[1]Nassco sponsors season finale for 12th straight year
Crews contesting the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2019 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship face their final points-scoring challenge of the season on Sunday (October 20), the Nassco October Safari, sponsored by the island’s Toyota dealer for the 12th consecutive year. With a route passing through six parishes and three Driver Challenges along the way, one through a St Philip swamp, it promises to be a fitting end to the campaign.
The route has been set by multiple Champions Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal. Ever-alert to the need to encourage the future generations of navigational rallyists, they recruited to their team 12-year-old Austin Barber, the son of Brett Barber, who has run the team building the Driver Challenges this year, and grandson of island motor sport stalwart Biddy Barber. Alleyne said: “Chris and I were delighted to have taken young Austin under our wing to give him some training and experience. He was an integral part of our route-setting team and it was a joy to have him along.”
The first crew will leave the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Clubhouse at Searles, Christ Church, at 7.31am, heading straight in to the first of three Driver Challenges at the nearby Searles Quarry. Route one travels from there to St Philip – the second Driver Challenge is at Paul Marshall’s swamp in that parish at 9.30am – then through St John into St George for a lunch stopover at Chefette Charles Rowe Bridge at around 12.30pm. After lunch, crews will visit St Thomas and St Joseph before passing back through St George for a second visit to the Searles Quarry for the final Driver Challenge at around 4.50pm. From there, they will head to the finish at the BCTSA Clubhouse, with refreshments and a barbeque arranged to end the day in traditional Rally Club style.
Alleyne said that he is excited about the route: “The aim was to keep the event off-road as much as possible and use navigation designed to encourage the newer generation, while providing as much entertainment as we could. The navigation used is primarily Tulip with small tastes of BRC, point-to-point and straight-line done in a way to help you learn the other systems while not getting lost. Of course, we also have some nice tricks in store!”
From a spectator viewpoint, the Driver Challenges once again promise to deliver, as Alleyne notes: “The challenge at Searles Quarry will be primarily gravel and rocky hills with a little dirt thrown in the mix; Brett and his crew are planning to use two different courses morning and afternoon. The second challenge will be a lot of fun, as there will be mud and water and possibly even the chance to get a little air as you cross the bank from one pond to another! Spectators will be able to watch from the swamp hut, which will provide some shade and put them very close to the action.”
In the Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula/Maxxis Isuzu D-Max, Alleyne and O’Neal currently lead the overall MudDogs standings; they have a two-point cushion to Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins (Lenovo/PowerBass Toyota Land Cruiser), with David Armstrong and Andrew Croney (Nassco Toyota Hilux) third, a further six points behind. In Class B, Yosuf Patel (Aquarius Faucets/ToolCraft/Goodyear Mitsubishi L200) leads the Driver points table by two points from Richard Hinckson (WindForce Tyres Samurai), while Hinckson’s co-driver Kevin-Jon Manning leads the Navigator standings.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Round – October 20 – Nassco October Safari
Class A
1 Dean Springer/Bridget Garity (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger)
3 George Mendes/Gary Mendes (G&G Sales and Service/Goodyear Daihatsu Rocky)
4 David Armstrong/Andrew Croney (Nassco Toyota Hilux)
5 Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Lenovo/PowerBass Toyota Land Cruiser)
6 Phillip McConney/Mark Western (HVAC Caribbean Land Rover Defender)
7 Michael Ward/Willie Hinds (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai)
9 Stephen Mayers/David Reece (Toyota Hilux)
10 Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Nissan Frontier)
Class B
2 John Pinto/Adam Hunte (Structural Systems GMC Sonoma)
8 Yosuf Patel/Musab Patel (Aquarius Faucets/ToolCraft/Goodyear Mitsubishi L200)
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship: Round 1 - April 13, Chefette April Safari; Round 2 - Jun 29/30, Shelbury Construction June Safari; Round 3 - Sep 14, Super-S Lubricants September Safari; Round 4 – Oct 20, Nassco October Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [2]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [3], www.muddogsbarbados.com [4]
Facebook.com/246Muddogs
