PANTON AND SKEETE HEAD INTO BATTLE ONCE AGAIN

Title contenders prepare for crucial championship round

Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and Mike Fennell (Rubis / Sandals Barbados / KIG Ford Focus WRC06) will start at number one for tomorrow’s (Saturday) Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Summer Nights Rally, heading an entry list of nearly 30. For the second time this month, the visitors will go head-to-head with Roger Skeete, co-driven for this event by Andrew Croney in the Sol / Flow / Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12B.

  After Scrutineering from noon in the Service Park at Hopewell Plantation, St Thomas, the 12-stage, 52-kilometre event is slated for a 2.00pm start. There will be three runs each through Spring Vale to Dark Hole (4km), alternating with Lion Castle to Hangmans Hill (4.10km, including the Vaucluse Raceway), with the Dinner Halt at around 5.00pm. After nightfall, the event’s longest stage (5.20km, from Todds to Bowmanston) will alternate with Hangmans Hill to Lion Castle, where the last uphill run is scheduled for 9.25pm. The Prizegiving and after party will follow at the Vaucluse Raceway.

  A replay of the two-wheel-drive battle in Sol Rally Barbados is on the cards, too. Brothers Roger and Barry Mayers in Chefette / Digicel / Sol / DHL / Hankook / Illusion Graphics WR Starlet and Ford Fiesta respectively will face BRC Championship leader Josh Read (Sprite / Stihl / Gliptone / Hankook / Weetabix / Chutney’s / Urban Kitchen / Cell Hut / Cockspur Toyota Starlet) and Dane Skeete (Sol / Flow / Automotive Art / Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi) in SuperModified 2.

  With only two more rounds of the BRC Driver’s and Class Championships to run after this weekend, the Summer Nights Rally could prove a turning point in the Champion Driver title chase, with extra points on offer. The top three earn 25, 22 and 20 respectively (usually 20, 17 and 15) with extra points right down to 10th place.

  Read is currently ahead in the standings, with 84 points, an advantage of seven over joint second-place Jamal Brathwaite and Neil Corbin, respectively the leaders of Modified 2 and M1, with Daryl Clarke and Roger Mayers completing the top five. That is before dropped scores are taken into account, however: both Clarke and Mayers missed the opening round of the BRC Championship in March and would move ahead of Read to the top of the standings, if the dropped score rule were applied now.

  With only a handful of points separating the leaders in many of the class battles, including Group N and SM3, there is all to play for on Saturday, so fans can expect intense competition, the second half to be enjoyed in the cool night air.

BRC Summer Nights Rally – August 27 Provisional running order:

1 Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (WRC Rubis / Sandals Barbados / KIG Ford Focus WRC06)

2 Roger Skeete/Andrew Croney (WRC Sol / Flow / Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12B)

3 Roger Mayers/Sean Corbin (SM2 Chefette / Digicel / Sol / DHL / Hankook / Illusion Graphics WR Starlet)

4 Josh Read/Mark Jordan (SM2 Sprite / Stihl / Gliptone / Hankook / Weetabix / Chutney’s / Urban Kitchen / Cell Hut / Cockspur Toyota Starlet)

5 Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (WRC Esso / Nassco / Max Meyer / MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC)

6 Dane Skeete/Eric Allamby (SM2 Sol / Flow / Automotive Art / Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi)

7 Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (GpN Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10)

8 Rhett Watson/James Hutchinson (SM3 Chefette / Power King / Gliptone /Stihl / The Unknown Entity in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3)

9 Barry Mayers/Ben Norris (SM2 Chefette / Digicel / Sol / DHL / Hankook / Illusion Graphics Ford Fiesta)

10 David Coelho – TRI/James Harris – ENG (GpN Zanzibar / Kaizan Sushi / VP Fuels / Total Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

11 Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington – ENG (SM2 Lucozade / Caribbean Powder Coating Ford Escort MkII)

12 Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (M2 Roberts Manufacturing / Amir’s Chicken / Valvoline / MQI Collision Repair Honda Civic)

14 Justin Campbell/Juan Watts (SM3 Republic Bank / Five Star Fast Track / Hilton Barbados / Dream Solutions / Campbell Racing Team BMW M3)

15 Mark Kinch/Andrew Peirce (SM3 Jolly Roger / Boom Energy Drink / Pirate’s Cove BMW M3)

16 David St Hill/Ian Grimes (SM3 Solar Wind & Energy Solutions / Liqui Moly / Bimmer Specialist BMW M3)

17 Jamal Brathwaite/Dario Hoyte (M2 Platinum Motors / Valvoline / Automotive Art / Consumers Guarantee Insurance / Sunoco Fuels / Ellesmere Quarries / JSB Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R)

18 Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (M1 Nassco / Jason Jones / Auto Solutions / Emtage Electric / BG Products & Services / Valvoline Toyota Starlet)

19 Greg Cozier/Natasha Farnum (H2 Barbados Historic Rally Carnival Ford Escort RS)

20 Jeremy Gonsalves/Chris Corbin (SM1 Sign Depot / Makita / Star Products / Valvoline / Yamaha / John Hardman Engineering Opel Corsa)

21 Edward Corbin/Johnathan Alleyne (SM1 Valvoline / Pro Sales Daihatsu Charmant)

22 Chris Ullyett/Chantal Ullyett - CAN (SM3 Ullyett's Machine Shop / Proj-Rx Inc BMW M3)

23 Wayne Archer/Derek Edwards (M1 Archers Hall Design Centre / RW Water Peugeot 206)

24 Kurt Thompson/Adam Straker (M2 Glassesco / NKM Clothing / Bio-Beauty Day Spa / Beacon Insurance / R A Mapp / Slam 101.1FM / Versatile Construction Honda Civic)

25 Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (M2 Gale’s Hatcheries / Nassco Toyota Corolla RunX)

26 Allan Kinch/Allan Maynard (C2 Jolly Roger / Boom Energy Drink / Pirate’s Cove BMW 318ti)

27 Jermin Pope/Adam Cox (C1 Good Time Snacks / Glassesco / NKM Clothing / UFO / Versatile Construction / Slam 101.1FM / Y103.3FM Honda Civic)

28 Shareef Walcott/Jan-Yves Hinds (SM1 Melwani’s / Novus Tech / Castrol / Caribbean Pleasures / Mianect / Biz Needz / Reef Motorsport Toyota Corolla)

29 John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (H2 Valvoline / Pro Sales Toyota Corolla)

30 Trevor Mapp/Allister Nurse (C1 JSB Motorsport / Chicken Pen Racing / Valvoline / Sign Station / Ellesmere Quarries Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS)

For media information only. No regulatory value.

For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com web sites: www.rallybarbados.net; www.barbadosrallyclub.com