SWANN LEADS 40-CAR ENTRY FOR SHAKEDOWN STAGES

Debut of RallySafe event management system

Britain’s Rob Swann and Darren Garrod are seeded at number one for the opening round of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s & Class Championships on Sunday (April 7). Forty crews were confirmed on the running order for the BRC Shakedown Stages at last night’s Briefing Meeting at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Clubhouse, Searles, Christ Church, during which a visiting team from RallySafe gave a presentation to a packed house on the timing and event management system.

With 10 stages over 33 kilometres, Sunday’s event in the north of the island will give crews valuable pointers as to where they stand against the opposition and whether their winter development work has paid off. Scrutineering at Platinum Motors, Fontabelle, Bridgetown, from 2.00pm tomorrow (Saturday) will give island fans a chance to mingle with competitors ahead of the action.

Swann and Garrod – the Welshman celebrating his 40th birthday on Monday – will lead the field away in their familiar Subaru Impreza WRC S12B, which arrived back in the island days ago, after a comprehensive winter refresh. Starting at two in a similar Impreza, after switching cars with father Roger, are Dane Skeete and Tyler Mayhew, fresh from victory in the Motoring Club’s double-header sprint three weeks ago, with Roger Hill and Graham Gittens completing the WRC class in their Toyota Corolla WRC.

The top two-wheel-drive seeds Barry Mayers (SuperModified 2 Ford Fiesta) and brother Roger (SM2 Toyota Starlet), will start at four and six respectively, sandwiching Trinidad & Tobago’s David Coelho, who is suitably seeded at five in his FIA R5 Fiesta. The top 10 is completed by Andrew Jones (Group B Ford Escort MkII), Logan Watson (Modified 3 BMW M3), Roger Skeete in the SM2 Peugeot 306 Maxi campaigned in recent years by Dane, and Andrew Mallialieu, leading Modified 4 in his Subaru Impreza.

Swann and Coelho are the top seeds among a total of seven overseas entries across six classes. America’s George Sherman has moved up to M4 in the ex-Coelho Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, while four crews are in from the Turks & Caicos Islands: Paul Horton (M2 Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX), along with Stan Hartling, who will now compete in M3 in his BMW M3), and a pair of Citroen C2 R2 MAX hatchbacks for Pierre Beswick and Sam Hartling.

The Service Park is at Black Bess, St Peter, with the event scheduled to start at 10.00am and finish at around 4.00pm. Six stages are planned before lunch, with two runs each through Josey Hill to Lamberts – this 2.55-kms stage runs from St Lucy into St Peter - then French Village to Four Hills (3.90kms), with the new Swanns to Rock Hall stage (3.40kms) the last in each loop; after lunch there will be two runs through the longest stage in reverse, with Josey Hill and Swanns each running once, but in the same direction, giving a total distance for the 10 stages of 33.45kms.

BRC Shakedown Stages - Sunday, April 7
Final running order at April 5:

