Corbins Catering Services/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux.
  From the start at Three Houses Park, St Philip, route one was concentrated in the island’s eastern parishes, before a Lunch Stop at Sand Dunes Restaurant, St Andrew; crews then headed north into St Lucy, before returning south to finish at The Mill, Canewood, St Michael, which was also the location for last night’s (Tuesday) Prizegiving. Route-setters were Peter Bradshaw, who set route one, with Willie Hinds and Wayne Manning responsible for the second route.
  After the Prizegiving, Alleyne said: “It was a good event with some great tricks, some really challenging to grapple with. Route 1 was clinically precise, with tricks that would catch you out without you being aware of them. There was a section by Colleton in St John where crews were very nervous to proceed along the main road while looking for a tulip instruction that they could not foresee. Many crews turned around to re-check themselves and consequently lost time. Further along the route, at Horse Hill in St Joseph, we were doing BRC navigation and a section of the original ‘old’ road was represented on the map, but obscured by a curb and some tall grass. A good many crews missed this and had to go back up the hill after arriving at a control in Bathsheba out of sequence.
  “Route 2 was very tricky from start to finish. We started with four wrong directions out of five controls and had to get our head back in the game. At times, it seemed like around every corner was another trick to make you stump your toe. There was a really well thought-out section of BRC navigation in St Lucy which gave most crews difficulty to plot. Having started this section late, playing catch up and trying to get it plotted, we really had to focus to avoid further penalties. There were also many sections of the route that I have not travelled in many years and this was quite refreshing. We had some rain in the last couple of hours of route two that made things interesting but nothing to really present a driving challenge.”
  There was some good competition among the five Novice crews, too, with Julian Kirton and Dominic Straker (Kirts Connection Jeep Wrangler) the eventual winners, although they had trailed in third place after route one. Damien and Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai) finished second, with total first-timers, Michael and Joshua Broome (WOW Camp Suzuki Jimny), third after completing route one in the lead.
  MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “We had a late entry of Michael Broome and his son Joshua, who turned out to be quite impressive, not having done this before.” Alleyne added: “It was really encouraging at the Prizegiving to hear the first-timers say that they had fun and would be back to compete again. I thought it would have been a baptism of fire for them, but they remarked on the camaraderie of the MudDogs and the amount of help they received during the day. This is so encouraging for the future of the sport.”
  Both Holder and the season’s first winner felt all had gone well: Holder said: “All in all, I think we had a great start to the season”, while Alleyne concluded: “A good job by all, and a special thanks to the marshals.”
March Safari, March 16
Results
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, round 1
1st Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/ Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 766 penalties
2nd Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Mitsubishi Pajero), 959pens
3rd Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbins Catering Services/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 962pens
4th Gregory Dickenson/Andre Murrell (Toyota Hilux), 1031pens
5th George Mendes/Gary Mendes (G & G Sales & Service Mitsubishi L200 Sportero), 1125pens
6th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 1159pens
7th Julian Kirton/Dominic Straker (Kirts Connection Jeep Wrangler), 1575pens
8th Damien Johnson/Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai), 1865pens
9th Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (Suzuki Vitara), 2719pens
10th Michael Broome/Joshua Broome (WOW Camp Suzuki Jimny), 2826pens
etc
Route 1 – 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 200pens; 2nd Corbin/Edwards, 258pens; 3rd Mendes/Mendes, 295pens; etc
Route 2 – 1st Gill/Croney, 433pens; 2nd Armstrong/Clarke, 490pens; 3rd Alleyne/O’Neal, 566pens; etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship, round 1
1st Kirton/Straker, 1575pens – 7th overall
2nd Johnson/Johnson, 1865pens – 8th o/a
3rd Broome/Broome, 2826pens – 10th o/a
4th Richard Hinkson/Dean Springer (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Suzuki Samurai), 3189pens – 11th o/a
5th Simon Parravicino/Jonathan Millar (Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 3878pens – 12th o/a
Route 1 – 1st Broome/Broome, 475pens; 2nd Johnson/Johnson, 487pens; 3rd Kirton/Straker, 557pens
Route 2 – 1st Kirton/Straker, 1018pens; 2nd Johnson/Johnson, 1378pens; 3rd Hinkson/Springer, 2284pens
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com, www.muddogsbarbados.com