REGIONAL FIRE & SECURITY SAFARI MAKES A SPLASH

Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke defeated the opposition - and the elements - to win last Sunday’s (September 11) Regional Fire & Security September Safari. Thanks to the recent heavy rains, round four of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) MudDogs Safari Championship and Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship was the wettest event in recent memory.
 
In their Toyota Hilux, well-suited to the conditions, Armstrong and Clarke built up an advantage of nearly 200 penalties on the first route, between the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Clubhouse, Searles, Christ Church and the lunch stop-over at the ARMAG Vegetable Outlet.
 
Their closest challengers were Leslie Alleyne and Chris Oneal (Maxxis Tyres Mitsubishi Pajero), who were finding the conditions hard going. Alleyne noted: “Driving was the most challenging part of this safari. If you had a vehicle that could deal with the mud, then you were okay.” Although they won the second route back to the Searles Quarry, the gap was just too much to bridge, and they ended the day 62 penalties behind.
 
Winners of last year’s September Safari when they were still a novice crew, Ben Norris and Darnley Rayside (Electric Avenue Land Rover Discovery) finished third, a further 528 penalties adrift; a strong second route, in which they finished third behind Alleyne/Oneal and Armstrong/Clarke, dragged them up the order from eighth, where they had been placed at the lunch halt.
 
Hadley Green and Dane McConney (Hunte Auto Spares/Automotive Art/Scorpion Toyota Hilux), headed the Chefette Novice crews home on both routes, and finished ninth overall, making them the only novice crew to claim a top 10 finish on all four events for the year. The highest-placed female competitor of the six entered was Shane Marshall, navigating in her first Safari in father Paul’s Mitsubishi L200; 13th on route one, they finished a strong fourth in the afternoon, to finish the day sixth overall.
 
At the Prizegiving on Monday evening (September 12), Regional Fire & Security’s Jason Markle presented Fire Prevention packages, including fire blankets, detectors and extinguishers, to the top three overall, and the winning novice crew, in addition to the regular Championship trophies.
 
Chairman of the BRC MudDogs Warren Gollop said: “Well, what a day! Biddy Barber said that she wanted a drivers' rally, but was hoping to set the October event to guarantee rain. Well, she sure had one of the wettest events in memory, and certainly made it a true drivers' challenge. Well done to Biddy, Brett and Philip McConney.
 
”Thanks again to Regional Fire & Security for carrying their sponsorship through for the fourth year, and I hope we have provided enough in return for them to come back next year. And, I must mention Shane Marshall - this was Shane's first rally, as she took over from her older sister Tiffany, and what a cracking way start to rallying. Well done to her . . . and I hope that her success, and that of the other females on this event, will encourage more to turn out in the future.”

Regional Fire & Security Safari – September 11
2011 BRC MudDogs Safari Championship, round 4
Results
1st Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 2082 penalties
2nd Leslie Alleyne/Chris Oneal (Maxxis Tyres Mitsubishi Pajero), 2144pens
3rd Ben Norris/Darnley Rayside (Electric Avenue Land Rover Discovery), 2672pens
4th Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbin's Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux), 2696pens
5th Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (CC Motorsports Suzuki Samurai), 2820pens
6th Paul Marshall/Shane Marshall (Mitsubishi L200), 2858pens
7th Michael Ward/Willie Hinds (Suzuki Samurai), 2979pens
8th Gregory Dickenson/Anna-Maria Dickenson (Toyota Hilux), 3213pens
9th Hadley Green/Dane McConney (Hunte Auto Spares/Automotive Art/Scorpion Toyota Hilux), 3414pens
10th Edson Arthur/Renata Roett (Toyota Hilux), 3484pens

Route 1 – 1st Armstrong/Clarke, 1736pens; 2nd Alleyne/Oneal, 1935pens; 3rd equal Croney/Croney & Adrian Sinckler/Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai), 2021pens;
Route 2 – 1st Alleyne/Oneal, 209pens; 2nd Armstrong/Clarke, 346pens; 3rd Norris/Rayside, 439pens; etc

2011 Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship, round 4
1st Green/McConney, 3414pens – 9th overall
2nd Aswad Bannister/Nyere Jones (Toyota Hilux), 3702pens – 11th o/a
3rd Matthew Durant/Trina Griffith (Suzuki Jimny), 3802pens – 12th o/a
4th Derek Pinto/Jamal Brathwaite (Suzuki Samurai), 4368pens – 13th o/a
5th Alexander Kellman/Gary Mendes (Lex Fitness/MK Rentals Suzuki Samurai), 4510pens – 15th o/a
6th Dean Springer/Steve Singh (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Suzuki Sidekick), 5356pens – 18th o/a

Route 1 – 1st Green/McConney, 2200pens; 2nd Bannister/Jones, 2256pens; 3rd Durant/Griffiths, 2304pens
Route 2 – 1st Green/McConney, 1214pens; 2nd Pinto/Brathwaite, 1284pens; 3rd Bannister/Jones, 1446pens

For further media information: robin@bradfax.com
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com, www.muddogsbarbados.com