1 Rob Swann – ENG/Darren Garrod - WAL (WRC Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury/R A Swann Ltd Subaru Impreza WRC S12B)
2 Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (WRC Sol/Automotive Art/CO Williams Sand & Lime Subaru Impreza WRC S12B)
3 Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M4 Esso/Nassco/Pennzoil/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)
4 Barry Mayers/Ben Norris (SM2 Chefette/Rubis/Hankook/Digicel/Illusion Graphics Ford Fiesta)
5 David Coelho – T&T/Barry Ward (FIA R5 Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Ford Fiesta R5)
6 Roger Mayers/Sean Corbin (SM2 Chefette/Rubis/Hankook/Digicel/Illusion Graphics Toyota Starlet)
7 Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington – ENG (GpB Lucozade/Supreme Distributors Inc Ford Escort MkII)
8 Logan Watson/Andrew Croney (M3 Leafy Organics/Cargo BGI/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Stihl/It’s Barbados/Sign Depot BMW M3)
9 Roger Skeete/Tammy Lashley (SM2 Sol/Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi)
10 Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (M4 Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza)
11 Justin Campbell/Ayrton Bannister (M3 Republic Bank/Automotive Art/Five Star Fast Track/Dream Solutions/Hankook/CRT BMW M3)
12 Avinash Chatrani/Andrew Skeete (M4 Lenovo/PowerBass/iShop Barbados/Axe Solutions/Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
14 Mark Thompson/Kurt Seabra - GUY (M4 Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty/Automotive Art/SLAM 101.1FM Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
15 Derek Edwards/Damien Johnson (M3 Park & Fly/Seawell Fitness Centre/D & A Air Conditioning/Arrow Woodworking BMW M3 Compact)
16 Jamal Brathwaite/Dario Hoyte (M2 Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance/Caribbean Auto Glass/Stylz Auto Spa/Tec Barbados/Chicken Pen Racing Honda Civic Type-R)
17 Kurt Thompson/Adam Straker (SM2 Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty/King Ocean/Slam 101.1FM Honda Civic)
18 Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (SM1 Nassco/Jason Jones/Valvoline/Sun General Insurance/Auto Solutions/Emtage Electric Toyota Starlet)
19 Jeremy Gonsalves/Orry Hunte (SM1 Sign Depot/Guava Tech/Valvoline/Makita/In Gear Auto/John Hardman Engineering Opel Corsa)
20 Paul Horton - TCI/Kris Yearwood (M2 Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing/Arbikie Highland Estate Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX)
21 George Sherman - USA/Joshua Plaza – T&T (M4 Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
22 no number 22
23 Edward Corbin/Johnathan Alleyne (M1 Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI Daihatsu Charmant)
24 Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (GpB Seawell Automotive/Sharkey’s The Bar/Suga Apple Swimwear BMW M3)
25 Stan Hartling - TCI/Jeremy Croney (M3 Bambarra Rum BMW M3)
26 Winston Thompson/Norman Catwell (SM1 Chicken Pen Racing/Ellesmere Quarries/BCR Car Rental/Seawell Automotive Toyota Starlet)
27 Pierre Beswick – TCI/Leslie Evanson (M1 Grace Bay Car Rentals/Hartling Luxury Resorts/Caicos Dream Tours Citroen C2 R2 MAX)
28 Calvin Briggs/Tiffani Bannister (GpB Massy Realty/Kensington Mall/Lucas Oils/Flying Bell Racing Ford Sierra)
29 Paul Inniss/Jamar Haynes (M1 JJ Racing Team/Kings Tavern/Brydens Insurance/Huntes Auto Spares/Hugh Autobody/Caribbean Villa Chefs/Dewalt powered by ESSCO Honda Civic)
30 Greg Cozier/Natasha Farnum (C2 Perkins & Sons Rum Bimma Cup)
31 Ian Warren/Jason Cozier (C2 West Lake/Benthams Farm & Garden Bimma Cup)
32 Stuart Garcia/Rasheed Smith (C2 Smith’s Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/Intelligent Defence Systems/ Zaccios/Kirba Inc Bimma Cup)
33 Spencer Hutchinson/Gayle Hutchinson (C2 MotorsportToolKits.co.uk Bimma Cup)
34 Allan Kinch/Kyle Proverbs (C2 Bimma Cup)
35 Ryan Wood/Ben Da Silva (C2 Carter’s Pit-Stop/Power King Batteries/Guava Tech/C&A Autobody Repairs/Sitemasters Construction Bimma Cup)
36 Sam Hartling - CDN/Kevin-Jon Manning (C2 Hartling Group Bimma Cup)
37 John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (H2 Toyota Corolla)
38 Kevin Armstrong/Damian Sealy (M1 Armstrong Auto/Décor Divas Toyota Corolla)
39 Kevin Wiggins/Darren Lashley (M1 Johnson’s Auto/Zak Auto Parts/Dynamic Auto Imports/Therapy Partners Toyota Starlet)
40 Jason Tull/Kareem Gaskin (C1 Jay-T’s Auto Services/CA Autobody Repair Services/Dominus PHD/CST Tyres Peugeot 106 Rallye S2)
41 Mark Huggins/Stephen Bell (GpB Mark’s Auto Spares/General Distributors Daihatsu Charmant)
42 Dario Watson/Devon Clarke (M1 Kohler SDMO/GT Traders Auotmotive Keys/OS Creations/Alleyne Auto Clinic/Trident Cutz Barber Studio Toyota Starlet)

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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