[1]Successful start to Chefette MudDogs Championship
Despite being absent from competition since the 2019 season, navigational rally veterans Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal gave their new POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny a maiden victory when the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2022 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship got under way on Sunday (March 13). After the coronavirus pandemic struck in early 2020, that year’s calendar was reduced to three events, with none at all last year, so competitors were thankful to return off-road.
The experienced pairing incurred a total of 272 penalties in the BRC MudDogs March Safari, beating Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins in their Jeep Rubicon by a margin of 70, with brothers Gary and George Mendes (G&G Sales and Service Daihatsu Rocky) climbing from sixth to finish third, a further 76 adrift, after winning the second route. Adam Hunte and Samantha Gibbs finished sixth overall in their Doverwood Projects Mitsubishi L200 to claim a debut Class B win as a team.
Alleyne, who had been working on his new Suzuki during the pandemic lock-downs, after selling his very successful Isuzu D-Max, had been excited for the return of the championship ahead of the event and praised the route-setters. Helped by Jason Downey and Yosuf Patel, the first-time route-setters were Shaquille Jemmott and Shanica Toppin, who finished second in Class B in the 2020 Championship after claiming their maiden class win on the Shelbury Construction Summer Safari.
He said: “It really was a well-set route and a great way to kick off after such a long break. I commended the route setters at the Prizegiving for their (in my opinion) correct use of a BRC navigational trick that was contrary to what we had been doing for years! When you look at it with an open mind, it became obvious. It's always encouraging to see new people setting events as it is invaluable experience that you don’t always get when competing.
“For us there were a few technical glitches with equipment during the day but the vehicle worked very well and we really enjoyed ourselves. The competition was very tight and any small error would have seen significant change in the overall results. Ben Norris said to me that he got a bit exuberant at a control and his wheel clipped some concrete that gave him 50 penalties, which goes to show that it could really be anybody's game and certainly there is an element of luck in the equation, too.”
Alleyne and O’Neal won the first route, which started from Six Roads, St Philip, at 8.01am on Sunday and circled around the south-eastern corner of the island. Norris and Watkins were second, just 30 penalties behind, with Stephen Mayers and David Reece (Toyota Hilux) third, another 40 behind. After lying sixth at the stop-over at the Armag Vegetable Depot the Mendes brothers nailed the second route, which finished at Colleton Plantation, with just 46 penalties incurred, with Alleyne/O’Neal second (160pens) and Norris/Watkins third (200pens).
In Class B, Hunte and Gibbs won both routes – an impressive fifth overall on the second, just 20 penalties clear of class opposition Joel Smith and Simon Parravicino in a Suzuki Samurai, both crews ahead of more experienced ‘old hands’.
Following the Prizegiving on Tuesday (March 15) at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church, MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “It was a good event. Everyone was excited to get back out after no events last year and we are looking forward to the next one.”
BRC MudDogs March Safari – March 13
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship - round 1
1st Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis Suzuki Jimny), 272 penalties
2nd Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon), 342pens
3rd Gary Mendes/George Mendes (G&G Sales and Service Daihatsu Rocky), 418pens
4th Stephen Mayers/David Reece (Toyota Hilux), 442pens
5th David Armstrong/Andrew Croney (Toyota Hilux), 660pens
6th Adam Hunte/Samantha Gibbs (Doverwood Projects Mitsubishi L200), 834pens
7th Chris King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny), 1172pens
8th Willie Hinds/Wayne Manning (Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai), 1347pens
9th Dean Springer/Bridget Garity (Eastern Veterinary Clinic Ford Ranger), 1482pens
10th Kerry Renee/Winston Drakes (Suzuki Samurai), 1684pens
etc
Route 1: 1st Alleyne/O’Neal, 112pens; 2nd Norris/Watkins, 142pens; 3rd Mayers/Reece, 182pens; 4th Armstrong/Croney, 210pens; 5th Hinds/Manning, 362pens; 6th Mendes/Mendes, 372pens; etc
Route 2: 1st Mendes/Mendes, 46pens; 2nd Alleyne/O’Neal, 160pens; 3rd Norris/Watkins, 200pens; 4th Mayers/Reece, 260pens; 5th Hunte/Gibbs, 310pens; 6th Joel Smith/Simon Parravicino (Suzuki Samurai), 330pens; etc
Class B
1st Hunte/Gibbs, 834pens
2nd Renee/Drakes, 1684pens
3rd Smith/Parravicino, 2110pens
4th Kristina Pinto/Austin Barber (First Step Security/First Step Maintenance Suzuki Jimny), 2290pens
Route 1: 1st Hunte/Gibbs, 524pens; 2nd Renee/Drakes, 1214pens; 3rd Pinto/Barber, 1438pens; 4th Smith/Parravicino, 1780pens
Route 2: 1st Hunte/Gibbs, 310pens; 2nd Smith/Parravicino, 330pens; 3rd Renee/Drakes, 470pens; 4th Pinto/Barber, 852pens
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship: Round 1 – Mar 13, BRC MudDogs March Safari; Round 2 - Apr 15, BRC MudDogs April Safari; Round 3 - Jun 25/26, The 65th Anniversary June Safari; Round 4 - Sep 16, BRC MudDogs September Safari; Round 5 – Nov 19, BRC MudDogs November Safari
For media information only. No regulatory value.
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com [3]
Web sites: www.barbadosrallyclub.com [4], www.muddogsbarbados.com [5]
