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Winners of the opening round of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2012 MudDogs Safari Championship back in March, Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), added a second victory to their tally on Sunday (September 16), when they defeated all-comers - and the elements - in the Shelbury Construction September Safari.
The Championship leaders delivered a consistent performance to outwit their rivals, despite winning neither route, finishing second in the morning and fifth in the afternoon; a total of 518 penalties made for a winning margin of 128 over Mark Western and Robin Hinds (Gomez & Western Services/Kar Parts Store Nissan Patrol), who led home one of the closest-fought battles in recent memory - five crews covered by just 40 penalties.
For Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Valvoline Isuzu D-Max), winners of the Championship’s other two rounds and potentially Armstrong and Clarke’s closest rivals in the title chase, things did not go so well; after a delay in route one left them 10th at the lunch halt at Chefette Six Roads, even victory in route two by a margin of more than 100 penalties could not lift them higher than eighth by the end of the day.
Alleyne and O’Neal were not the only ones to suffer, stuck with other crews in a gully near Easy Hall, an area notoriously difficult to cross, especially when wet. Indeed, the weather played it’s part to the full, as MudDogs Chairman Warren Gollop explained: “The day was very challenging for everyone, starting with the pouring rain in the morning, followed by the constant drizzle and then the searing heat of the afternoon! It was not a day for the casual competitor or fan!”
Route-setters were Biddy Barber and Warrick Eastmond, who said: “Over the years we have been doing the same things, we wanted to do something different. One example was at Six Roads - lots of people were stuck there trying to plot. We tried to make people think and wanted to keep them on their toes.”
Eastmond’s plan, which included use of the Club’s own BRC method of navigation, had clearly worked, as winning navigator Clarke said: “It was a nice rally, really challenging. The BRC at Six Roads had me thrown for a while and I lost 10 to 15 minutes.”
In the Chefette MudDogs Novice Safari Championship, Damien Johnson and Daniel Christie claimed their first-ever win in the Western Union Suzuki Samurai, finishing 11th overall. At the end of the morning route, they had trailed Johnny Pinto and Nick Branson (Amsoil/Paints Plus Suzuki Jimny) by less than 100 penalties, but Pinto/Branson slipped back in the afternoon, fifth of the Novice crews.
Johnson and Christie finished ninth overall on route two, ahead of a number of more experienced crews, and claimed a winning margin of 130 points over Pinto/Branson, with the consistent Dominic Straker and Matthew Ward (Hunte’s Auto Spares/Lucky Horsehoe/Sign Station Nissan Patrol) third.
The highest-placed female competitor was teenager Shane Marshall, who was navigating for father Paul in the family’s Mitsubishi L200 – after a stunning morning performance to lead after route one, they slipped to seventh at the end of the day.
During the afternoon, there were two Challenges, the first a timed Driver Dexterity test at Yorkshire, Christ Church, the second at the Four Square Bike Track, St Philip, in which the Navigator played a more important part. Gollop said: “I think the spectator highlight of the day was at the first Challenge, where Paul Marshall decided to reverse through the water splash, in order to not waste time turning around. This was spotted by Leslie Alleyne, who decided that it was a great idea and followed suit. Leslie in the D-Max ended up beating the Urban Assault Vehicle L200 on acceleration into the water splash, and Paul beat him on the reverse – Leslie won that challenge by five seconds.”
In the second challenge, which included a non-stop section, Navigators had to follow instructions in the form of diagrams to traverse it correctly. Only three crews did so, the winners Armstrong/Clarke, Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards and Gregory Dickenson/Rorie McConney, who finished third and sixth respectively.
Summing up, Gollop added: “I was very encouraged and pleased with the support for this Safari, both from competitors and marshals . . . and also from the sponsorship end. It was great to have 22 crews start this event, even with some of our regulars missing, and I really hope to finish the season with a bang! Thanks to Shelbury Construction, which was represented by Jaime-Lee Armstrong at the Prize-giving, also to Chefette Restaurants for their continued support and sustenance for all involved.”
Shelbury Construction September Safari
September 18
BRC MudDogs Safari Championship, round 4
1st Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 518 penalties
2nd Mark Western/Robin Hinds (Gomez & Western Services/Kar Parts Store Nissan Patrol), 646pens
3rd Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Corbin’s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/SDRR/Crane & Equipment Toyota Hilux), 666pens
4th Derek Gill/Andrew Croney (Insurance Solutions Inc Mitsubishi Pajero), 679pens
5th Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney (CC Motorsports/Arthurs Electrical/Simon Autobody Shop Suzuki Samurai), 682pens
6th Gregory Dickenson/Rorie McConney (Toyota Hilux), 686pens
7th Paul Marshall/Shane Marshall (Mitsubishi L200), 779pens
8th Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (Simpson Motors/Valvoline Isuzu D-Max), 964pens
9th George Mendes/Gary Mendes (G & G Sales & Service Mitsubishi L200), 1042pens
10th Sean Gibbs/Brett Barber (Toyota Hilux), 1935pens
etc
Route 1 – 1st Marshall/Marshall, 170pens; 2nd Armstrong/Clarke, 206pens; 3rd Western/Hinds, 286pens; etc
Route 2 – 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 158pens; 2nd Croney/Croney, 262pens; 3rd Corbin/Edwards, 288pens; etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship, round 4
1st Damien Johnson/Daniel Christie (Western Union Suzuki Samurai), 2320pens – 11th overall
2nd Johnny Pinto/Nick Branson (Amsoil/Paints Plus Suzuki Jimny), 2450pens – 12th o/a
3rd Dominic Straker/Matthew Ward (Hunte’s Auto Spares/Lucky Horsehoe/Sign Station Nissan Patrol), 3289pens – 15th o/a
4th Michael Fields/David Lewis (Land Rover Defender 110), 3515pens – 16th o/a
5th Dave Gibson/Andy Williams (Suzuki Samurai), 3593pens – 17th o/a
6th Joshua Plaza/Rashid Nakhuda (Ramshackle Bar/Renegade Auto Services Suzuki Samurai), 3624pens – 18th o/a
etc
Route 1 – 1st Pinto/Branson, 1657pens; 2nd Johnson/Christie, 1740pens; 3rd Fields/Lewis, 2499pens; etc
Route 2 – 1st Johnson/Christie, 580pens; 2nd Plaza/Nakhuda, 692pens; 3rd Gibson/Williams, 711pens; etc
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [4]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [5], www.muddogsbarbados.com [6]
