Three tied for BRC Championship ahead of BCIC RB25

Three drivers share the lead in the chase for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2025 Champion Driver crown ahead of the season’s two marquee events, First Citizens King of the Hill (May 25) and BCIC Rally Barbados (May 30-June 1). Each with a 100 per cent records of class wins in the first three rounds, Kevin Armstrong, Stuart Maloney and Rhett Watson are tied on 50 points.
  Maloney leads the FIA R5 class and the 4wd standings in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and Watson SuperModified 2 and the 2wd points in his BMW M3; both are former Champion Drivers, with multiple class titles to their credit, but Armstrong is a new name at the top of the table this year. His three wins have come in a BMW 325i in Clubman 3.
  The overall title is based on points scored by drivers against their peers in each class, with entries always higher for these events, which count for one-third of the available points for the year. As island rallying enjoys a period of growth, 47 drivers have scored in the BRC Driver’s & Class Championships, 10 more have so far failed to do so, while the record 74 local crews entered for BCIC RB25 include 27 yet to compete this year.
  In terms of numbers, Maloney and Watson face the strongest competition, with more than 20 in their respective classes – around one-third of the total BCIC RB25 entry – but there will be close battles right down through the field. Armstrong, for instance, will face a strong challenge in his all-BMW class from former BimmaCup champion Ryan Wood, who has moved up from Clubman 2, and 2025 newcomer Kamal Quimby.
  Equal fourth in the overall standings are SM1 leader Edward Corbin (Daihatsu Charmant) and reigning Modified 4 champion Kurt Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), now starting his second season in 4wd competition. Corbin’s class includes a host of local Toyota Starlets, likely to be led by Darren Lashley, while Thompson takes on the identical cars of his brothers Mark (a former champion) and Neil (returning for the first time since 2007) and Kyle Catwell’s Audi TT-R.
  With 16 same-spec BimmaCup cars, C2 is certain to provide a close fight. The top two after three rounds, reigning class champion Chris Hoad and David-Anthony Balgobin, are separated by just one point, lying sixth and seventh in the overall standings, with third-placed Stewart Gordon of Antigua only five more behind. Experienced hands such as Greg Cozier, Spencer Hutchinson and Allan Kinch, plus the event’s youngest starter Callum Kirton, will all add spice to competition.
  Balgobin is tied for seventh overall with Jamaica’s Kyle Gregg (Ford Fiesta Rally2), who is second in the FIA R5 class, and Neil Corbin (Toyota GT86 CS-R3) who leads Modified 2, with the top 10 completed by Nigel Reece (Suzuki Swift), second in SM2. C1 class leader Shawn Brathwaite (Toyota Corolla) is 14th overall, while the Open Class (formerly Group B, and not eligible for overall honours) is led by Sean Merritt (Toyota Starlet).
  There have been no points-scorers so far this year in either Modified 3 or M1 this year, but that will soon change. In M3, Wayne Archer, Ahmed Esuf, Stuart Garcia and former top 2wd finisher Jonathan Still will go head-to-head in BMWs, while M1 includes Carlos Edwards who has stepped down from SM1 in his rapid Citroen C2R2 MAX and Natya Soodeen, who has swapped her BimmaCup for a Peugeot 208 R2.
  There are overseas entries in all but three classes, but the visitors do not deprive registered drivers of their local championship points. That said, bragging rights are important, too, so competition will be hot.

