LINTON WINS SECOND DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Champion of 2002 Adrian Linton claimed his second title on Sunday (October 22), when he clinched the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s Championship in a last-round showdown with season-long rival Ian Warren in the Texaco BRC Gravel Rally; Linton is also the Modified 7 Champion.
When the entry list was published, Linton and Warren looked set to battle for points in separate Groups; with one non-starter, however, the Groups were changed, pitting Linton and wife Jackie (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi) head-to-head with Warren and Matthew Staffner (Subzero Services/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206).
Linton said: “This is not looking so good. I’ve been sitting going thru’ the permutations, but at least the outcome will now come down to how each of us drives, rather than being affected by the fortunes of others.” Warren agreed: “This is definitely the best way to settle the championship, rather than us being in different Groups where other drivers could have an effect.”
Ahead by five points before the start, Linton began well, collecting the bonus point as route winner on the first four stages. And that put some extra pressure on Warren, who remarked: “It took me the first two stages to remember all the lessons I learned in England about loose-surface rallying, but I’ve settled down now and am looking forward to the rest.”
Positions were reversed in the afternoon, Warren winning the second route and the Group, despite a major excursion onto some cane ground on the final stage. He was still two points behind, however, so had to settle for second overall and the Modified 6 Championship, which he last won in 2002.
Neil Barnard (Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA Suzuki Ignis Sport) won his Group on Sunday for the fifth time this season to finish three points behind Warren, third overall and retain his Production 2 title; it brings his run of Group wins to four in consecutive years, having won Modified 5 in his former Opel Corsa in 2003-04.
Despite finishing second to Trevor Manning (Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) on Sunday, Paul Bourne (Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC) has not only won the Texaco BRC Rally Championship, but also claims his third Modified 9 title in four years, wresting the crown back from 2005 winner Manning.
Last year’s Overall Champion Roger Hill maintained his impressive record in the Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4 with a fourth straight Modified 8 Championship; he finishes the year fifth overall, while Group rival Barry Gale (Dentyne Ice/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), whose victory on Sunday brought him to within three points of Hill, is sixth. Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), is third in M8 and 10th overall.
The closest battle among the Groups has been in Modified Open which, with 20 points-scorers, was comfortably the best-subscribed of the season. Although Mark Hamilton (Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII) won the Group on Sunday, his year-end total was one point behind that of Jonathan Still, who therefore clocks up a hat-trick of Championship wins in the Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3.
Brett Clarke has won the Modified 5 Championship for the second year in a row in the Shell Helix/Automotive Art/Plus Suzuki Swift GTi, while Danny Williams (TransTech/All Connect/Sunbury Plantation/KDs Beach Bar & Grill Peugeot 106) has also successfully defended his 2005 Production 1 title.
Neil Armstrong is Production 4 Champion at the wheel of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI in which Geoff Noel won the title last year, while Tristan Gibbs is Production 3 Champion in the Rent-a-Tool/Scorpion Liners/Boyss Ltd/Algae X/Corrosion Block/Surfside Gym Toyota Starlet Turbo.
The BRC’s Annual Prizegiving will take place on Friday, November 17.

Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver’s Championship
Final positions - overall
1st Adrian Linton (M7 Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 106 points
2nd Ian Warren (M6 Subzero Services/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206), 104pts
3rd Neil Barnard (P2 Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA Suzuki Ignis Sport), 101pts
4th Paul Bourne (M9 Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC), 92pts
5th Roger Hill (M8 Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4), 88pts
6th Barry Gale (M8 Dentyne Ice/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 85pts
7th Jonathan Still (MO Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3), 83pts
8th Mark Hamilton (MO Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII), 82pts
9th Brett Clarke (M5 Shell Helix/Automotive Art/Plus Suzuki Swift GTi), 79pts
10th Kirk Watkins (M8 Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 70pts
etc

Modified 9
1st Bourne, 92pts; 2nd Trevor Manning (Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 51pts; 3rd Harold Morley (Warrens Motors/Sunbeach Communications Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 36pts; etc
Modified 8
1st Hill, 88pts; 2nd Gale, 85pts; 3rd, Watkins 70pts; etc
Production 4
1st Neil Armstrong (Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 17pts; 2nd Ryan Hutchinson (Auto Airtronic Services/Simple Green Toyota Celica GT4), 15pts
Modified Open
1st Still, 83pts; 2nd Hamilton, 82pts; 3rd Josh Read (Automotive Art/Baram Services/Forever Flowers/D Blades Trophies Ltd Toyota Starlet), 67pts; etc
Modified 7
1st Linton, 106pts; 2nd Freddie Gale (Gale’s Hatcheries/NASSCO/Nitrous Formula Octane Booster/Nishikoi Fish Foods Toyota Corolla RunX), 56pts; 3rd Rhett Watson (The Unknown Entity/New Media Advertising/Makita Power Tools/NF Nitrous Booster/Kumho Tyres Ford Escort MkI), 41pts; etc
Modified 6
1st Warren, 104pts; 2nd Shareef Walcott (Corbin’s Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla), 49pts; 3rd Daryl Clarke (Mum’s Pasta Products Mitsubishi Colt Mivec), 24pts
Modified 5
1st Clarke, 79pts; 2nd Ryan Wood (Sitemasters Toyota Starlet), 29pts; 3rd Jeremy Gonsalves (Kendal Sporting/QuikStart Auto/Champion Auto Wrecker/Yamaha/Star Products/Makita/Yusuf Auto Clinic/All Terrain Plus Suzuki Forsa GTi), 27pts; etc
Production 3
1st Tristan Gibbs (Rent-a-Tool/Scorpion Liners/Boyss Ltd/Algae X/Corrosion Block/Surfside Gym Toyota Starlet Turbo), 27pts; 2nd Ryan Corbin (Caribtrans/Suntraders Peugeot 106), 25pts; 3rd Derek Roach (MINI Cooper), 12pts
Production 2
1st Barnard, 101pts; 2nd Andre Snobel (P2 Toyota Starlet), 8pts
Production 1
1st Danny Williams (TransTech/All Connect/Sunbury Plantation/KDs Beach Bar & Grill Peugeot 106), 43pts; 2nd Carlos Humphrey (Castrol/Bridgestone/Business Interiors International/Nomis Ltd/Regional Fire & Safety/Promotech Inc/Secure RM Toyota Starlet), 27pts; 3rd Gary Mendes (Slam Condoms/Dupont Paints/G & G Sales & Service Inc/Friendly Signs/ACT Sandblasting/Muffler Centre/Fast Lane Model Car Racing Toyota Starlet), 25pts; etc

For further information, robin@bradfax.com

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