EDWARD CORBIN CHASES SECOND BRC CHAMPIONSHIP

New faces in the top 10 as competitor numbers rise

Edward Corbin leads the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Champion Driver title chase after five rounds. With nearly 60 drivers having now scored in the 2022 Driver’s and Class Championships, there’s a fresh look to the top 10 this year as newcomers are making their mark in the sport, with numbers also rising dramatically after the pandemic.

Champion Driver in 2019, Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) leads Modified 1 with 83 points, having dropped only two from the potential maximum of 85, giving him an advantage of three over Clubman 2 leader Ryan Wood in his BimmaCup. A further five points back is former circuit racing Champion Driver Jermin Pope (Honda Civic), who beat Corbin to the M1 class win in First Citizens King of the Hill (May 29) but has finished second in the remaining rounds to the former Champion.

M4 leader Mark Thompson lies fourth with 73 points, his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX one of only two four-wheel-drive cars in the top 10, while Darren Lashley in his first season in the BRC Championship is an impressive fifth overall, leading SuperModified 1 in his Toyota Starlet (72pts). Stuart Garcia, who finished third overall in 2017, is sixth in his BimmaCup Too, leading the Clubman 3 class with 71 points.

Adrian Linton is seventh in his SM2 Vauxhall Astra VXR (66pts), with three drivers tied for eighth on 65 points: Sol Rally Barbados winner Dane Skeete (Subaru Impreza WRC S12), who has his points limited in the under-subscribed WRC class, plus C2 BimmaCup drivers Sean Corbin, in his first Rally Club season as a driver, and Michael Worme.

Despite being the season’s best-supported class with 12 points-scoring drivers so far – Clubman 2 is close with 11 registered drivers - the first FIA R5 car is outside the top 10, the Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo of Reigning BRC Champion Stuart Maloney, whose title defence came unstuck when he retired early on day two of Sol Rally Barbados (June 4/5). Maloney is tied in 11th place on 63 points with Neil Corbin (Toyota GT86 CS-R3) and Jason Tull (Peugeot 106 Rallye S2), the leaders of M2 and C1 respectively.

Edward Corbin also leads the 2wd standings, which are based on overall finishing positions, so the totals differ from the class totals used for the Champion Driver standings: he has 55 points, two ahead of Logan Watson, who leads Modified 3 in his BMW M3, with Linton another four points adrift in third place. Skeete is ahead in 4wd with Maloney second on 59, just one ahead of Britain’s Rob Swann, who has accrued his points in both his R5 Fiesta Rally2 and Subaru Impreza WRC S12B, which he drove in First Citizens KotH.

BRC Vice-Chairman Neil Corbin said: “After all the challenges everyone faced during the pandemic, it is so encouraging to see rallying in such fine health. Not only do we have at least as many competitors as in recent pre-Covid years but seeing new names like Sean Corbin and Darren Lashley right up there in the top 10 and guys like Ryan Wood and Michael Worme making a comeback is really encouraging for the future. I wish everyone good luck for the rest of the season.”

There are three more rounds on the calendar, a Double-Header Sprint on August 21, followed by the Winter Rally on October 16. With the now-traditional enhanced scoring system applied to the season finale - 28 points for a win, 23 for second place, 20 for third and so on down to 10 for 10th place – there is still a total of 58 points on the table, so there remains huge scope for a shift in fortunes in the standings.

BRC Class Championship
Positions after round 5:

