DOUBLE TOP FOR SKEETE IN RALLY CLUB AUTUMN SPRINT

Hard-fought battle for places lights up a grey day

Dane Skeete won all four runs in each direction of yesterday’s (Sunday) Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Autumn Double Header in the only WRC car in the field. Astern of his Subaru Impreza WRC S12, however, there was a fantastic battle for the places as no fewer than nine other drivers set top six times on the demanding Sailor Gully stage in St Peter.
  Stuart Maloney twice finished runner-up to Skeete, winning the 10-strong FIA R5 class in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo and finishing within one second of the winner on the longer, southbound reverse run. Mark Thompson (Modified 4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) and Josh Read (Ford Fiesta R5) were third and fourth heading northbound from the Sailor Gully hairpin, swapping positions in the reverse. After missing the morning’s first run replacing a faulty fuel pump, Roger Mayers (SuperModified 2 Toyota WR Starlet) was never headed in 2wd, finishing ninth and eighth overall.
  After a light shower of rain shortly before the event was due to start, Skeete set the pace with a first-run time of 1m 28.07s. Maloney was three-tenths adrift, Jamaica’s Jeff Panton third (1:28.54) in his Fiesta Rally2, Read fourth (1:28.87), with Britain’s Rob Swann (Fiesta Rally2) and Mark Maloney (Fabia Rally2 evo) fifth and six. Despite feeling more comfortable after a strong showing in Saturday’s Motoring Club Barbados Inc event ahead of his final outing in the Fiesta, Panton left the road just ahead of the Orange Hill Plantation, damaging the right side of the car and retiring. Read was now Stuart’s closest challenger ahead of Mark Maloney, with Roger Hill (Fabia R5) joining the top six.
  As the times continued to fall – Skeete was now down to 1:23.33 – Read (1:25.65) and Thompson (1:25.86) both moved ahead of Stuart Maloney on the third run, with Swann and Hill still in the game. While Skeete finished on 1:22.15 for victory in round six of the BRC Driver’s and Class Championships, Stuart Maloney found nearly 2secs to claw his way back to second (1:24.34) and extend the gap to Thompson (1:25.12), Read (1:25.55), Mark Maloney (1:25.78) and Swann (1:26.14). The top 10 was completed by Hill, Andrew Mallalieu (Fiesta R5), Mayers and Panton, who must have been wondering how much more he could have achieved but for his accident.
  After lunch and a further short rain shower, the reverse direction was extended to run from Mt Brevitor through French Village back to the hairpin where the morning runs had started. Once again, Skeete set the pace with a first run time of 2:09.01, with Read, Swann, Mark Maloney, Thompson and Mallalieu completing the top six, with Stuart Maloney ninth after stalling mid-way through the run.
  As before, places were shuffled on each run, with all but Skeete and Mallalieu leaving their best ‘til last. Skeete finished on 1:59.64 from his third run for his second victory of the day, with Stuart Maloney’s significantly quicker final run netting him second (2:00.63), just four-tenths ahead of Read (2:01.04), with Thompson heading the rest home, a further 2secs back (2:03.20).
  Skeete said: “The car worked flawlessly, the team worked flawlessly and we had a peaceful event. Despite the break since Sol Rally Barbados it was easy to get back into it because we had the two double headers back to back this weekend.” FIA R5 winner Maloney added: “I really don't focus on Dane too much anymore as he is much too fast for us, so I really just try to stay ahead of my class. My game plan is always to try to win while still having some fun. With the uncertainty with the road conditions, I don't think I was hot out of the box but tried to build as I felt out the stage.”
  In 2wd, the main challenge for Roger Mayers came from Modified 3 class-winner Logan Watson, sharing his BMW M3 with brother Rhett, who ran it in SM2. Both were in the mix with the SM2 regulars, Mayers, his brother Barry, who was suffering with a rear handling issue with his Fiesta which looked well out of shape on a number of occasions, and Andrew Jones (Ford Escort MkII). Logan finished second to Roger in 2wd by eight-tenths and 3secs in the two directions, also 11th overall, beating Barry by half-a-second northbound, then by just two-hundredths on the longer run.
  Leader of the BRC Champion Driver title chase Edward Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) finished 18th overall in both directions and led home the five entries in Modified 1, comfortably beating Jermin Pope (Honda Civic), while Ryan Wood and Sean Corbin shared the BimmaCup victories in the nine-strong Clubman 2, with Allan Kinch and Sacha Soodeen also on the podium. Kevin Armstrong (BMW 325i) claimed his first wins in Clubman 3, beating Stuart Garcia (BimmaCup Too), despite ending the day with his engine ratchet-strapped into place to cure earlier gear-selection issues.

