[1]Shelbury Construction June Safari this weekend
Crews contesting the Shelbury Construction 65th Anniversary June Safari this weekend will mark this important milestone in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) history with the toughest test in this year’s Chefette BRC MudDogs Championship. Just two weeks after the 90th running of the world-famous Le Mans 24 Hours in France, competitors will face their own island type of round-the-clock challenge but rooted in the Club’s early days of navigational rallying, which started with the June Rally of 1957, rather than racing.
From the start at Chefette, Wildey, St Michael at 2.00pm on Saturday (June 25) to the finish in St Lucy at roughly the same hour on Sunday, crews will face four routes, set by regular off-road competitor Gary Mendes, with one-hour rest stops between each. And the route is only one part of the challenge: with 10 former winners of ‘The June’ on the 24-strong entry list confirmed at last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at the BCTSA Clubhouse, Searles, Christ Church, competition will be hot.
Each of the first three routes will last around six hours; from Wildey, crews will head across the southern parishes into the evening and the first rest halt at 8.00pm at Rubis Kirtons, St Philip; the second route, the only one completely under cover of darkness, will carry them north-west to the second rest halt at around 3.00am at Rubis Holetown, with the third route ending further north at Rubis Benthams, St Lucy at 10.00am. The final route will be shorter, at just three hours, and will not require a 4x4 vehicle; the event will finish at around 2.00pm at Lotus Bar, Bromefield, St Lucy.
Leslie Alleyne sits atop ‘The June’s Roll of Honour, which lists 74 winning drivers and navigators, and is one of only five to have won from both seats; his two wins as navigator and seven as driver put him on the cusp of a record 10th victory – if achieved this weekend in their POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny, it would also bring his navigator Chris O’Neal level on six wins with Wayne Clarke, who currently lies second to Alleyne. Clarke was the first to claim five wins as navigator in 2010, then another in 2013; the first two came with Don Hunte, the rest with Chris Armstrong in a Toyota Hilux, who has won four times.
Derek Gill has also won as both navigator (2002 with Peter Bradshaw) and driver (’05 with Kevin Yearwood); this year he is navigator for Trevor Manning (Hilux), who is also a previous winner of The June, sharing Alleyne’s second win as navigator in 2011.
The entry also includes the two most recent winning crews: Ben Norris and navigator Kirk Watkins, who won in 2019, this year entered in a Jeep Rubicon, and 2020 winner Chris King, who has also switched vehicles, now driving a Suzuki Jimny. His first win was navigator Warrick Eastmond’s second, following his 2016 success with Michael Ward.
Among crews turning out to help mark the Club’s 65th Anniversary are Roger Hill and Geoffrey Goddard (Hilux), who finished second to Philip McConney and Tyrone Moseley in the 50th Anniversary June Safari in 2007. Also entered from other disciplines are Edward Corbin, fresh from his Modified 1 victory in Sol Rally Barbados, teamed with Paul Bourne in another Hilux, and former Bushy Park circuit racers Stuart Knaggs and Monty Farnum sharing a Mitsubishi L200.
Ricky Holder, Chairman of the BRC MudDogs Committee, said: “I am very pleased to see a good turn-out for the 65th Anniversary and that a number of BRC members are supporting us to mark this milestone. Hopefully we can encourage more of this.”
‘The June’, as it is fondly known, is the longest-established motor sport event in the region with a continuous history, interrupted only in 2021 when prevailing Covid-19 protocols prevented driver and navigator sitting in a vehicle together; weeks after the inaugural event was run, the organising committee called the participants together – there had been a 60-strong entry in 1957 - and agreed to form the BRC, which is now the oldest organisation in the island devoted to a sport not played with a ball and the oldest motor sport club in the region still bearing its original name.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Round 3 – June 25/26 – Shelbury Construction 65th Anniversary June Safari
Class A
2 Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux)
3 Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon)
4 Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny)
8 Stephen Mayers/David Reece (Toyota Hilux)
9 David Armstrong/Andrew Croney (Toyota Hilux)
12 Willie Hinds/Wayne Manning (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai)
13 Dean Springer/Bridget Garity (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger)
14 Dustin Edwards/Ryan Corbin (Corbins Catering/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux)
16 Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny)
Class B
1 Joel Smith/Simon Parravicino (Suzuki Samurai)
5 Adam Hunte/Samantha Gibbs (Doverwood Projects Mitsubishi L200)
6 Kerstin Corbin/Joseph Tseu (Suzuki Jimny)
7 George Mendes/Leslie Evanson (tbc)
10 Luke Cozier/Benjamin Moore (Toyota Land Cruiser)
11 Abdullah Patel/Bilal Patel (Patels Motoring/Nilight LED Lights Mitsubishi L200)
15 Derek Edwards/Damien Johnson (Ford Ranger)
17 Edward Corbin/Paul Bourne (Toyota Hilux)
18 Trevor Manning/Derek Gill (Toyota Hilux)
19 Harold Morley/Mutamuliza Cutting (BimmaCup)
20 Stuart Knaggs/Monty Farnum (Mitsubishi L200)
21 Kevin Whitehead/Raphael Russell (Isuzu D-Max)
22 Roger Hill/Geoffrey Goddard (Toyota Hilux)
23 Paul Marshall/Adam Marshall (Isuzu D-Max)
24 Paul Rohoman/Max Taylor-Smith (Nissan Frontier)
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship: Round 1 – Mar 13, BRC MudDogs March Safari; Round 2 – May 14, Chefette May Safari; Round 3 - Jun 25/26, The Shelbury Construction 65th Anniversary June Safari; Round 4 - Sep 16, BRC MudDogs September Safari; Round 5 – Nov 19, BRC MudDogs November Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [2]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [3], www.muddogsbarbados.com [4]