WRC: 1st Dane Skeete (Sol/CO Williams Sand & Lime/Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 65 points; 2nd Rob Swann – ENG (Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury/RA Swann Ltd Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 11pts
FIA R5: 1st Stuart Maloney (Rock Hard/VP Fuels/Chevron/Bushy Park/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 63pts; 2nd Mark Maloney (M-Jet/Rock Hard/VP Fuels/Chevron/Bushy Park/Sign Station Skoda Fabia R5/Rally2 evo), 58pts; 3rd Roger Hill (Esso/Maxmeyer Paints/MotorMac Skoda Fabia R5), 55pts; etc
Modified 4: 1st Mark Thompson (Glassesco/Automotive Art/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 73pts; 2nd George Sherman - USA (Tide Cleaners/Subway Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 33pts; 3rd Avinash Chatrani (iShop Barbados/Axe Solutions Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV), 26pts
SuperModified 2: 1st Adrian Linton (Ravensden/JAD Performance/Helping Hands Foundation Vauxhall Astra VXR), 66pts; 2nd Roger Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Toyota WR Starlet), 41pts; 3rd Wayne Archer (Archers Hall Design Centre/Arrow Construction/Arrow Woodworking BMW 325), 39pts; etc
SM1: 1st Darren Lashley (Hi-Speed Performance Parts/HEL Performance/Lashley’s Auto Garage/Starboy Performance/Shalom Management Services/High Maintenance Detailing Toyota Starlet), 72pts; 2nd Fabien Clarke (Empire Building & Construction/Sweet and Special/Bovell Auto Repair/RCR Tours/South 7 DJs/Shallom Management Services Suzuki Ignis Sport), 41pts; 3rd Tremaine Forde-Catwell (Mipa Autocolour/Cheese Autoglass Finish Inc Daihatsu Charmant), 35pts; etc
Modified 3: 1st Logan Watson (Cargo BGI/Enermax Ltd/Luxe Caribbean Properties/It’s Barbados/Sign Depot/Bajan Pure Water/Stihl/Hankook Tires BMW M3), 61pts; 2nd Justin Campbell/Ayrton Bannister (Republic Bank/Automotive Art/CampsAutoServices/Bushy Park Barbados/Dream Freighting BMW M3), 48pts; 3rd Ian Warren (Guava Tech/Colour XL/Westlake Tyres/Foxin/Benthams Farm & Garden/Kikks BMW Compact), 45pts; etc
Modified 2: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/J Jason Jones/Stamina Energy/Auto Solutions/Colour XL/Hino Toyota GT86 CS-R3), 63pts
M1: 1st Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI Daihatsu Charmant), 83pts; 2nd Jermin Pope (Glassesco/PEG Farms/Good Time Snacks/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Automotive Art/Industries Job/C & A Auto Body Repair Honda Civic), 75pts; 3rd Pierre Clarke (SDRR Hydrualics/Camp’s Auto Service Honda Civic), 61pts; etc
Historic 2: 1st Harold Morley (Spectrum Antimicrobials Inc Porsche 911RS), 41pts; 2nd John Corbin (Valvoline/Hilti/Cargo BGI Toyota Corolla), 33pts
Clubman 3: 1st Stuart Garcia (Kirba Inc/Smith’s Engineering Works/Four & Twenty Bakery/GuavaTech BimmaCup Too), 71pts; 2nd Kevin Armstrong (Armstrong Auto/Pet Arts BMW 325i), 33pts
C2: 1st Robert Ryan Wood (Carter’s Pitstop/C&A Autobody Repair/Guava Tech/Hilti/West Lake/Medical Massage Specialist BimmaCup), 80pts; equal 2nd Sean Corbin (Kikks Slippas/Super-S Premium Lubricants/Westlake Performance Tires/Carter's Pitstop BimmaCup) & Michael Worme (Katspraddle Sweet Potato Vodka/COT/NautiLime/Autoderm/Ullyett’s Machine Shop/Reno Flip BimmaCup), 65pts; etc
C1: 1st Jason Tull (Jay-T's Auto Services/SRG Engineering/Shallom Management Services/BG Products Peugeot 106 Rallye S2), 63pts
GpB: 1st Calvin Briggs (Flying Bell Farms Ford Sierra), 30pts; 2nd Shawn Eversley (Suzuki Swift), 22pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Skeete, 78pts; 2nd S Maloney, 59pts; 3rd Swann – ENG (FIA R5 Ford Fiesta Rally2/WRC Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 58pts; 4th M Maloney, 49pts; 5th Hill, 47pts; 6th M Thompson, 45pts; etc
BRC 2wd Championship: 1st E Corbin, 55pts; 2nd Watson, 53pts; 3rd Linton, 49pts; 4th N Corbin, 48pts; 5th Pope, 42pts; 6th R Mayers, 41pts; etc