Fierce competition anticipated at BRC Winter Rally

Dane Skeete and Tyler Mayhew lead the field of 39 cars entered for the final round of the 2023 Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s and Class Championships on Sunday (October 22) in the Subaru Impreza WRC S12 in which they have twice won Sol Rally Barbados. With the now-customary enhanced points structure in place for the BRC Winter Rally and Champions yet to be crowned, a day of fierce competition is anticipated.
  Seeded at one in the running order published at last evening’s (Thursday) Briefing Meeting, Skeete is the sole runner in the WRC class. Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and Mike Fennell Jnr (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) are seeded at two, with fellow-countryman Kyle Gregg at three, co-driven in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 by Barbadian Orry Hunte.
  The Briefing Meeting came less than a week after the fatal road accident in the USA which claimed the life of popular competitor and BRC Committee of Management member Jamal ‘Kirby’ Brathwaite. His sister Talia thanked the island’s rallying community for their outpouring of support since the weekend and it was confirmed that fellow Chicken Pen Racing graduate Kyle Catwell will drive Jamal’s Honda Civic Type-R as the Zero Car for Sunday’s event, co-driven by Jamal’s father Trevor Mapp.
  While Stuart Maloney is no longer in the fight for the 4wd Championship or the FIA R5 class having sold his car last month, Panton, Skeete and Gregg are separated by just six points in the 4wd standings. With 28 points for the win, 23 for second and 20 for third, any of the three can win the title, but the finishing positions of the others, plus nine further 4wd cars in the entry can skew the calculations.
  Panton has a seven-point cushion to Gregg in R5, ahead of Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Fabia R5), Mark Maloney – brother Stuart will co-drive his Fabia Rally2 evo - and Josh Read (Fiesta R5), who has Calem Maloney on the notes. Overseas drivers complete the R5 entry, Britain’s Rob Swann (Fabia R5) seeded at four, with Geoff Goddard co-driving, in the absence of his regular driver Andrew Mallalieu. Of the Turks & Caicos Rally Team, Paul Horton once again has triple British Rally Champion Matt Edwards as co-driver in his Citroen C3 Rally2, while Stan and Ben Hartling return for the first time this year in their Fiesta R5s, with Jeremy Croney and Kreigg Yearwood respectively.
  While Roger Mayers is already the provisional 2wd and SuperModified 2 Champion, there is still the Overall Champion Driver to be crowned. With 105 points, he leads Neil Corbin by four and Ian Warren (Clubman 2 BimmaCup) by five, but three of the top five in the standings are not competing on Sunday: absent are Corbin, provisional Modified 1 Champion Jamaican Horatio Brown, who is fourth, and fifth-placed Stuart Maloney (missing as a driver at least), which brings Panton in to play, currently sixth.
  With co-driver Barry Ward, Mayers is seeded at seven in his Toyota WR Starlet, with brother Barry and Ben Norris (Ford Fiesta) at nine; while the 2wd title is out of reach, M3 class-leader Logan Watson (BMW M3) will be hoping to defend second place in the standings, his job aided by Corbin’s absence; he has Castara Waterman co-driving.
  There are still titles to be resolved in the classes, too. Warren is 20 points ahead of Chris Hoad in Clubman 2, which has a nine-strong entry on Sunday, while Wayne Tasker (Opel Corsa R) has a 13-point advantage in C1, after early leader Jason Tull (Peugeot 106 Rallye 2) failed to finish Sol RB23. With SuperModified 1 leader Tremaine Forde-Catwell not entered, there will be a straight fight for honours between Darren Lashley (Starlet) and Jason Cozier (Ford Escort MkI), Lashley currently just one point in front.
  The Winter Rally is scheduled to start at 10.30am from the Service Park at Pool Plantation in St John, with nine stages in the same parish and St Joseph. Three runs of a four-kilometre stage from Society to Cherry Grove will alternate with two runs through Blackmans to Tappy Pond (4.2kms) before the lunch break, with the restart planned for 2.30pm. In the afternoon, Blackmans to Tappy Pond will run in the same direction, but the other stage will be reversed. Organisers expect the event to finish by 6.00pm.

BRC Winter Rally - Sunday, October 22
2023 BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, round 7
Final running order at October 20:

