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Fifteen new Champions have been added to the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Roll of Honour during 2023. In rallying and speed events, Ian Warren celebrates his 25th year in motor sport as the BRC’s Champion Driver for the first time and Roger Mayers has claimed his first 2wd Championship, while five other drivers have joined the list of Class Champions.
In Autocross, 2022 Motoring News Rookie Champion Tfphill Juman has added this year’s Overall title to his cv and been replaced as top Rookie by Savio Walcott, who also won the 2wd Street Tyres Class. There are also first-time Champions among the Ladies (Merlissa Ince) and Juniors (Callum Kirton).
While Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal won the Champion Driver and Navigator titles for the eighth and seventh times respectively in the BRC Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, Alleyne also topped the separate points table for the Driver Challenges for the first time since it was introduced in 2017. And father and son crew Stephen and Ben Moore became the new Champions of Class B.
The BRC Driver’s & Class Championships ended at the Winter Rally in October, when Warren claimed his sixth Clubman 2 class win of the season in his BimmaCup, scoring 128 of a possible 133 points. Since starting in a Toyota Starlet in 1998, Warren has enjoyed considerable success, finishing runner-up in the Champion Driver title chase twice (to Adrian Linton and Josh Read) in the 2000s, when he won six BRC class titles back-to-back, and again to Eddie Corbin in 2019, when he claimed his first C2 class title.
Heading into the final round, Roger Mayers had looked to be a shoo-in for his first Champion Driver title after a year free of issues, but he failed to even make the start after an incurable misfire grounded his WR Starlet and work to refit the ecu to brother Barry’s Ford Fiesta sent them OTL. Even so, Mayers won the 2wd Championship for the first time, SuperModified 2 for the third time in five years and finished third on 105 points, his best overall performance since finishing second to Michael Gill in 1999!
The non-start for Mayers also benefitted Jamaica’s Jeff Panton, who finished second overall (110pts) in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, adding the BRC’s FIA R5 class to the R5 Rally Championship presented by First Citizens title. Chris Hoad (BimmaCup) finished fourth overall and second in C2 to Warren with 103 points, with the top six completed by Modified 2 winner Neil Corbin (Toyota GT86 CS-R3 – 101pts) and Kyle Gregg (Ford Fiesta Rally2 – 97pts), who finished second to fellow-Jamaican Panton in FIA R5.
Horatio Brown, in his first full season, made for a third Jamaican in the top 10, eighth overall and M1 Champion in his Citroen C2R2. Brown was one of five new class winners this year, joined by Mark Huggins (Group B Daihatsu Charmant), Tremaine Forde-Catwell (SM1 Charmant), Kevin Armstrong (C3 BMW 325) and Kyle Gill, who won C1 in the Mitsubishi Colt formerly campaigned by Jamal ‘Kirby’ Brathwaite, a fitting tribute to the competitor and organizer who had passed only a week before the Winter Rally.
The remaining Champions were merely adding to already impressive cvs: WRC class winner Dane Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) also claimed a fourth 4wd title in five years, America’s George Sherman added the M4 title to his Group N Championship of 2018 in the same, but upgraded, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, while Logan Watson pipped fellow BMW M3 pilot Suleman Esuf to the Modified 3 title by just one point in the closest class finish of the season.
While outgoing BRC Autocross Champion Stephen Nicholls (Nissan March) claimed his fourth consecutive crown in the 2wd Race Tyres class, there were one two in the class in round one, which meant reduced points were awarded. And that handed the title to the only other driver to win his class (4wd Street Tyres) at every round, Tfphil Juman, who had finished third and top Rookie last year in his Evo VII.
Savio Walcott (BimmaCup) finished third overall to win the Motoring News Rookie title, improving as the year wore on, finishing fifth overall in round four, then winning the final round outright, taking the 2wd Street Tyres title.
After being route-setters for the opening round of MudDogs Championship in March, Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal went on to win the remaining four rounds in their Suzuki Jimny, which gave them a perfect score of 240 (after dropped scores) at year-end. Although Stephen and Ben Moore, the winners of that first event in their Isuzu DMax and Class B Champions at year-end, shadowed them closely, they could only finish third overall, with a strong performance from Simon Parravicino and Andrew Croney (Jeep Wrangler) placing them second.
