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As the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2023 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship concludes this weekend, five new names bring to more than 50 the number of competitors who have tackled off-road navigational events this year. And the recent prolonged rainy spell has created ideal conditions for Sunday’s (November 19) Old Brigand Rum November Safari, the fifth and final round.
After the starters list was published at last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at Savvy on the Bay, BRC MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “I am glad that we’re welcoming more new faces to the MudDogs family this weekend, both drivers and navigators, and hope they enjoy themselves and want to come back for more next season.
“And we also have a good number of female competitors, too, following in the wheel tracks of veterans Biddy Barber and Bridget Garity, who are starting at number one on Sunday. Apart from Biddy, they are all navigators and two of them are doing their first event, so a special welcome to Rebecca Clarke and Micha King.”
The first crew will start from Mahogany Ridge, St Thomas, at 7.30am heading north on route one, which ends after roughly four hours back in St Thomas, where a series of Driver Challenges at Bucks will keep spectators entertained. From the 1.00pm restart, route two will head east to conclude just before 5.00pm at Bushy Park in St Philip.
The route has been set by Simon Parravicino and Andrew Croney, who currently lie second in the Driver and Navigator standings respectively, once a dropped score is taken into account, after tackling three of the earlier events together in the Realtors Ltd Jeep Wrangler. Croney has twice been Champion Navigator, in 2018 and 2020, and won the first of his three overall titles as Champion Novice Navigator in 2006.
Parravicino said: “The morning route heading towards the north of the island will be a challenging course taking the competitors through areas such as Black Bess, Lamberts and Rock Hall. The challenges and lunch stop will be all together in the two-hour stop over period, with the restart at 1.00pm from Bucks. The afternoon route will go through Vaucluse, Andrews, Fisher Pond, Lower Greys and on to Bushy Park, ending just outside the Pit Entrance.”
Spectators are welcome at the Driver Challenges, which will run between 11.00am and 1.00pm. Purpose-built by Brett Barber and his team with some welcome assistance from Innotech, the site is just east of Highway 2A: heading north, take the first right after Bagatelle Great House, then right at the Y and first left.
Although Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal have already done enough to add another Driver and Navigator title respectively to their already impressive cv and father and son Stephen and Ben Moore have put the Class B title out of reach, the places are still to be settled. With the recent weather making for some tricky terrain, Sunday’s event promises to be close-fought.
In addition to Alleyne and O’Neal in the Pod Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny and the Class B Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax, the entry includes the experienced crew of Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon), former champions Christopher King and Warrick Eastmond (Jimny) and seasoned campaigners Willie Hinds and David Reece (DMax).
The results of the Old Brigand Rum November Safari will be declared at the Prizegiving which starts at 7.00pm next Tuesday evening (November 21) at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, Round 5
November 19 – Old Brigand Rum November Safari
Class A
1 Biddy Barber (F)/Bridget Garity (F) (KG Enterprises Suzuki Samurai)
4 Willie Hinds/David Reece (Isuzu DMax)
5 Gary Mendes/Johnathan King (G & G Sales and Service/Lunatics Inc/SRT/Executive Air Ltd/Homeomart Barbados/Homeopathy Barbados/Grenadine Alliance/JetStream Air Services Inc Daihatsu Rocky)
8 Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon)
9 Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny)
11 Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny)
Class B
2 George Mendes/Leslie Evanson (F) (G & G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara)
4 Tyrone Chase/Sameisha Williams (F) (E-Travel Services/Executive Auto Center Inc Suzuki Vitara)
6 Omar Maynard/Micha King (F) (Suzuki Samurai)
7 Stephen Moore/Ben Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax)
10 John Hinds/Rebecca Clarke (F) (Suzuki Jimny)
12 Joel Smith/Joseph Tseu (Serenity Pest Control Suzuki Samurai)
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship – positions after four rounds:
Drivers: 1st Leslie Alleyne, 240 points; 2nd Stephen Moore, 224pts; 3rd Gary Mendes, 214pts; 4th George Mendes, 192pts; 5th Simon Parravicino, 172pts; 5th Tyrone Chase, 172pts; etc
Navigators: 1st Chris O’Neal, 240pts; 2nd Andrew Croney, 228pts; 3rd Ben Moore, 224pts; 4th Sameisha Williams (F), 172pts; 5th Kirk Watkins, 164pts; 6th Johnathan King, 158pts; etc
Class B Drivers: 1st Stephen Moore, 240pts; 2nd George Mendes, 226pts; 3rd Tyrone Chase, 210pts
Class B Navigators: 1st Ben Moore, 240pts; 2nd Sameisha Williams (F), 210pts; 3rd Leslie Evanson (F), 170pts
Driver Challenge points: 1st Simon Parravicino, 32pts; 2nd Leslie Alleyne, 31pts; 3rd Stephen Moore, 27pts; 4th George Mendes, 15pts; equal 5th Gary Mendes & Robert Warren, 13pts; etc
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [2]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [3], www.muddogsbarbados.com [4]