1 Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (WRC Automotive Art/CO Williams Sand & Lime/Sol Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
2 Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr - JAM (FIA R5 KIG/Sandals Resorts/Bushy Park Barbados Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
3 Kyle Gregg – JAM/Orry Hunte (FIA R5 BD Gregg Ford Fiesta Rally2)
4 Rob Swann – ENG/Geoff Goddard (FIA R5 GO Rent A Car/R A Swann/Cygnet Plant Sales Skoda Fabia R5)
5 Mark Maloney/Stuart Maloney (FIA R5 Rock Hard Cement/Vision Equipment/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
6 Josh Read/Calem Maloney (FIA R5 Automotive Art/Java Island/Weetabix Ford Fiesta R5)
7 Roger Mayers/Barry Ward (SM2 Chefette/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Toyota WR Starlet)
8 Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (FIA R5 Esso/MaxMeyer Paints/MotorMac Skoda Fabia R5)
9 Barry Mayers/Ben Norris (SM2 Chefette/Frosteez/Hankook/Sign Depot Ford Fiesta)
10 Paul Horton – TCI/Matt Edwards - WAL (FIA R5 Java Island/HO2 Construction/Sky Motorsports Citroen C3 Rally2)
11 Ben Hartling – CAN/Kreigg Yearwood (FIA R5 The Hartling Group Ford Fiesta R5)
12 Mark Thompson/Kurt Seabra - GUY (M4 Glassesco/Automotive Art/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
14 Logan Watson/Castara Waterman (F) (M3 Cargo BGI/Packaging Center/Enermax/Luxe Caribbean Properties/Stihl/Jack Daniels/Fete Patch/It’s Barbados/Bajan Pure Water/Quality Tyre BMW M3)
15 Stan Hartling - CAN/Jeremy Croney (FIA R5 Bambarra Rum Ford Fiesta R5)
16 Suleman Esuf/Asif Suleman (M3 Prosales/Express Imports Inc/SY Adam & Son/Y Esuf Auto Clinic BMW 1M)
17 Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington – ENG (F) (SM2 Gale’s Agro Products/AP Jones Pharmacy/Southern Surf Beach Apartments/Weetabix/GO ON Energy Ford Escort MkII)
18 Justin Campbell/Kyle King (M3 Republic Bank/Automotive Art/Camps Auto Services/HEL Performance/Trident Care Barbados/Expressionism/COT/AEC Motorsport BMW M3)
19 Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (SM2 Ino-Gro Hydroponics/Young Island/Pure Water/Suga Apple Swim/New York Pizza/Weddings by Melissa BMW M3)
20 George Sherman - USA/Derek Edwards (M4 Tide Cleaners/Subway/GS InMotion Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
21 Sean Corbin/Emily Kinch (F) (M2 Super-S Premium Lubricants/Carter's Pitstop/Kikks Slippas/West Lake Tires/Gunk/Fabblast Barbados/M&M Tuning BMW 318ti Compact)
22 Kurt Thompson/Adam Straker (M3 Automotive Art/Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio Beauty Day Spa BMW M3 Compact)
23 Ian Warren/Robert Warren (C2 Motor Medic/Formula 1/West Lake/Guava Tech BimmaCup)
24 Jason Cozier/James Hutchinson (SM1 PodStore/Lucky Locks/JMC Contracting Services Inc Ford Escort MkI)
25 Robert Ryan Wood/Miranda Ho (F) – T&T (C2 Carter’s Pitstop/Power King Batteries/Guava Tech/CA Autobody Repair/Sitemasters Construction BimmaCup)
26 Calvin Briggs/Fabian Morris (GpB Sirrom Lighting/Flying Bell Farms Ford Sierra)
27 Chris Hoad/Allan Alkins (C2 Subway/Dasani Water/Colour XL/Shell Helix/Guava Tech BimmaCup)
28 Greg Cozier/Natasha Farnum (F) (C2 Perkins & Sons Barbados Rum BimmaCup)
29 Chadane Holder/Shaquille Mayers (GpB Toyota Starlet)
30 Spencer Hutchinson/Gayle Hutchinson (F) (C2 Perkins & Sons Barbados Rum BimmaCup)
31 Sam Hartling - CAN/Kyle Proverbs (C2 BimmaCup)
32 Jason Downey/Kristina Pinto (F) (C2 BimmaCup)
33 Natya Soodeen (F)/Sameisha Williams (F) (C2 BimmaCup)
34 Darren Lashley/Jason Harewood (SM1 Hi-Speed Performance Parts/Starboy Performance/Lashley’s Auto Garage Toyota Starlet)
35 Shareef Walcott/Justin Lynch (GpB Melwani’s/Lil Griff’s Hardware & Building Supplies/Reef Motorsport Toyota Corolla)
36 Wayne Tasker/Paul Inniss (C1 Winston Enterprises/Shalom Management Services/Shalom Solutions/Byrycustomz/J Squared Consultants Opel Corsa R)
37 Jason Tull/Jedon Gooding (C1 Redline Performance Imports/Jay-T’s Auto Services/Banks Breweries Peugeot 106 Rallye S2)
38 Kyle Gill/Rashid Phillips (C1 adhoc Industries/The Chicken Stop Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone)
39 Savio Walcott/Toure Nurse (C2 Movements Plus/Guava Tech/Skye7 Graphics/Unique Society/Worthing Secured Services/Tyrese Caesar Foundation BimmaCup)
40 Russell Smith – ENG/Stuart Garcia (C2 BimmaCup)

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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Web site: www.barbadosrallyclub.com