FIRST-TIME PROS WIN ARMAG MARCH SAFARI
Brooker and Dear take early-season lead
Just 12 months on from finishing seventh overall and highest-placed novices in the opening round of the 2008 Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Mud Dogs Safari Championship, Dominic Brooker and Stephen Dear beat all-comers on Saturday (March 7) to win the ARMAG March Safari outright, taking an early lead in the 2009 standings.
Although both were apprehensive about their elevation to the Pro Class in advance of the event, their weekend result proved them worthy of the promotion, especially as Brooker had other things on his mind, having become a father the night before! Not only did they beat 2005 Champion Navigator and Driver Neil Barnard and Barry Gale into second place, but they also finished ahead of a number of other very experienced crews.
Brooker and Dear (SDRR Hydraulics/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux) were at the top of their game from the start at Windward Cricket Club in St Philip; by the late afternoon stop-over, having incurred just 100 penalties, they were joint leaders with Chris Armstrong and Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), who can count no fewer than six June Safari titles between them.
Paul and Tiffany Marshall were third at this point in the family Mitsubishi L200, with 140 penalties, with Sean Dowding and Kirk Watkins (Axis Inc Isuzu Dmax) fourth on 174, ahead of a close battle for fifth between Sean Mottley/Kreigg Yearwood (Suzuki Vitara) and Darrin White/Robert Warren (Flyin' Fish Nissan Frontier), who were separated by just five penalties.
Gale and Barnard placed eighth at the stop-over. Barnard remarked afterwards: "I cannot remember, and I checked with my father and he can't either, ever being handed two route cards at the start of a navigational event. . . that would mean more than 50 checkpoints in the first route! It was tough!"
And that was just how route-setter Leslie Alleyne had meant it to be: "The rally turned out just the way that I intended, and I think it has provided a good footing for the 2009 championship. With 90 controls over the seven hours of route the competitors had little time to nap, and the results certainly reflected a determined and calculated effort on the part of all who did well."
And it was Gale and Barnard who came out on top of the second route, collecting just 115 penalties, but Brooker and Dear had kept up the pressure, to finish second with 128; although the former Champions could not overcome their earlier deficit - they were 161 penalties behind Brooker and Dear at the stop-over - they nevertheless leap-frogged everyone else to place second by the finish at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Club House at Searles, Christ Church.
White and Warren finished third in route two, climbing to third overall, but it was a close-run thing; their overall total was 569 penalties, just 17 ahead of Armstrong and Clarke, who were in turn merely six ahead of Dowding and Watkins.
Highest-placed novices throughout the day were Kerry Renee and Winston Drakes who were 11th overall at the stop-over in their Suzuki Samurai, but slipped a couple of places in the evenint to finish 13th.
In summary, Alleyne noted: "It was a very jovial prize giving, and all reports indicated that the competitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They were tricked several times during the course of the event . . . but always due to their own oversights. We got a lot of praise from Chris Armstrong, who said a few words on behalf of ARMAG Quarries, and I would just like to offer our thanks for their support."
The Prizegiving for the ARMAG March Safari was held at the BCTSA Club House on Tuesday (March 10), and the 2009 BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship will continue with the Castrol MudFest, the first to be run at the new Mud Dogs Park in Pot House, St John, on Sunday, April 5.
ARMAG March Safari - March 7
Mud Dogs BRC Safari Championship, round 1
Results - Overall
1st Dominic Brooker/Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulics/Next Generation Electrical/Joe Brooker's Building Toyota Hilux), 228 penalties
2nd Barry Gale/Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200), 377pens
3rd Darrin White/Robert Warren (Flyin' Fish Nissan Frontier), 569pens
4th Chris Armstrong/Wayne Clarke (Toyota Hilux), 586pens
5th Sean Dowding/Kirk Watkins (Axis Inc Isuzu Dmax), 592pens
6th Paul Marshall/Tiffany Marshall (Mitsubishi L200), 804pens
7th Dustin Edwards/Ryan Corbin (Crane & Equipment/SDRR Toyota Hilux), 875pens
8th Audley Croney/Geoffrey Goddard (JCB Excavators Suzuki Samurai), 1009pens
9th Nicolas Lorde/Warrick Eastmond (Nicolls & Edghill Construction Suzuki Vitara), 1447pens
10th Kirk King/Tricia King (K & N Equipment Suzuki Samurai), 1691pens
etc
Novice class
1st Kerry Renee/Winston Drakes (Suzuki Samurai), 3033pens - 13th o/a
2nd Adrian Sinckler/Andre Murrell (Suzuki Samurai), 3546pens - 15th o/a
3rd Dave Gibson/Lisa Gordon (Suzuki Samurai), 4342pens - 18th o/a
etc
Route 1
1st Brooker/Dear & Armstrong/Clarke, 100pens
3rd Marshall/Marshall, 140pens
etc
Route 2
1st Gale/Barnard, 115pens
2nd Brooker/Dear, 128pens
3rd White/Warren, 361pens
etc
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
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