[1]Former Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Safari Champions Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards returned to Winners’ Row last Sunday (September 17), when they won the MudDogs September Safari in the Mahogany Ridge/Corbin's Catering Services Toyota Hilux. The 2010 Champions had lagged behind the opposition in the morning, but fought back in the afternoon route to win with a total of 451 penalties.
The partnership’s last victory came in the March Safari of their title-winning season, when Edwards was Champion Driver and Corbin Champion Navigator; they also finished second in the April and October qualifiers that year, before swapping roles at the start of 2011. During the next four seasons, they four times finished twice – including in the BRC’s longest-standing event, The June Safari, in 2011 & ‘13 – with a further three third places to their credit, before taking a sabbatical. After returning to claim seventh in this year’s March Safari, third-place finishes in both April and June have enabled them to maintain a title challenge.
Sunday’s margin of victory was just 36 penalties, as 2012 MudDogs Champions Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux) came home second, having finished third in each of the two routes; Corbin and Edwards had finished second to Armstrong and Clarke in the 2012 Championship. Third on Sunday, a further 195 penalties adrift, were Jean-Marc Cozier and Andrew Croney in the Honda Pioneer.
Joint points-leaders before Sunday’s fourth round of the Chefette MudDogs Championship, Cozier and Croney, who won the first route, have now edged slightly ahead of Leslie Alleyne and Chris O'Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), who finished fifth. Fourth on Sunday were Michael Ward and Warrick Eastmond in the Regional Fire & Security/Quality Tyre/Off Road Solutions Suzuki Jimny.
Dean Springer and Bridget Garity made their debut as route-setters for Sunday’s event, and MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder reported that all went well: “It was a very good rally and the winners congratulated the route-setters on doing a good job, bearing in mind it was their first attempt. They said that they had a great time and lots of fun due to the rain.”
Both routes crossed the island’s south-eastern parishes; the morning route ran from Chefette Six Roads, St Philip, to the lunch halt at Chefette Charles Rowe Bridge, St George. In the afternoon, crews headed towards the finish by the dirt bike track south of Foursquare, St Philip, where the Driver Challenge was won by Damien Johnson and Justin Lynch in the Dre Tuned Suzuki Samurai.
For the first time this season, there were multiple crews in the Novice Class, which was won by Zeko Springer and Andre Murrell in the Luma Trading Suzuki Vitara, who finished ninth overall.
MudDogs September Safari, September 17 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship – round 4 1
st Ryan Corbin/Dustin Edwards (Mahogany Ridge/Corbin's Catering Services Toyota Hilux), 451 penalties 2nd Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 487pens 3rd Jean-Marc Cozier/Andrew Croney (Honda Pioneer), 682pens 4th Michael Ward/Warrick Eastmond (Regional Fire & Security/Quality Tyre/Off Road Solutions Suzuki Jimny), 692pens 5th Leslie Alleyne/Chris O'Neal (Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max), 716pens 6th Damien Johnson/Justin Lynch (Dre Tuned Suzuki Samurai), 717pens 7th Trevor Manning/Derek Gill (Garbage Master Toyota Hilux), 1247pens 8th Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai), 1266pens 9th Zeko Springer/Andre Murrell (Luma Trading Suzuki Vitara), 1604pens 10th Kerry Renee/Jason Downey (Suzuki Samurai), 1974pens etc Route 1 – 1st Cozier/Croney, 152pens; 2nd Alleyne/O’Neal, 158pens; 3rd Armstrong/Clarke, 198pens; 4th Johnson/Lynch, 258pens; 5th Corbin/Edwards, 326pens; etc Route 2 – 1st Corbin/Edwards, 125pens; 2nd Ward/Eastmond, 276pens; 3rd Armstrong/Clarke, 289pens; 4th T Manning/Gill, 387pens; 5th Johnson/Lynch, 459pens; etc
Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship – round 4
1st Springer/Murrell, 1604pens – 9th overall 2nd Yousuf Patel/Bilal Patel (Aquarius Faucets/Toolcraft Mitsubishi L200), 2402pens – 12th o/a 3rd Dave Lowe/Vaughdeen Harper (Echrisna Solutions/Off Road Junkies Toyota Hilux), 3550pens – 13th o/a Route 1 – 1st Springer/Murrell, 1060pens; 2nd Patel/Patel, 1216pens; 3rd Lowe/Harper, 1238pens Route 2 – 1st Springer/Murrell, 544pens; 2nd Patel/Patel, 1186pens; 3rd Lowe/Harper, 2312pens
