RALLY CLUB COMPETITOR NUMBERS RISE IN 2019

Edward Corbin finally wins Champion Driver title

More than 300 competitors participated in Barbados Rally Club (BRC) events during 2019, around 20 per cent more than last year. As the Club confirmed Edward Corbin as its Champion Driver today (December 9), along with the title-winners and year-end points standings across all its disciplines, Club Chairman Mark Hamilton was in upbeat mood about the growth in numbers and the close competition which resulted.

With the Club’s Annual Prizegiving scheduled for early in the New Year, Hamilton looked back over a successful season: “First, I must congratulate Eddie Corbin on finally winning the title he has been so close to more than once; the Corbins have been at the sharp end of island motor sport for decades and their success is well-deserved, as it is a real family effort. Looking ahead, the number of newcomers in our grass roots Autocross and MudDogs events is really encouraging, along with a steady rise in competitors in rallies and speed events, particularly among co-drivers.”

Once again, regional visitors enjoyed successful seasons, as the number who base their competition cars in the island for a year-round campaign in BRC and other local events steadily rises. Representing Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands respectively, David Coelho and Stan Hartling are the FIA R5 and Modified 3 Class Champions, while Jamaica’s Chris McFarlane is the BRC Autocross Champion for the fifth consecutive year, also winning back-to-back 4wd and 2wd class titles.

Nine times a Class Champion in 17 years, Corbin finally wins a title that has eluded him since first losing out in a tie-break with Sean Gill in 2003. He finished runner-up in the Champion Driver title chase for the following two years, then again in 2009, when he lost out to Geoff Noel in another tie-break decision. Corbin is also this year’s 2wd Champion, one of three BRC titles won by just one point in a hotly-competitive season.

Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI/Co-Operators General Insurance Daihatsu Charmant) totalled 130 points with a perfect class-winning record in Modified 1 from the year’s seven events to claim the Champion Driver title by four points from Clubman 2 winner Ian Warren. Returning for his first full season since 2013, Warren (West Lake Performance Tyres/Benthams Farm & Garden/Guava Tech BimmaCup) also contested BimmaCup Barbados and the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc’s Championship, in both of which he emerged Champion.

Modified 4 and M2 Champions respectively, Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/Pennzoil/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC) and Jamal Brathwaite (Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance/Caribbean Auto Glass/TEC Barbados/Stylz Auto Spa/Chicken Pen Racing/JSB Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R) were tied on 118 points in third place, Hill getting the nod on the tie-break. The top six was completed by the Turks & Caicos Rally Team’s Paul Horton (M2 Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing/Arbikie Highland Estate Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX) with 112 points and former C2 Champion Stuart Garcia (Smith’s Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/Intelligent Defence Systems/ Zaccios/Kirba Inc BimmaCup) on 107.

Class Champions who finished outside the top six were: WRC - Dane Skeete (Sol/Automotive Art/CO Williams Sand & Lime Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), who was also 4wd Champion; FIA R5 - David Coelho – T&T (Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Ford Fiesta R5); SM2 - Roger Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Sign Depot/Hankook Toyota Starlet); SM1 - Ryan O Wood (Shonny’s Kitchen/Lucas Oil/Biz Needz Racing/MB Auto City/Bajan Bully/Axalta Paints/Island Guild/LITT Marketing & Events/Exceptional Plumbing Services Toyota Starlet); M3 - Stan Hartling – TCI (Bambarra Rum BMW M3); Historic 2 - John Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI/Co-Operators General Insurance Toyota Corolla); C1 - Jason Tull (Jay-T’s/CA Autobody Repairs/Devon Star/Dominus PHD/CST Tyres/Computech Solutions Peugeot 106 Rallye S2); GpB - Andrew Jones (Herr’s/Lucozade/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII).

