[1]Daryl Clarke is the new leader of the annual chase to claim the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) coveted Champion Driver title, after claiming his fifth consecutive Modified 2 class win in the BRC Summer Nights Rally last month (August 29). Victory in the Roberts Manufacturing/Amir’s Chicken/Valvoline/MQI Collision Repair Honda Civic came on a day when other front-runners hit trouble.
Significantly, Josh Read (Sprite/Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/Weetabix/Chutney’s/Urban Kitchen/Cell Hut/Cockspur Toyota Starlet), who was leading SuperModified 2 and the overall title chase, retired early, while Jamal Brathwaite plunged into a well in the Platinum Motors Collision Repair/Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance/Sunoco Fuels/JSB Motorsport/Ellesmere Quarries Honda Civic Type-R, which helped Clarke assume the M2 class lead.
With six of eight rounds run - the final event is the double-header BRC Winter Sprint on Sunday, October 2 – Clarke has totalled 100 points, one ahead of M1 points leader Neil Corbin (Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Emtage Electric/BG Products & Services/Valvoline Toyota Starlet). Dane Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi) and Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Pro Sales Daihatsu Charmant), respectively the leaders of SuperModified 2 and SM1, are tied on 93 points in third place, with Wayne Archer (M1 Archers Hall Design Centre/RW Water Peugeot 206) and Historic 2 leader John Corbin (Valvoline/Pro Sales Toyota Corolla) tied for fifth, each with 87 points.
Crucially, once the dropped scores rule is brought in to play, Clarke has an advantage, having missed the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc (MCBI) Spring Blaze sprint which opened the season in March; while he is not the only driver in the top 10 to have a zero score to drop, and therefore retains his 100 points, he potentially stands to reap the most rewards. Applying the rule now would move Edward Corbin, another to have missed the March event, up to second place with his same 93 points, while Neil Corbin, who has to drop 13, becomes equal third on 86 points with Group N leader Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), another with a zero to drop, following his retirement from Day 2 of Sol Rally Barbados.
Despite failing to finish in August, Read still leads the 2wd Championship, although what had previously been a 14-point advantage over Roger Mayers – he was another to fall foul of technical issues at the last event – has shrunk to a six-point lead over Skeete, with Neil Corbin another six behind in third place. In the 4wd standings, Mallalieu has taken control, leading by 81 points to 67, after Roger Hill retired early in the August event.
BRC Class Championship Positions after round 6:
WRC: 1st Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/MotorMac/Pennzoil Toyota Corolla WRC), 56 points; 2nd Roger Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), 47pts Group A: 1st Avinash Chatrani (Lenovo/PowerBass/Gunk/iShop/Electric Avenue/Copocabana/Unlabeled Society Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 26pts
GpN: 1st Andrew Mallalieu (Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10), 86pts; 2nd Mark Thompson (Rock Hard Cement/Stag Beer/Automotive Art/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty Day Spa/Valvoline/Slam 101.1FM/Versatile Construction/Glassesco Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 65pts; 3rd David Coelho – TRI (Zanzibar/Kaizan Sushi/VP Fuels/Total Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 60pts SuperModified 3: 1st Rhett Watson (Chefette/Carter’s Pitstop/Stihl/Gliptone/GUNK/The Unknown Entity in support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3), 74pts; 2nd Mark Kinch (Jolly Roger/Boom Energy Drink/Pirate’s Cove/Cran Plus Water BMW M3), 72pts; 1st David St Hill (Solar Wind & Energy Solutions/Liqui Moly/Bimmer Specialist BMW M3), 58pts; etc
SM2: 1st Dane Skeete (Sol/Flow/Automotive Art/Williams Trading Inc Peugeot 306 Maxi), 93pts; 2nd Josh Read (Sprite/Stihl/Gliptone/Hankook/Weetabix/Chutney’s/Urban Kitchen/Cell Hut/Cockspur Toyota Starlet), 84pts; 3rd Andrew Jones (Lucozade/Caribbean Powder Coating Ford Escort MkII), 80pts; etc
SM1: 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Pro Sales/KlarkOdio/Hilti Daihatsu Charmant), 93pts; 2nd Shareef Walcott (Melwani’s/Novus Tech/Castrol/Caribbean Pleasures/Mianect Toyota Corolla), 67pts; 3rd Jeremy Gonsalves (Sign Depot/Makita/Star Products/Valvoline/Yamaha/John Hardman Engineering Opel Corsa), 30pts; etc Modified 2: 1st Daryl Clarke (Roberts Manufacturing/Amir’s Chicken/Valvoline/MQI Collision Repair Honda Civic), 100pts; 2nd Jamal Brathwaite (Platinum Motors Collision Repair/Valvoline/Automotive Art/Consumers Guarantee Insurance/JSB Motorsport/Ellesmere Quarries Honda Civic Type-R), 77pts; 3rd Paul Horton - TCI (Java Island/H Racing/Sky Motorsports Ford Escort MkI), 47pts; etc
M1: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions/Emtage Electric/BG Products & Services/Valvoline Toyota Starlet), 99pts; 2nd Wayne Archer (Archers Hall Design Centre/RW Water Peugeot 206), 87pts Historic 2: 1st John Corbin (Automotive Art/Pro Sales/KlarkOdio/Hilti Toyota Corolla), 87pts Clubman 2: 1st Allan Kinch (Jolly Roger/Boom Energy Drink/Pirate’s Cove/Cran Plus Water BMW 318ti), 65pts; 2nd Paul Inniss (Durex Barbados/Caribbean Villa Chefs/Hugh Auto Body/Drive-A-Matic Car Rentals/Sun General Insurance/JJ Racing Team/East Point Grill/Terasu Restaurant/The Chicken Shop Inc/Rallymaxx Honda Civic), 58pts
C1: 1st Trevor Mapp (JSB Motorsport/A S Autostop/Chicken Pen Racing/Valvoline Mitsubishi Colt Mivec RS), 74pts; 2nd Pierre Clarke (SDRR Hydraulics & Industrial Spares Honda Civic), 63pts; 3rd Jermin Pope (Glassesco/Good time Snacks/NKM/UFO/Niccolls & Edghill Construction/Bio Beauty Day Spa/Tile Express/Slam 101.1FM Honda Civic), 53pts; etc
GpB: 1st Calvin Briggs (Lucas Oil/Massy Realty Ford Sierra), 11pts
BRC 4wd Championship: 1st Mallalieu, 81pts; 2nd Hill, 67pts; 3rd R Skeete, 55pts; 4th M Thompson, 52pts; 5th Coelho, 50pts; 6th Chatrani, 10pts BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Read, 84pts; 2nd D Skeete, 78pts; 3rd N Corbin, 72pts; 3rd Roger Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Digicel/Sol/DHL/Hankook/Illusion Graphics WR Starlet), 70pts; 5th Jones, 59pts; 6th Clarke, 52pts; 7th Brathwaite, 41pts; equal 8th Barry Mayers (SM2 Chefette/Digicel/Sol/DHL/Hankook/Illusion Graphics Ford Fiesta) & Watson, 37pts; 10th Archer, 36pts; etc
