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Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal won last Sunday’s (April 20) All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari, the second round of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2024 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship. It was the fourth time they have won the Audley Croney Memorial Trophy, awarded each April in honour of a long-standing member of the BRC and an enthusiastic and skillful competitor in navigational events.
Campaigning their POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny, the experienced multiple champions won by a margin of just 18 penalty points. They had faced stiff competition from the Realtors Ltd/Serenity Pest Control Jeep Wrangler of Simon Parravicino and Navigator Andrew Croney, who presented the trophy which honours his late father to the winning crew at Tuesday night’s (April 23) Prizegiving at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown.
Alleyne and O’Neil won the Audley Croney Trophy when it was first presented in 2017 and again in 2019 and last year. With son Jeremy, Croney had played a part in the closest-ever result in the MudDogs championship, when they lost the 2013 Chefette April Safari by just one point to Mark Western and Robin Hinds.
Third and winners of Class B by the same margin as the overall victory, 18 points, were one of the three mixed crews entered, George Mendes and Leslie Evanson in the G&G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara. Fourth overall and second in Class B were son and mother crew Charles and Robyn Clarke in their Mitsubishi Pajero.
In a rare result for the BRC’s navigational championship, all of the crews entered were classified as finishers after the 100-kilometre route set by Abdullah and Bilal Patel, who won enthusiastic plaudits from winner Alleyne: “I have nothing but praise for the route setters. This rally represents the stereotype for rallies that we should set for the foreseeable future as it was enjoyable, not overly complicated, and encouraged a 100 per cent finish rate with a tight scoring spread.
“It was definitely the type of event that would encourage newcomers and stimulate growth in the sport. Knowing that the scoring was going to come down to fine margins, the Driver Challenge became even more competitive which meant we had to be clean and quick at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we came out on top, and managed to finish the first route with zero penalties!”
After the Prizegiving at which trophies and vouchers were presented by All Terrain representative Rashad Parris, MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “I am pleased that everyone made it to the finish and that everyone said it was a great rally. I must say a big thank you to our sponsor All Terrain and I hope to see them on board again with a MudDogs event.”
The first crew set out on Route 1 from the Codrington Hill, St Michael premises of sponsor All Terrain Enterprises at 2.00pm. The Driver Challenge ran at 5.30pm near the Armag Vegetable Depot in St Philip, with the dinner halt following immediately. Route 2 carried the crews back at the finish All Terrain Enterprises at around 11.00pm.
All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari – April 20
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, round 2
Results
1st Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny), 50 penalties
2nd Simon Parravicino/Andrew Croney (Realtors Ltd/Serenity Pest Control Jeep Wrangler), 68pens
3rd George Mendes/Leslie Evanson (F) (G&G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara), 200pens
4th Charles Clarke/Robyn Clarke (F) (Mitsubishi Pajero), 218pens
5th Gary Mendes/Johnathan King (G&G Sales and Service Daihatsu Rocky), 240pens
6th Stephen Moore/Ben Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax), 247pens
7th Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny), 315pens
8th Rebecca Clarke (F)/Nynoka King (F) (Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 395pens
9th Bridget Garity (F)/Austin Barber (KG Enterprises/First Step Security Suzuki Samurai), 517pens
Route 1: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 0pens; 2nd Parravicino/Croney, 10pens; 3rd Mendes/King, 40pens; 4th Mendes/Evanson, 50pens; 5th Clarke/Clarke, 60pens; etc
Route 2: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 50pens; 2nd Parravicino/Croney, 58pens; 3rd Mendes/Evanson, 150pens; 4th Moore/Moore, 158pens; 5th Clarke/Clarke, 158pens; etc
Class B
1st Mendes/Evanson, 200pens; 2nd Clarke/Clarke, 218pens; 3rd Clarke/King, 395pens; 4th Garity/Barber, 517pens
Route 1: 1st Mendes/Evanson, 50pens; 2nd Clarke/Clarke, 60pens; 3rd Garity/Barber, 110pens; 4th Clarke/King, 145pens
Route 2: 1st Mendes/Evanson, 150pens; 2nd Clarke/Clarke, 158pens; 3rd Clarke/King, 250pens; 4th Garity/Barber, 407pens
Driver Challenge: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal; 2nd Parravicino/Croney; 3rd Clarke/Clarke; 4th Mendes/Evanson; 5th Mendes/King; 6th Garity/Barber; 7th Clarke/King; 8th King/ Eastmond
Remaining events: Round 3 - Jun 29/30, Chefette MudDogs June Safari; Round 4 - Sep 15, KG Enterprises MudDogs September Safari; Round 5 – Nov 9, Savvy on the Bay MudDogs November Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [2]
Web site: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [3] Facebook: /246Muddogs
