Healthy entry for BRC Spring Gravel Sprint
More than 30 competitors are entered for the second round of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Virgin Atlantic Driver's and Class Championships tomorrow (March 22), among them Trevor Manning, whose first outing in the ex-Roger Skeete Ford Escort WRC is eagerly awaited by island fans.
The BRC Spring Gravel Sprint, which will be run on the popular stage at Searles, Christ Church, is slated for a 9.00am start; competitors, who will be based in the Searles Factory Yard, will tackle four official timed runs.
Manning has had little chance to test his recently-acquired car, so is lacking seat time compared with the opposition, led by Paul Bourne (Banks/LIME Subaru Impreza WRC S9) and Roger Hill (Esso/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Corolla WRC), currently first and second in the Driver's Championship.
Despite that, Manning is decidedly upbeat, saying of the Escort: "It's lovely. Although I know I need more seat time, I'm enjoying it so far. The handling is fairly neutral, and its very responsive power-wise. We still have a lot to learn - you can spend days setting up these cars - but I'm very happy with where we're starting."
Manning's familiar S469 index plate is already on the Escort, the first time it has been seen on a car bearing Ford's famous blue oval since the mid-1990s, while he is also reunited with his former crew chief Sean Lashley. Manning added: "The car will probably still be plain white this weekend, as we have a few small areas to tidy up, and there was no real point doing that before a loose event. I feel really relaxed about it, and I'm just looking forward to getting started."
As well as Bourne and Hill, Manning's opponents in Modified 8-WRC will be Sean Gill, driving the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII which has been Manning's mount for the past five years, and Barry Gale, appearing for the first time this year in his Evo VI.
Others making their seasonal debut include Kirk Watkins (Evo V), Andrew Jones (Ford Escort MkII), the Toyota Starlets of Neil Corbin and Josh Read, while Ian Warren is expected to make his first appearance in the ex-Sean Gill Suzuki Swift.
Penalties lifted, points revised
The 10-second penalties applied to Sean Gill and Sean Cox for late arrival at the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc's recent Double-Header at Guinea have been lifted; Gill is therefore reinstated in fourth place, resulting in a shuffling of the Top 10 in the BRC Driver's Championship. Positions in the BRC Class Championship remain unchanged.
BRC Spring Gravel Sprint - March 22
Provisional running order
1 Paul Bourne (M8-WRC Banks/LIME Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
2 Roger Hill (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Corolla WRC)
3 Trevor Manning (M8-WRC Ford Escort WRC)
4 Barry Gale (M8-WRC Autolink/Bella Beauty Supply/ProPac Dog Food Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
5 Neil Armstrong (M8-A Hankook Tyres/Gunk/Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
6 Sean Gill (M8-WRC Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)
7 Kirk Watkins (M8-A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V)
8 Logan Watson (SM10 The Unknown Quantity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbs Workz Ford Escort MkI)
9 Dane Skeete (M6 Peugeot 106)
10 James Betts (SM9 All Terrain Plus/Makita/Champion Auto/Kendal Sporting/Star Products Opel Corsa)
11 Geoffrey Noel (P4 Globe Finance/Dwalt Tools/Essco/Sunbeach/
12 Dean Serrao (P4 Subaru Impreza N12)
13 Harold Morley (P4 Subaru Impreza N14)
14 Michael Worme (P4 Cot Media Group/Speedline Performance Auto/Dingolay/Details Car Valet/Mobil 1 Subaru Impreza STi)
15 Nicholas Gill (SM11 Mazda 3)
16 Andrew Jones (SM11 Ford Escort MkII)
17 Jonathan Still (SM11 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments BMW M3)
18 Ian Warren (SM10 Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power Suzuki Swift)
19 Duane Johnson (SM10 Mitsubishi Lancer)
20 Neil Corbin (SM9 Toyota Starlet)
21 Josh Read (SM9 Toyota Starlet)
22 Adrian Linton (M7 Ravensden/Morris Straker Contruction/Garbage Gobbler/Crane & Equipment Vauxhall Astra GSi)
23 Andrew Skeete (M7 Mitsubishi Lancer)
24 Gary Mendes (M7 Lunatics Inc/G & G Sales & Service/L G Trading/Barbados Muffler Centre/Appleby Filling Station/ACT Sand Blasting/Techno Toy Tuning/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Starlet)
25 Freddie Gale (M7 Gale's Hatcheries/Nassco/VP Racing Toyota Corolla RunX)
26 Edward Corbin (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage/JVM Signage Daihatsu Charmant)
27 Danny Williams (M6 Ford Fiesta)
28 Dave Sealy (M5 Lunatics Inc/G & G Sales & Service/L G Trading/Barbados Muffler Centre/Appleby Filling Station/ACT Sand Blasting/Techno Toy Tuning/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Starlet)
29 Sean Cox (P1 Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift)
30 Jeremy Gonsalves (SM9 All Terrain Plus/Makita/Champion Auto/Kendal Sporting/Star Products Opel Corsa)
31 Conor Roach (M6 Peugeot 106)
32 Rhett Watson (SM10 The Unknown Quantity/MQI Collision Repair Centre/Toshiba/Office Solutions & Supplies/Corbs Workz Ford Escort MkI)
Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship - after Round 1 (revised)
1st Paul Bourne, 15 points
2nd Roger Hill, 12pts
3rd Neil Armstrong, 10pts
4th Sean Gill, 9pts
5th Geoffrey Noel, 8pts
6th Harold Morley, 7pts
7th Dean Serrao, 6pts
8th Nicholas Gill, 5pts
9th Jonathan Still, 4pts
10th Ian Warren, 3pts
etc
For further media information, robin@bradfax.com
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