[1]Impressive Class B win for novices Cozier and Moore
Navigational rallying veteran Leslie Alleyne claimed his 10th victory, his eighth as driver, in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) oldest event when he won the Shelbury Construction 65th Anniversary June Safari last weekend (June 25/26). A sixth win for Chris O’Neal brings him level with fellow navigator Wayne Clarke and joint second behind Alleyne in the event’s Roll of Honour.
After 24 hours of competition across four routes islandwide, Alleyne and O’Neal incurred 1131 penalties in their POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny. Their margin of victory was nearly 1000 over David Armstrong and Andrew Croney (2126pens), who won a trophy from Nassco as highest-placed Toyota in their Hilux, with Stephen Mayers and David Reece (Hilux) in third place with 2535pens. Luke Cozier and Ben Moore won Class B in a Toyota Land Cruiser, finishing fifth overall, an impressive result for BimmaCup driver Cozier’s first-ever Safari and Moore’s first as navigator.
‘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 by the pandemic, and to mark the 65th Anniversary Founder Member Bill Mallalieu arrived at the start in the Rover 75 driven in that first June Rally in 1957 by Trevor Bowring. Official Starter was Don Hunte, who won the event as a driver four times between 1979 and ’93, twice each with Garry Clarke and Wayne Clarke. A trophy presented by Lynch Insurance, awarded for Sunday’s final route set to encourage Club members to participate and mark the Anniversary, was won by Edward Corbin and Paul Bourne in another Hilux.
The only event in the MudDogs Safari Championship to run through the night started at Chefette, Wildey at 2.00pm on Saturday and cover four routes; each of the first three lasted around six hours, with one-hour rest stops between, before the final three-hour route ending at Lotus Bar, Bromefield, St Lucy on Sunday afternoon. Route-setter Gary Mendes earned Alleyne’s praise: “Gary and his team did a fabulous job putting together a rally of this length. You were always kept on your toes with what was approaching 250 controls, both manned and un-manned. The marshals that worked tirelessly throughout the event and always had a smile on their faces need a special vote of thanks, because they are the reason we can do this. It was a rally befitting the 65th Anniversary; special thanks to Chris Armstrong and Shelbury Construction for their continued support.”
Alleyne and O’Neal won the first route comfortably from Armstrong and Croney, with Philip McConney, who won the 50th Anniversary June Safari in 2007, and Willie Hinds third in the Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai. Route 2 was a different story, as Alleyne explained: “It started with TSD navigation and a regularity test, which took us from Rubis Kirtons to the Consett Bay area and this was our worst section of the rally - Gary had set TSD in a previous rally which we also made a mess of! From here, we were late and had missed a control, so that put us on the back foot. We dug in and regained a handle on things from Clifton Hall in St John to the stop in Holetown.”
Dustin Edwards and Ryan Corbin in the Corbins Catering/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux won Route 2, with Alleyne and O’Neal fifth, while Stephen Mayers and David Reece (Hilux) just beat Alleyne and O’Neal in Route 3. Alleyne’s wife Anna-Lee, herself a two-time winner of ‘The June’ as navigator, provided cooked dinner for the crew at 8.00pm and cutters for the 3.00am stop, which she followed up with cooked breakfast before Route 4 as they knew they would need to keep their energy levels up. Alleyne takes up the story: “With a renewed burst of energy after breakfast, we launched an assault on Route 4, aiming for a zero-penalty route. It did not quite work, with one silly mistake misreading a route instruction, but we brought it home feeling great about our rally. I need to thank our sponsors POD Store and Maxxis Tyres for providing the necessary traction to overcome all terrain.”
Cozier and Moore’s victory in Class B came by a margin of less than 150 penalties over Joel Smith and Simon Parravicino (Suzuki Samurai) and they were evenly matched throughout. Of his first navigational event, Cozier said: “It was a very enjoyable rally that was very well organised. The navigation was very tricky, as would be expected, but not hard enough to get anyone completely lost . . . but the organisers and competitors were ready to help when we inevitably did get lost!”
