[1]
After a two-month break from competition, crews competing in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2014 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship are making plans for their toughest challenge of the season. The Sol Go Even Further June Safari is scheduled for June 28/29, when the BRC will mark the 58th running of the Caribbean’s oldest motor sport event with a continuous history.
The successful running of the first June Rally in 1957 was the catalyst for the Club’s formation in the following months, and the event has been run annually ever since; in recent years, the format has been an off-road navigational rally, where the skillful teamwork of driver and navigator is key and, since 2004, it has been the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of the Club’s Navigational Championship.
Route-setters for 2014 are the current Championship leaders, Derek Gill and Andrew Croney, who won the Chefette April Safari, and Audley and Jeremy Croney, who finished a close second in the Championship race last year. Gill is also a former winner of 'The June', as Navigator to Peter Bradshaw in 2002, and as Driver to Kevin Yearwood in 2005, the year Gill was crowned Champion Driver.
Given the expertise of the route-setters, crews can expect a demanding event. The first crew is scheduled to leave Sol Warrens at 2.00pm on Saturday, June 28, for the first of four routes, which will take them across the island on an 18-hour adventure. The finish will be at around 8.00am Sunday, at the recently-refurbished and re-launched Marco Polo Bar & Grill in St Philip (formerly Crane Palms Restaurant).
Gill and Croney (Insurance Solutions/Sweet Temptations Mitsubishi Pajero) are the early leaders in the 2014 Championship standings, just four points ahead of reigning Champion Driver and Navigator Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), with Wayne Manning and Willie Hinds (Zephrins Bakeries Suzuki Samurai) another two points behind.
After two strong results in March and April, fourth overall are the leading Novice crew, Damien and Brandon Johnson in their Western Union Suzuki Samurai, with former Champions Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards (Corbins Catering Services/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux) fifth. In the Chefette Novice standings, the Johnsons lead Julian Kirton and Dominic Straker (Kirts Connection Jeep Wrangler) by four points.
Entries for the Sol Go Even Further June Safari are now open at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall and will close next Tuesday (June 24) at 1.00pm; the Briefing Meeting will be at 7.00pm the same evening, at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association Club House at Searles, Christ Church, after which the entry list will be published. The Prize Giving will be held at the same venue on Tuesday, July 1.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Positions after round 2
Drivers & Navigators
1st Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Solutions/Sweet Temptations Mitsubishi Pajero), 118 points
2nd Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 114pts
3rd Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (Zephrins Bakeries Suzuki Samurai), 112pts
4th Damien Johnson/Brandon Johnson (Western Union Suzuki Samurai), 104pts
5th Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbins Catering Services/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 102pts
6th equal George Mendes/Gary Mendes (G & G Sales & Service/Lunatics Inc Mitsubishi L200 Sportero) & Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 100pts
8th Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (CC Motor Sports & Friends Suzuki Vitara), 96pts
9th Gregory Dickenson/Andre Murrell (Toyota Hilux), 90pts
10th equal Julian Kirton/Dominic Straker (Kirts Connection Jeep Wrangler) & Simon Parravicino/Jonathan Millar (Sweet Temptations Suzuki Samurai), 82pts
etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship
Positions after round 2
Drivers & Navigators
1st Johnson/Johnson, 118pts
2nd Kirton/Straker, 114pts
3rd equal Parravicino/Millar & Richard Hinkson/Dean Springer (Eastern Veterinary Clinic/No More Turns Racing Suzuki Samurai), 110pts
5th Michael Broome/Joshua Broome (WOW Camp/12 Volt Auto Suzuki Jimny), 108pts
Forthcoming events
Round 3 - June 28/29 – Sol Go Even Further June Safari
MudFest - August 17
Round 4 - September 21 - BRC MudDogs September Safari
MudFest - October 26
Round 5 - November 9 - BRC MudDogs November Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [2], www.muddogsbarbados.com