BRC Autumn Double Header Sprint - Sunday, August 21
Results

2022 BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 6
1st Dane Skeete (WRC Sol/CO Williams Sand & Lime/Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 1m 22.15s
2nd Stuart Maloney (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/VP Fuels/Chevron/Bushy Park/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 02.19s
3rd Mark Thompson (M4 Glassesco Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), + 02.97s
4th Josh Read (FIA R5 Automotive Art/Weetabix Ford Fiesta R5), + 03.40s
5th Mark Maloney (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/VP Race Fuels/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 03.63s
6th Rob Swann - ENG (FIA R5 Blue Sky Luxury/RA Swann Ltd/Marriott International Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 03.99s
7th Roger Hill (FIA R5 Esso/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Skoda Fabia R5), + 04.57s
8th Andrew Mallalieu (FIA R5 Terra Caribbean Ford Fiesta R5), + 05.61s
9th Roger Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Rubis/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Toyota WR Starlet), + 05.90s
10th Jeffrey Panton - JAM (FIA R5 Rubis/Sandals Resorts/KIG/Bushy Park Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 06.39s
etc
WRC: 1st Skeete, 1m 22.15s
FIA R5: 1st S Maloney, 1m 24.34s; 2nd Read, + 01.21s; 3rd M Maloney, + 01.44s; etc
Modified 4: 1st Thompson, 1m 25.12s
SuperModified 2: 1st R Mayers, 1m 28.05s; 2nd Barry Mayers (Chefette/Rubis/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Ford Fiesta), + 01.36s; 3rd Andrew Jones (Gales Agro Products/Vanpur Malt/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII), + 02.05s; etc
SM1: 1st Darren Lashley (HEL Performance/Hi-Speed Performance Parts/Starboy Performance/Lashley’s Auto Garage/High Maintenance Detailing Toyota Starlet), 1m 49.39s – 38th overall; 2nd Roger Jordan (Toyota Starlet), + 02.38s
M3: 1st Logan Watson (Cargo BGI/Enermax Ltd/Luxe Caribbean Properties/It’s Barbados/Sign Depot/Bajan Pure Water/Stihl/Hankook Tires BMW M3), 1m 28.89s – 11th o/a; 2nd Suleman Esuf (SY Adam & Son/Express imports Inc/Y Esuf Auto Clinic/Prosales BMW M3), + 06.72s
M2: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco Limited/H Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Stamina Energy/Pressout Performance Toyota GT86 CS-R3), 1m 34.71s – 19th o/a
M1: 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Valvoline/Pro Sales/Cargo BGI/Hilti Daihatsu Charmant), 1m 34.29s – 18th o/a; 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), + 01.62s; 3rd Paul Inniss (Caribbean Villa Chefs/Caribbean LED Lighting/Trident Insurance Ltd/Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream/J's AC Services/JJ Racing Team/ Ingcopowerbyessco/Deodaz Customs/Momo Coco Loco/Triton Logistics/Hunte's Auto Spares Honda Civic), + 07.29s; etc
Clubman 3: 1st Kevin Armstrong (Dynamic Auto Imports/Armstrong Auto BMW 325i), 1m 40.69s – 22nd o/a; 2nd Stuart Garcia (Kirba Inc/Smith’s Engineering Works/Guava Tech/Four & Twenty Bakery Inc BimmaCup Too), + 01.86s
C2: 1st Robert Ryan Wood (Carter’s Pitstop/C&A Autobody Repair/Guava Tech/Hilti/Westlake Tyres/Medical Massage Specialist BimmaCup), 1m 40.97s – 23rd o/a; 2nd Allan Kinch (Tranquility Cruises/Yorkshire Agricultural Services/Guava Tech/Colour XL/Westlake Tyres BimmaCup), + 01.20s; 3rd Sean Corbin (Super-S Premium Lubricants/Kikks Slippers/Carters Pitstop/Westlake Tyres/Gunk BimmaCup), + 01.55s; etc
C1: 1st Jason Tull (Jay-T’s Auto Services/SRG Engineering Peugeot 106 Rallye S2), 1m 49.21s – 37th o/a
Group B: 1st Calvin Briggs (GpB Ford Sierra), 1m 43.20s

2022 BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 7
1st Skeete, 1m 59.64s
2nd S Maloney, + 00.99s
3rd Read, + 01.40s
4th Thompson, + 03.56s
5th Hill, + 03.95s
6th M Maloney, + 03.99s
7th Swann - ENG, + 04.85s
8th R Mayers, + 04.90s
9th Mallalieu, + 05.14s
10th Paul Horton - TCI (FIA R5 Java Island/HO2 Construction/Sky Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5), + 06.55s
etc
WRC: 1st Skeete, 1m 59.64s
FIA R5: 1st S Maloney, 2m 00.63s; 2nd Read, + 00.41s; 3rd Hill, + 02.86s; etc
M4: 1st Thompson, 2m 03.20s
SM2: 1st R Mayers, 2m 04.54s; 2nd B Mayers, + 02.10s; 3rd Rhett Watson (Cargo BGI/Enermax Ltd/Luxe Caribbean Properties/It’s Barbados/Sign Depot/Bajan Pure Water/Stihl/Hankook Tires BMW M3), + 04.29s; etc
SM1: 1st Lashley, 2m 32.42s – 35th o/a
M3: 1st L Watson, 2m 07.62s – 11th o/a; 2nd Esuf, + 08.80s
M2: 1st N Corbin, 2m 11.10s – 16th o/a
M1: 1st E Corbin, 2m 13.96s – 18th o/a; 2nd Pope, + 03.22s; 3rd Inniss, + 09.58s; etc
C3: 1st Armstrong, 2m 21.93s – 23rd o/a; 2nd Garcia, + 02.78s
C2: 1st S Corbin, 2m 18.45s – 21st o/a; 2nd Wood, + 00.81s; 3rd Sacha Soodeen (BimmaCup), + 04.89s; etc
C1: 1st Tull, 2m 31.10s – 34th o/a
Group B: 1st Briggs, 2m 46.78s

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