Ricky Holder, Chairman of the BRC MudDogs Committee, said: “I’d like to give special thanks to our title sponsor Shelbury Construction, also the competitors and all the marshals who worked through the night. I am very happy to see some newcomers doing so well . . . hopefully they will continue in our events.”
Shelbury Construction 65th Anniversary June Safari – June 25/26
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship - round 3
1st Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny), 1131 penalties
2nd David Armstrong/Andrew Croney (Toyota Hilux), 2126pens
3rd Stephen Mayers/David Reece (Toyota Hilux), 2535pens
4th Dustin Edwards/Ryan Corbin (Corbins Catering/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 2836pens
5th Luke Cozier/Benjamin Moore (Toyota Land Cruiser), 3104pens
6th Joel Smith/Simon Parravicino (Suzuki Samurai), 3252pens
7th Phillip McConney/Willie Hinds (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai), 3397pens
8th Derek Edwards/Damien Johnson (Ford Ranger), 3415pens
9th Kerstin Corbin/Joseph Tseu (Suzuki Jimny), 3635pens
10th Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny), 4215pens
etc
Route 1: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 148pens; 2nd D Armstrong/Croney, 524pens; 3rd McConney/Hinds, 1160pens; 4th Mayers/Reece, 1181pens; 5th Dean Springer/Bridget Garity (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger), 1308pens; 6th Cozier/Moore, 1348pens; etc
Route 2: 1st D Edwards/R Corbin, 54pens; 2nd Adam Hunte/Samantha Gibbs (Doverwood Projects Mitsubishi L200), 304pens; 3rd D Edwards/Johnson, 368pens; 4th King/Eastmond, 386pens; 5th Alleyne/O’Neal, 475pens; 6th D Armstrong/Croney, 516pens; etc
Route 3: 1st Mayers/Reece, 308pens; 2nd Alleyne/O’Neal, 404pens; 3rd K Corbin/Tseu, 510pens; 4th Hunte/Gibbs, 586pens; 5th Smith/Parravicino, 614pens; 6th George Mendes/Leslie Evanson (Suzuki Vitara), 704pens; etc
Route 4: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 104pens; 2nd Mayers/Reece, 150pens; 3rd Edward Corbin/Paul Bourne (Toyota Hilux), 170pens; 4th Cozier/Moore, 260pens; 5th D Armstrong/Croney, 272pens; 6th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 320pens; etc
Class B
1st Cozier/Moore, 3104pens
2nd Smith/Parravicino, 3252pens
3rd D Edwards/Johnson, 3415pens
4th K Corbin/Tseu, 3635pens
5th Hunte/Gibbs, 4425pens
6th Abdullah Patel/Bilal Patel (Patels Motoring/Nilight LED Lights Mitsubishi L200), 7098pens
Route 1: 1st Cozier/Moore, 1348pens; 2nd Smith/Parravicino, 1438pens; 3rd D Edwards/Johnson, 1450pens; 4th K Corbin/Tseu, 1566pens; 5th Trevor Manning/Derek Gill (Toyota Hilux), 2022pens; etc
Route 2: 1st Hunte/Gibbs, 304pens; 2nd D Edwards/Johnson, 368pens; 3rd Cozier/Moore, 676pens; 4th K Corbin/Tseu, 809pens; 5th Smith/Parravicino, 820pens; etc
Route 3: 1st K Corbin/Tseu, 510pens; 2nd Hunte/Gibbs, 586pens; 3rd Smith/Parravicino, 614pens; 4th D Edwards/Johnson, 746pens; 5th Cozier/Moore, 820pens; etc
Route 4: 1st E Corbin/Bourne, 170pens; 2nd Cozier/Moore, 260pens; 3rd Smith/Parravicino, 380pens; 4th K Corbin/Tseu, 750pens; 5th D Edwards/Johnson, 851pens; etc
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 [6]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [7], www.muddogsbarbados.com [8]
