Ryan Corbin and Dustin Edwards got home by a mere four points to win the recently held Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) MudDogs Chefette April Safari.
In fact, it was the narrowest margin of victory for the past five years as the pair, driving the Corbin’s Catering Services/Mahogany Ridge Toyota Hilux, held off the seasoned pair of Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke in a similar machine by just four penalty points – 1 456 to 1 460 penalties, and became the second winners of the Audley Croney Memorial Trophy.
With son Jeremy, Croney had played a part in the closest-ever result in the championship, when they lost the 2013 Chefette April Safari by just one point to Mark Western and Robin Hinds. Since then, there has only been one winning margin in single figures.
Five-time MudDogs champions Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal in the Simpson Motors/Shell Spirax/Shell Rimula, followed with 1 569 penalties, while the pair of Trevor “Electric Micey” Manning and Derek Gill in the Garbage Master Ltd Mitsubishi L200 finished fourth with 2 012.
Richard Hinkson and Kevin-Jon Manning in the Windforce Tyres Suzuki Samurai collected 2 634 penalties and won Class B, as Willie Hinds and Wayne Manning in the Black Bess Group Suzuki Samurai rounded out the top six with 2 707 and ahead of the experienced pair of Stephen Mayers and David Reece who, in a Toyota Hilux, totalled 2 764 penalties.
The Warren brothers, Ian and Robert, in a Land Rover Defender, chalked up 3 205 penalties during the day/night affair, while March Safari winners Jean-Marc Cozier and Andrew Croney in the Country View Bar/Market Hill Farms Honda Pioneer with 3 792 and Damien Johnson and Justin Lynch in the Dre Tuned Toyota Hilux, totalling 4 059 penalties, completed the top ten.
During the event, set by Michael Ward and Warrick Eastmond, with Brett Barber co-ordinating the Driver Challenges, Cozier and Croney were on top of their game in the first route, which started at Chefette’s newest location at Lancaster, St James.
And the pair, in the Country View Bar/Market Hill Farms/Westside Security Services Honda Pioneer, won both Driver Challenges to be in a strong position in the Shelbury Construction Trophy standings after two rounds.
At the prize-giving, competitors had high praise for route-setters Ward and Eastmond, as well as for Brett Barber, who co-ordinated the Driver Challenges. (TT)
