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The father and son crew of Stephen and Ben Moore will start at number one for the All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari on Saturday (April 20). The reigning Chefette MudDogs Safari Class B Champions finished third in the 2024 season’s curtain-raiser last month, so will be looking to raise their game campaigning the Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax.
Nine crews are listed on the running order published after last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, with some less familiar names stepping up to face the established members of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) navigational rallying fraternity.
Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal, who last year achieved their eighth Champion Driver and seventh Champion Navigator crowns respectively, began a strong title defence by winning last month’s BRC March Memorial Rally in their Pod Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny. The Moores had pulled out an early lead in the first of three routes, hoping to repeat their overall win in the previous year’s March Safari, but came unstuck in route two; Alleyne and O’Neal topped the scorecards in routes two and three to claim the win.
With the Moores now automatically promoted out of Class B after their success last year, George Mendes and Leslie Evanson (G&G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara) won the class in March and finished seventh overall, so currently lead the standings. There are four crews in Class B this weekend, Evanson one of three female navigators, while Bridget Garity takes her turn behind the wheel.
Garity was the highest-placed Female Navigator in last year’s Championship sharing with navigational rallying veteran Biddy Barber, but is swapping seats to drive the KG Enterprises/First Step Security Suzuki Samurai, with Biddy’s grandson Austin in charge of navigation. The entry also includes siblings Charles and Rebecca Clarke, whose father Wayne was one of the most successful off-road Navigators of his day; both are driving, Charles with mother Robyn as Navigator, while Rebecca makes up an all-girl crew with first-timer Nynoka King, whose husband Johnathan navigates for Gary Mendes.
MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “Although we have a small entry, it is so encouraging to see new names on the list and to have the youngsters come out to experience the navigational rallying discipline on which the Rally Club was built all those years ago. We have had quite a lot of rain recently, which makes for a good event, so I hope they all have a good time.”
Route-setters for the season’s second Safari are Abdullah and Bilal Patel. The first crew will set out on Route 1 from the Codrington Hill, St Michael premises of sponsor All Terrain Enterprises at 2.00pm. There will be a Driver Challenge at 5.30pm near the Armag Vegetable Depot in St Philip, with the dinner halt following immediately. Route 2 will bring the total distance for the event to approximately 100 kilometres and finish back at All Terrain Enterprises at around 11.00pm.
The results of the All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari will be declared at the Prizegiving which starts at 7.00pm next Tuesday evening (April 23) at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Round 2 – April 20 – All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari
Class A
1 Stephen Moore/Ben Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax)
4 Gary Mendes/Johnathan King (G&G Sales and Service Daihatsu Rocky)
5 Simon Parravicino/Andrew Croney (Realtors Ltd/Serenity Pest Control Jeep Wrangler)
7 Christopher King/Warrick Eastmond (Suzuki Jimny)
8 Leslie Alleyne/Chris O’Neal (POD Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny)
Class B
2 Charles Clarke/Robyn Clarke (F) (Mitsubishi Pajero)
3 Bridget Garity (F)/Austin Barber (KG Enterprises/First Step Security Suzuki Samurai)
6 Rebecca Clarke (F)/Nynoka King (F) (Mitsubishi Pajero iO)
9 George Mendes/Leslie Evanson (F) (G&G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara)
Remaining events: Round 2 - Apr 20, All Terrain/Rock Oil MudDogs April Safari; 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
