No place?for novices as Pro Category competitors made a clean sweep of the top places in last Sunday’s Nassco October Safari of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) WTI MudDogs Safari Championship.
The pro pairs accounted for the top 12 places at the end of the event which attracted 22 pairs and started in the pits at Bushy Park at 8:01 a.m. and ended at the Clay Pigeon Club, Searles, eight and a half hours later.
But it was the pair of Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal in the Tappard Toyota Hilux who led the charge, finishing the trip with a mere 213 penalties after lying fourth at lunch.
Coming in to the final round, there was all to play for between Alleyne and the strong driver/navigator pairing of Armstrong and Clarke.
With Alleyne’s vehicle side-lined, Armstrong offered a replacement, so they could enjoy their year-long rivalry to the end.
The “tricks” were in evidence from the start where some crews lapped the Bushy Park circuit more than once, as they couldn’t find their way out.
By the lunchtime halt at Chefette, Charles Rowe Bridge, St George, Armstrong and Clarke had the upper hand in their Toyota Hilux. Their advantage was slim, though, 17 penalties ahead of the mother and son combination of Biddy and Brett Barber in their Mitsubishi Pajero, with Adrian Sinkler/Adrian Murrell (Suzuki Samurai) third, another nine penalties behind.
Alleyne and Oneal were fourth, 46 penalties behind fellow title-contenders Armstrong and Clarke.
The Barbers, in the JE Security/Biddy’s Visitor Information/Auto Solutions/Lubriguard Mitsubishi Pajero ended with 254 penalties, while pre-safari favourites Chris Armstrong and Wayne “Mork” Clarke in a Toyota Hilux ended with 257 penalties for their efforts.
A determined performance from the pair of Adrian Sinckler and Andre Murrell in a Suzuki Samurai followed in fourth place with 264 penalties. Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards, in a Corbin’s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge/Crane & Equipment/SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Toyota Hilux grabbed fifth spot, with 394 penalties.
The father and son combination of Audley Croney/Jeremy Croney in the CC Motorsports Suzuki Samurai had 647 penalties.
In the Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship, Matthew Durant and Trina Griffith in a Suzuki Jimny led at the lunch halt, by more than 140 penalties from Aswad Bannister and Nyere Jones in a Toyota Hilux.
Championship contenders Dane McConney and Hadley Green, also in a Toyota Hilux and Alexander Kellman and Gary Mendes in an Isuzu D-Max were respectively fourth and fifth. McConney and Green won the afternoon route with Kellman and Mendes slipping to sixth. A third-place finish was good enough for Durant and Griffith to claim their first novice win.
“It was well set, the tricks were good, but not designed to get you lost . . . it was fun to drive and enjoyable. Getting out of Bushy Park was a challenge, but it was an excellent trick,” remarked winning novice driver Mathew Durant.