BRC Driver’s Championship
Final Overall Positions after round 7:
1st Ian Warren (C2 Colour XL/West Lake Tires/Guava Tech/Formula 1/Motor Medic/Benthams Farm & Garden BimmaCup), 128 points
2nd Jeff Panton – JAM (FIA R5 KIG/Sandals Resorts/Bushy Park Barbados Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 110pts
3rd Roger Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Toyota WR Starlet), 105pts
4th Chris Hoad (C2 Subway/Dasani Water/Shell Helix/Colour XL/Guava Tech BimmaCup), 103pts
5th Neil Corbin (M2 Nassco/Auto Solutions/Stamina Energy/Pressout Performance/Colour XL Toyota GT86 CS-R3), 101pts
6th Kyle Gregg – JAM (FIA R5 B D Gregg Ford Fiesta Rally2), 97pts; etc
BRC Class Championship
Final Positions after round 7:
WRC: Dane Skeete (Automotive Art/CO Williams Sand & Lime/Sol Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 83pts
FIA R5: 1st Panton - JAM, 110pts; 2nd Gregg - JAM, 97pts; 3rd Stuart Maloney (Rock Hard Cement/VP Fuels/Chevron/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 91pts; etc
Modified 4: 1st George Sherman - USA (Tide Cleaners/Subway/GS InMotion Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 84pts; 2nd Mark Thompson (Automotive Art/Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 81pts
SuperModified 2: 1st R Mayers, 105pts; 2nd Andrew Jones (Gale’s Agro Products/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Weetabix/GO ON Energy Ford Escort MkII), 94pts; 3rd Jonathan Still (Ino-Gro Hydroponics/Young Island/Suga Apple Swim/New York Pizza/Weddings by Melissa BMW M3), 84pts; etc
SM1: 1st Tremaine Forde-Catwell (Cheese Autoglass Finish/Mipa Professional Coatings/Performance Plus/Rezult Auto/Ingenuity Pro Shop Daihatsu Charmant), 61pts; 2nd Darren Lashley (Hi-Speed Performance Parts/Starboy Performance/Lashley’s Auto Garage Toyota Starlet), 45pts; 3rd Ross Callender (Empire Building & Construction /Indulge with Anna/Express Imports/Percy King's Auto Parts/HEL Performance/Lil Fabian’s Enterprise/Cheese Auto Glass Finish/RA Mapps/The Tavern Pub/Rent N Run Car Rentals Toyota Starlet), 36pts; etc
M3: 1st Logan Watson (Cargo BGI/Packaging Center/Enermax/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Stihl/Jack Daniels/Fete Patch/It’s Barbados/Bajan Pure Water/Quality Tyre BMW M3), 81pts; 2nd Suleman Esuf (Prosales/Express Imports Inc/SY Adam & Son/Y Esuf Auto Clinic BMW 1M), 80pts; 3rd Ahmed Esuf (Express imports Inc/Prosales/SY Adam & Son/Cosmo Club/Y Esuf Auto Clinic BMW M3), 61pts; etc
M2: 1st N Corbin, 101pts; 2nd Sean Corbin (Super-S Premium Lubricants/Carter's Pitstop/Kikks Slippas/West Lake Tires/Gunk/Fabblast Barbados/Guava Tech/M&M Racing BMW 318ti), 80pts
M1: 1st Horatio Brown – JAM (Fast Parts Barbados/Garage 61/Esuf Racing/RAW Power Motorsports/AdON Racing/RichTune Performance Citroen C2R2), 93pts; 2nd Pierre Clarke (SDRR Hydraulics/Performance Plus/Camps Auto Services Honda Civic), 62pts; 3rd Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Pro Sales/Hilti Daihatsu Charmant), 55pts; etc
Clubman 3: 1st Kevin Armstrong (Armstrong Auto BMW 325i), 45pts
C2: 1st Warren, 128pts; 2nd Hoad, 103pts; 3rd Robert Ryan Wood (Carter’s Pitstop/Power King Batteries/Guava Tech/CA Autobody Repair/West Lake Tires/Hilti Tools/Medical Massage Specialists/Sitemasters Property Management BimmaCup), 66pts; etc
C1: 1st Kyle Gill (adhoc Industries/The Chicken Stop Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone), 61pts; 2nd Wayne Tasker (Winston Enterprises/Shalom Management Services/Shalom Solutions/Byrycustomz/J Squared Consultants Opel Corsa B), 52pts; 3rd Jason Tull (Jay-T's Auto Services/BG Products/Black Rock Auto Peugeot 106 Rallye S2), 39pts