In the Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, Leslie Alleyne (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max) extended his record with a seventh consecutive Drivers crown, while Navigator Chris O’Neal claimed his sxith. Only one Class B competitor contested sufficient events to register for year-end points, Yosuf Patel (Aquarius Faucets/ToolCraft/Goodyear Mitsubishi L200) the Champion Driver. Having finished second last year in the Shelbury Construction Trophy for the season’s Driver Challenges, Stephen Mayers (Toyota Hilux) is this year’s winner.

McFarlane’s fifth consecutive BRC Autocross Championship came with the bonus of winning both the 4wd and 2wd titles for the second straight year, competing in his own Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ and Geoff Ullyett’s BMW M3 respectively. Ullyett finished second to the Jamaican in all three title chases, while former Champion Omar Boodhoo (Subaru Impreza) and Jody Forte (Subaru BRZ) tied for third Overall, finishing third in 4wd and 2wd respectively.

BRC Driver’s Championship
Final Overall Positions after round 7:

1st Edward Corbin (M1 Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI/Co-Operators General Insurance Daihatsu Charmant), 130 points
2nd Ian Warren (C2 West Lake Performance Tyres/Benthams Farm & Garden/Guava Tech BimmaCup), 126pts
3rd Roger Hill (M4 Esso/Nassco/Pennzoil/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 118pts
4th Jamal Brathwaite (M2 Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance/Caribbean Auto Glass/TEC Barbados/Stylz Auto Spa/Chicken Pen Racing/JSB Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R), 118pts
5th Paul Horton - TCI (M2 Java Island/Sky Motorsports/H Racing/Arbikie Highland Estate Citroen DS 3 R3 MAX), 112pts
6th Stuart Garcia (C2 Smith’s Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/Intelligent Defence Systems/ Zaccios/Kirba Inc BimmaCup), 107pts; etc

BRC Class Championship
Final Positions after round 7:

WRC: 1st Dane Skeete (Sol/Automotive Art/CO Williams Sand & Lime Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 100 points
FIA R5: 1st David Coelho – T&T (Subway/Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi Ford Fiesta R5), 101pts
Modified 4: 1st Hill, 118pts; 2nd Mark Thompson (Glassesco/Automotive Art /NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/SLAM 101.1FM Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 75pts; 3rd Avinash Chatrani (iShop Barbados/Genius Lynk/Axe Solutions/Lenovo/PowerBass/Gunk/Sign Station Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)), 63pts; etc
SuperModified 2: 1st Roger Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Sign Depot/Hankook Toyota Starlet), 63pts; 2nd Rhett Watson (Chefette/Gliptone/Stihl/Leafy Organics/Gunk/Power King Batteries/Bajan Pure Water/Its Barbados BMW M3), 62pts; 3rd Roger Skeete (Sol/Automotive Art Peugeot 306 Maxi), 48pts; etc
SM1: 1st Ryan O Wood (Shonny’s Kitchen/Lucas Oil/Biz Needz Racing/MB Auto City/Bajan Bully/Axalta Paints/Island Guild/LITT Marketing & Events/Exceptional Plumbing Services Toyota Starlet), 67pts; 2nd Jeremy Gonsalves (Sign Depot/Guava Tech/Valvoline/Makita/In Gear Auto/John Hardman Engineering Opel Corsa), 28pts
M3: 1st Stan Hartling – TCI (Bambarra Rum BMW M3), 81pts; 2nd Logan Watson (Leafy Organics/Cargo BGI/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Stihl/It’s Barbados/Sign Depot/Bajan Pure Water BMW M3), 80pts; 3rd Peter Thompson (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty BMW M3 Compact), 62pts; etc
M2: 1st Brathwaite, 118pts; 2nd Horton - TCI, 112pts; 3rd Samuel Hartling - CAN (The Hartling Group BMW 318ti Compact), 41pts
M1: 1st E Corbin, 130pts; 2nd Pierre Beswick – TCI (Grace Bay Car Rentals/Hartling Luxury Resorts/Sky Motorsports Citroen C2 R2 MAX), 75pts; 3rd Shareef Walcott (Lil Griff’s Maintenance & Freighting Services/Melwani’s/Tint Plus/BizNeedz/Dynamic Auto Imports/MC LED Toyota Corolla), 73pts; etc
Historic 2: 1st John Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI/Co-Operators General Insurance Toyota Corolla), 98pts; 2nd Harold Morley - ENG (Timeline Auto Products/Bajanloveshop.com Porsche 911RSR), 70pts; 3rd Wayne Archer (Archers Hall/Arrow Construction/Arrow Woodworking/RW Water/D & A Air Conditioning & Refrigeration BMW 325), 46pts
Clubman 2: 1st Warren, 126pts; 2nd Garcia, 107pts; 3rd Allan Kinch (Bajan All the Way! BimmaCup), 81pts
C1: 1st Jason Tull (Jay-T’s/CA Autobody Repairs/Devon Star/Dominus PHD/CST Tyres/Computech Solutions Peugeot 106 Rallye S2), 65pts
GpB: 1st Andrew Jones (Herr’s/Lucozade/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII), 90pts; 2nd Jonathan Still (Seawell Automotive/Sharkey’s Bar/Suga Apple Swimwear BMW M3), 59pts; 3rd Calvin Briggs (Massy Realty/Kensington Mall/Flying Bell Racing/The Dome Mall/Sirrom SLD/OS Creations/Tallest 246 Wrecker Services Ford Sierra), 54pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st D Skeete, 131pts; 2nd Hill, 101pts; 3rd Coelho, 96pts; 4th M Thompson, 63pts; 5th Chatrani, 51pts; 6th Andrew Mallalieu (M4 Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza/FIA R5 Ford Fiesta), 49pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st E Corbin, 66pts; 2nd Horton, 65pts; 3rd R Watson, 64pts; 4th Brathwaite, 64pts; 5th R Mayers, 63pts; 6th L Watson, 60pts; etc

Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Final positions after round 4 – Overall Drivers:

1st Leslie Alleyne (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 238 points
2nd Ben Norris (Lenovo/PowerBass Toyota Land Cruiser), 236pts
3rd David Armstrong (Nassco Toyota Hilux), 224pts
4th Christopher King (Nissan Frontier), 212pts
5th Willie Hinds (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai), 186pts
6th Yosuf Patel (Aquarius Faucets/ToolCraft/Goodyear Mitsubishi L200), 182pts

Overall Navigators:

1st Chris O'Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 238pts
2nd Kirk Watkins (Lenovo/PowerBass Toyota Land Cruiser)), 236pts
3rd Andrew Croney (Nassco Toyota Hilux), 224pts
4th Warrick Eastmond (Nissan Frontier), 212pts
5th Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux & Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai), 210pts
6th Bridget Garity (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger), 192pts
Class B Driver: 1st Y Patel, 236pts
Class B Navigator: no eligible finishers

Shelbury Construction Trophy
Final positions after round 4:

1st Stephen Mayers (Toyota Hilux), 25 points
2nd Norris, 21pts
3rd Chris Armstrong (Toyota Hilux), 18pts
4th Alleyne, 11pts
5th D Armstrong, 10pts
6th Phillip McConney (HVAC Caribbean Land Rover Defender), 9pts; etc

BRC Autocross Championship
Final Overall positions after round 5:

1st Christopher McFarlane - JAM (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ), 73 points
2nd Geoffrey Ullyett (BMW M3), 63pts
equal 3rd Omar Boodhoo (Subaru Impreza) & Jody Forte (Subaru BRZ), 53pts
5th Cheryl-Ann Hurley (Opel Corsa), 52pts
equal 6th Cory Jackman (Suzuki Swift) & Kofe Jean-Baptiste (Evo IX), 39pts; etc
4wd: 1st McFarlane, 73pts; 2nd Ullyett (Evo X FQ), 67pts; 3rd Boodhoo, 53pts; etc
2wd: 1st McFarlane (BMW M3), 73pts; 2nd Ullyett, 65pts; 3rd Forte, 53pts; etc

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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