BRC Class Championship
Positions after round 3:
WRC: 1st Dane Skeete (Automotive Art/C O Williams Sand & Lime/Sol Subaru Impreza WRC S12), 22 points
FIA R5: 1st Stuart Maloney (Imagine/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), 50pts; 2nd Kyle Gregg – JAM (York Investments/BD Gregg/Elevated Home Decor Ford Fiesta Rally2), 43pts; 3rd Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (FIA R5 KIG/Ford/Sandals Ford Fiesta Rally2), 37pts; etc
Modified 4: 1st Kurt Thompson (Glassesco/Bio Beauty Day Spa/NKM Clothing/Realtors Ltd Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 46pts; 2nd Kyle Catwell (KFC/BCIC/Chicken Pen Racing/Thomas Tours/Ellesmere Quarries Audi TT-R), 22pts
SuperModified 2: 1st Rhett Watson (Chefette/Frosteez/Cargo BGI/Gliptone/Sthil/Hankook/Motul Racing Oils/Bajan Pure Water BMW M3), 50pts; 2nd Nigel Reece (Subzero Services Ltd/Hankook/Royal Purple Toyota Starlet), 41pts; 3rd Andrew Jones (Gale's Agro Products/GoOn/Weetabix/Tunnocks/Hankook/Southern Surf Beach Apartments Ford Escort MkII), 39pts; etc
SM1: 1st Edward Corbin (Valvoline/Pro-Sales/Bearded Hogs BBQ/Hilti/Bajan Pure Daihatsu Charmant), 46pts; 2nd Darren Lashley (Prestigious Wheels/DKK Industrial Supplies/Starboy Performance Toyota Starlet), 39pts
M2: 1st Neil Corbin (Nassco/Stamina Energy/ColourXL/Auto Solutions/Pressout Performance Toyota GT86 CS-R3), 43pts; 2nd Sean Corbin (Super S/Carters Pitstop/FOXIN/Bajan Pure Water/First Step Security/Westlake/GuavaTech/Gunk/Fabblast Barbados/M&M Tuning BMW 318ti Compact), 37pts
Clubman 3: 1st Kevin Armstrong (DS Vroom/Armstrong Auto BMW 325), 50pts; 2nd Kamal Quimby (Fusionz Auto World/Wilkinson Equipment & Rentals/Mally's Trucking/M&M Engineering Services/Soldierman Trucking & Wrecker Services Trucking BMW), 37pts; equal 3rd Karl Bovell (KB Equipment Rentals BMW 325) & Robert Ryan Wood (Carters Pitstop/Blue Waters/Caribbean LED Lighting/Hilti/Westlake/Sitemasters/C & A Autobody Repairs/Perkins & Son BimmaCup Too), 24pts
C2: 1st Chris Hoad (Subway/Dasani Water/Shell Lubricants/ColourXL/GuavaTech BimmaCup), 44pts; 2nd David-Anthony Balgobin (DKK Industrial Supplies/Da-Shem-Rae BimmaCup), 43pts; 3rd Stewart Gordon - ANT (BimmaCup), 38pts; etc
C1: 1st Shawn Brathwaite (Executive Air Ltd/Homeomart Barbados Toyota Corolla), 37pts; 2nd Kyle Gill (Expressionism/Executive Auto Centre/Adhoc Industries/Chicken Stop Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone), 20pts; 3rd Callum Kirton (Toyota Starlet), 17pts
Open Class: 1st Sean Merritt (Seven Creative Media Inc/MB Auto City Toyota Starlet Turbo), 22pts; 2nd Shareef Walcott (Movements Plus/Autobody Plus/Lil Griffs Hardware & Building Supplies/Everything Branded/Fusionz Boutique/Reef Motorsport Toyota Corolla), 20pts; 3rd Chadane Holder (COB/Seven Creative Media/Carnique Transport Toyota Starlet), 17pts

BRC 4wd Championship: 1st S Maloney, 46pts; 2nd Gregg – JAM, 39pts; 3rd Panton – JAM, 35pts; 4th Rob Swann – ENG (FIA R5 GO Car Rental/Cygnet Plant/R A Swann Ltd Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), 31pts; equal 5th Mark Maloney (FIA R5 Imagine/M-Jet/Bushy Park Barbados/Sign Station Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) & Skeete, 30pts; etc
BRC 2wd Championship: 1st Watson, 50pts; 2nd Reece, 41pts; 3rd Jones, 39pts; 4th N Corbin, 33pts; 5th E Corbin, 29pts; 6th S Corbin, 21pts; etc

Rally Barbados is a tarmac rally, with around 20 special stages run on the island’s intricate network of public roads, under road closure orders granted by the Ministry of Transport & Works; the previous Sunday’s King of the Hill ‘shakedown’, run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, the results of which are used to seed the running order for the main event.

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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