Family affair at Full Throttle

Article by Trevor Thorpe

The father and son combination of Roger and Dane Skeete made it a family affair as drivers settled the Motoring Club Barbados Inc. (MCBI) “Full Throttle” speed event from Stewarts Hill, St John, to Mapps, St Philip, over the weekend.
It was a day/night event, and the senior Skeete, affectionately called “The Sheriff” in motoring circles, and at the wheel of a well-prepared Sol/LIME/Simpson Motors/Michelin/Williams Trading Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S12 posted the fastest time of 1 minute, 50.47 seconds compared with 1 minute, 54.15 seconds returned by his son Dane, driving the Rubis/Williams Trading Inc/LIME/Michelin Peugeot 306 Maxi, who won SM11 and was second fastest overall.
On a course familiar to most of the drivers, the senior Skeete shaved more than a minute off his practice run time over the long and sometimes twisty course, a feat matched by the younger Skeete, who posted the fastest time of 1 minute, 57.40 seconds when drivers took first use of the course.
However, the senior Skeete, showed the reason he is called “The Sheriff” by consistently lowering his times over the remaining two runs; 1 min. 55. 08 on the second run and 1 min. 50.47 seconds on the third, to cap a competitive evening’s exercise watched by a moderate crowd which had taken up most of twisty areas of the course as the sun faded.
The younger Skeete, too, returned the second fastest times of 1 minute, 56.37 and 1 minute, 54.15 over the remaining two runs, a performance which kept former Barbados Rally Club (BRC) champion, Roger “The Ninja” Hill in the Nassco/Esso/Pennzoil/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC; the only WRC 2 driver, in third spot with a time of 1 minute, 56.03 seconds.
Rhett Watson in the Power King Batteries/Carter’s Pitstop/Gliptone/Stihl/Packaging Centre/The Unknown Entity/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3 kept the two-wheel drive chase alive and that for the overall title by winning SM12 and taking fourth place overall with a time of 1 minute, 56.06 seconds, while championship leader Daryl Clarke kept his efforts intact by winning M7 and finishing fifth overall with a time of 1 minute, 56.87 seconds.
Mark Thompson in the Automotive Art/Stag/Glassesco Mitsubishi Lancer picked good lines and strengthened his position at the top of P4 by grabbing sixth place with a time of 1 minute, 59.63 seconds.
Justin Campbell in the Hilton Barbados/Dream Solutions/Castrol Edge/C & C Auto Services/Acton Corporate Services/Trans-Tech BMW M3 was responsible for seventh place in the order with a time of 2 minutes, 02.48 seconds, ahead of Jamal Brathwaite, who finished second in M7, at the wheel of the Valvoline/Automotive Art/Mackeson/Ellesmere/Chicken Pen Racing/Platinum Motors Honda Civic Type-R with a time of 2 minutes, 02.98 seconds, while Stuart McChlery in the Lubriguard/Gunk Ford Escort MkI finished ninth with a time of 2 minutes, 06. 44 seconds as Sean Field in the Field Insurance Brokers/Beacon Insurance Peugeot 306 GTi6 won the Historic Class and rounded out the top ten with a time of 2 minutes, 08.73 seconds.
The next scheduled events of the current season are the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Autocross on August 10 and a special stage rally on August 30.