Group B: 1st Mark Huggins (General Distributors Daihatsu Charmant), 63pts; 2nd Calvin Briggs (Sirrom Lighting/Flying Bell Farms Ford Sierra), 52pts
BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Skeete, 109pts; 2nd Panton - JAM, 100pts; 3rd Gregg – JAM, 90pts; 4th S Maloney, 82pts; 5th Mark Maloney (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), *76pts; 6th Roger Hill (FIA R5 Esso/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Skoda Fabia R5), *76pts; etc
* tie-break rules applied for final positions
BRC 2wd Championship: 1st R Mayers, 105pts; 2nd Jones, 81pts; 3rd S Esuf, 68pts; 4th Watson, 67pts; 5th N Corbin, 63pts; 6th Warren, 52pts; etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Final positions after round 5:
Overall Drivers:
1st Leslie Alleyne (POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny), 240 points
2nd Simon Parravicino (Realtors Ltd Jeep Wrangler), 232pts
3rd Stephen Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax), 228pts
4th Christopher King (Suzuki Jimny), 216pts
5th Gary Mendes (G & G Sales and Service/Lunatics Inc/SRT/Executive Air Ltd/Homeomart Barbados/Homeopathy Barbados/Grenadine Alliance/JetStream Air Services Inc Daihatsu Rocky), 214pts; etc
Overall Navigators:
1st Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny), 240pts
2nd Andrew Croney (Realtors Ltd Jeep Wrangler), 232pts
3rd Ben Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax), 228pts
4th Bridget Garity (F) (KG Enterprises Suzuki Samurai), 204pts
5th 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), 200pts; etc
Class B Drivers:
1st S Moore, 240pts; 2nd George Mendes (G & G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara), 230pts; 3rd Sameisha Williams (F) (E-Travel Services/Executive Auto Center Inc Suzuki Vitara), 218pts
Class B Navigators:
1st S Moore, 240pts; 2nd Leslie Evanson (F) (G & G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara), 228pts; 3rd Sameisha Williams (F) (E-Travel Services/Executive Auto Center Inc Suzuki Vitara), 218pts
Driver Challenge:
1st Alleyne, 45pts; 2nd Parravicino 32pts; 3rd S Moore, 25pts; 4th George Mendes, 23pts; equal 5th Gary Mendes & Robert Warren (Suzuki Samurai), 13pts; etc
BRC Autocross Championship
Final Overall positions after round 5:
1st Tfphill Juman (Lancer Evo VII), 75 points
2nd Stephen Nicholls (Nissan March), 73pts
3rd Savio Walcott (BimmaCup), *56pts
4th Jevon Lashley (Lancer Evo X), *56pts
5th Glyne Husbands (Mazda Miata), 53pts; etc
* tie-break rules applied for final positions
4wd (Street Tyres): 1st Juman, 75pts; 2nd Lashley, 56pts; 3rd Omar Boodhoo (Subaru Impreza WRX), 52pts; etc
2wd (Race Tyres): 1st Nicholls, 73pts; 2nd Husbands, 53pts; 3rd Joseph Tseu (Miata), 50pts; etc 2wd (Street Tyres): 1st Walcott, 56pts; 2nd Andros Welch (Toyota GT86), 53pts; 3rd Matthew Durant (Toyota GT86), 41pts; etc
Motoring News Rookies: 1st Walcott, 56pts; 2nd Callum Kirton (Datsun 120Y), 33pts; 3rd Jan-Yves Hinds (Toyota Corolla), 20pts; etc
Ladies: 1st Merlissa Ince (Mazda Axela), 163pts; 2nd Cheryl-Ann Hurley (Hyundai Ioniq), 9pts; 3rd Leslie Evanson (Swift Sport), 4pts; etc
Juniors: 1st Kirton, 33pts; 2nd Axel Goodridge (BimmaCup), 18pts
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com [8]
web sites: www.rallybarbados.net [9]; www.barbadosrallyclub.com [10]
