Roger Skeete maintained this season’s winning form when he drove the Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Michelin/Williams Trading Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S12 to victory in Sunday’s (April 13) Valvoline Rally, the first special stage rally of 2014. With Stuart Maloney as co-driver, Skeete’s winning margin was 27.77 seconds.
All was not plain sailing, however, on a day when the ups and downs of rallying were in evidence right through the nearly 30-car field. Having built up a lead of five seconds with three stage wins over the first two runs of Orange Hill and Pickerings, the launch control issue that has plagued the Impreza from time to time kicked in once again on stage five.
With a time 14secs slower than his previous run, he slipped to second place behind the Monster/Sol/Chefette/Digicel/Virgin Atlantic/Gunk/Hankook Tyres/Redline Fuels/Simpson Finance/Simpson Motors Suzuki SX4 WRC of Rally Trinidad winners Neil Armstrong and Barry Ward. They had already pipped Skeete by three-tenths on the previous stage, and now led the Valvoline Rally by around 7secs at half-distance.
Their joy was short-lived, however, as an accident on the very next stage ended their day; both driver and co-driver were uninjured and the team reported later that the damage was only to body panels and “bolt-on parts”, so could be easily repaired.
Skeete, therefore, assumed the lead, with Paul Bourne and his new English co-driver Tom Woodburn now second in the Chefette/Banks Ford Focus WRC07. Bourne’s day had started badly, with more than 10secs lost to a front right puncture on the opening stage, but he was back in the groove by the end of the day.
With the late arrival of a new gearbox forcing Roger Mayers to withdraw on Thursday, the expected battle for two-wheel-drive honours failed to materialize; Josh Read and Mark Jordan (Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook Tyres/Weetabix/Royal Purple/EZone/Coffee Bean Toyota Starlet) delivered a stirring performance, however, in the top three on seven of the 10 stages, to finish in a well-deserved third place, just 10secs behind Bourne.
Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), the only WRC-2 crew, finished fourth. Rhett Watson/James Hutchinson were fifth in the Power King Batteries/Carter's Pitstop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3, winning SuperModified 12, one of the better-supported classes.
Andrew Mallalieu finished sixth, with Nigel Reece standing in for regular co-driver Geoff Goddard in the Group N Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10, although class honours went o Mark Thompson and Kurt Seabra in the Automotive Art/Glassesco Hardware/Stag Beer/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Local Speed Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. They were not classified as overall finishers, having failed to reach the final time control of the day after limping out of SS10 on three wheels.
With seven starters, Modified 7 was the day’s biggest class, although it was quickly reduced by an engine failure on SS1 for Paul Horton (Ford Escort), then an accident on SS2 for Jeremy Sisnett (Ford Fiesta); Daryl Clarke (Honda Civic) was the winner, finishing seventh overall, beaten twice during the day by Edward Corbin (Toyota Corolla RunX), who finished eighth, 29secs adrift, and second in M7.
Ninth was David St Hill (BMW M3), who finished third in SM12 behind Watson and Justin Campbell (M3), another to miss out on an overall finish, having failed to finish SS6, the top 10 completed by M6 winner Brendon Mckenzie (Toyota Corolla).
Wayne Archer gave his Martin Stockdale-built BMW 325 a debut win in the Historic class, after early leader Stuart White (325) dropped out for the last two stages, while Eric Allamby enjoyed a convincing win in the Clubman class. Sole competitor in Group B was Harold Morley in his Porsche GT3 RSR.
Valvoline Rally – April 13, 2014
Official results
1st Roger Skeete/Stuart Maloney (WRC-1 Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Michelin/Williams Trading Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 22m 18.07s
2nd Paul Bourne/Tom Woodburn – ENG (WRC-1 Chefette/Banks Ford Focus WRC07), + 27.77s
3rd Josh Read/Mark Jordan (SM10 Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook Tyres/Weetabix/Royal Purple/EZone/Coffee Bean Toyota Starlet), + 38.19s
4th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (WRC-2 Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), + 1m 06.37s
5th Rhett Watson/James Hutchinson (SM12 Power King Batteries/Carter's Pitstop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), + 1m 37.50s
6th Andrew Mallalieu/Nigel Reece (GpN Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), + 2m 11.93s
7th Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (M7 Roberts Manufacturing/P & N Hardware/Mom’s Pasta Products/Amir’s Chicken/MQI Honda Civic), + 2m 14.91s
8th Edward Corbin/Shareef Walcott (M7 Valvoline/Automotive Art/Prosales Toyota Corolla RunX), + 2m 43.90s
9th David St Hill/Ian Grimes (SM12 BMW M3), + 3m 14.44s
10th Brendon Mckenzie/Sean Collett (M6 Mck Motorsport/Turbo Plus/Do It Best/Colour XL Toyota Corolla), + 3m 39.76s
etc
WRC-1 1st Skeete/Maloney, 22m 18.07s; 2nd Bourne/ Woodburn – ENG, + 27.77s
WRC-2 1st Hill/Gittens, 23m 24.44s
Group N 1st Mark Thompson/Kurt Seabra - GUY (Automotive Art/Glassesco Hardware/Stag Beer/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Local Speed Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 24m 17.32s; 2nd Mallalieu/Reece, + 12.68s
SuperModified 12 1st Watson/Hutchinson, 23m 55.57s; 2nd Justin Campbell/Juan Watts (Dream Solutions/Castrol/Hilton Barbados BMW M3), + 1m 10.09s ; 3rd St Hill/Grimes, + 1m 36.94s; etc
SM10 1st Read/Jordan, 22m 56.26s
Modified 7 1st Clarke/Brancker, 24m 32.98s; 2nd Corbin/Walcott, + 28.99s; 3rd Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (Gale’s Hatcheries/Redline Fuels/Nassco Toyota Corolla RunX), 1m 42.89s; etc
Modified 6 1st Mckenzie/Collett, 25m 57.83s; 2nd Neil Corbin/Chris Corbin (Ocean Fisheries/Nassco/Auto Solutions/Castrol Daihatsu Charmant), + 13.84s
Historic 1st Wayne Archer/Lucas Nicolao - ARG (Archers Hall Design Centre/Calvin Alkins Customs Services/Diamonds International BMW 325), 27m 35.88s; 2nd Stuart White/John Boland (39 Steps BMW 325), + 57.62s; 3rd David Brewster/Alex Kirton (Innovative Security Solutions/Castrol/SRG Engineering Peugeot 205GTi), + 2m 02.28s
Clubman 1st Eric Allamby/David Armstrong (Shelbury Construction/Scrap Man Recycling/MC Buccaneer Toyota Corolla), 27m 11.94s; 2nd Paul Inniss/Stephen Belle (Caribbean Villa Chefs/Illusion Graphics/Tuk It/JT Racing Team/Wints Auto Body/HIV Aids Commission/K-Tech Honda Civic), + 3m 19.66s; 3rd Trevor Mapp/Talia Mapp (Ellesmere Quarries/AS Autostop/Codgi’s Insurance Brokers/Chicken Pen Racing Mitsubishi Colt), + 5m 17.92s
Group B 1st Harold Morley - ENG/Curtis Lee (OnTrac Telematics/Brook Steamship/Crowley Shipping Porsche GT3 RSR), 30m 20.63s
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
Web site: www.barbadosrallyclub.com
Photo by Sean Chandler
