JUDGEMENT DAY FOR MUD DOGS

With 60 points on offer for victory, and a spread of 30 covering the leading four combinations, anything could happen when the Nassco November Safari brings the curtain down on the Barbados Rally Club’s 2008 Mud Dogs Safari Championship on Sunday, November 9.
Champion Driver of 2006 Leslie Alleyne and wife Anna-Lee lead the respective Driver and Navigator standings in their Bridgestone Tires/AutoZone Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO; victories in the Toyo Tires March Safari and the Regional Fire & Security September Safari sandwich second place in the Shelbury Construction June Safari to give them each a total of 178 points.
Going in to the September event, the Alleynes shared the lead with Barry Gale and Neil Barnard – Champion Driver and Navigator in 2005 – in their Mitsubishi L200; they had finished second in March, then claimed their first June Safari win, but fourth place in September dropped them to six points behind the leaders.
Another 24 points behind, two crews are tied in third place - Sean Dowding and Kirk Watkins, like Gale and Barnard experienced rally drivers, have finished sixth, fifth and eight so far to amass 148 points in the Axis Construction Toyota Hilux, while Darrin White and Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish Nissan Frontier) finished fourth in March and 11th in September, collecting points equal to their better result as reward for setting the June Safari.
Dominic Brooker and Stephen Dear have slipped to fifth in the driver and navigator tables, although they remain the highest-placed novice crew in the SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc/Next Generation Electrical Inc/Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux; after finishing seventh in March, then an impressive third in June, their September result of 16th cost them two places.
Third place in September, added to 22nd in March and seventh in June, has brought Chris Armstrong and four-time ‘June’ winner Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai) into the Championship top 10 for the first time this season.
Route-setter for the Nassco November Safari is Phillip McConney, with assistance from Derek Gill – experienced competitors, they have each won the BRC’s June Safari twice, McConney as a driver in 2004 (with Kenny Croney) and in last year’s 50th Anniversary event (with Tyrone Moseley), while Gill has won from both sides of the vehicle, as navigator to Peter Bradshaw in 2002, then driver with Kevyn Yearwood three years later. A suitably challenging Safari to end the season is anticipated.
Entries for the final round of the Mud Dogs Safari Championship are now open at McEnearney Quality Inc, Wildey; the Briefing Meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday (November 4) at 7.00pm at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association’s Clubhouse at Searles, Christ Church.
The event will start from Six Roads, St Philip, at 8.00am on Sunday, November 21, and finish at Kendal Plantion, St John, where a driver challenge will conclude the competition at around 4.00pm; the lunchtime stopover will also be at Kendal.

BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship
Positions after round three
Navigators
1st Anna-Lee Alleyne (Bridgestone Tires/AutoZone Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 178 points
2nd Neil Barnard (Mitsubishi L200), 172pts
3rd equal Kirk Watkins (Axis Construction Toyota Hilux) & Robert Warren (Flyin’ Fish Nissan Frontier), 148pts
5th Stephen Dear (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc/Next Generation Electrical Inc/Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux), 134pts
6th Wayne Clarke (Suzuki Samurai), 122pts
7th equal Derek Edwards (Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux) & Willie Hinds (Niccolls & Edghill Construction Ltd Jeep Wrangler), 114pts
9th Lisa Roett (Land Rover Defender), 108pts
10th Robin Hinds (Yardman/Kar Parts Store Land Rover Defender & Suzuki Samurai), 106pts
etc

Drivers
1st Leslie Alleyne (Bridgestone Tires/AutoZone Inc Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 178 points
2nd Barry Gale (Mitsubishi L200), 172pts
3rd equal Sean Dowding (Axis Construction Toyota Hilux) & Darrin White (Flyin’ Fish Nissan Frontier), 148pts
5th Dominic Brooker (SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc/Next Generation Electrical Inc/Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux), 134pts
6th Edson Arthur (Rezults Auto Shop Toyota Hilux), 126pts
7th Chris Armstrong (Suzuki Samurai), 122pts
8th Paul Marshall (Mitsubishi L200), 118pts
9th Damian Brooker (Joe Brooker’s Building Ltd Toyota Hilux), 114pts
10th John Sealy (Land Rover Defender), 108pts
etc

For further information:
e-mail robin@bradfax.com