Reigning Class B Champion Alexander Gill scored his first overall victory in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship last weekend. With new navigator Gary Mendes at his side, Gill piloted his Isuzu DMax to win the Ace H & B Hardware March Safari by a margin of just 16 penalty points.
The experienced crew of Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon) led after route one, but slipped back in the afternoon to finish second, with father and son Stephen and Ben Moore (Isuzu DMax) third, ruing an early mistake. Charles Clarke and Austin Barber (Mitsubishi Pajero iO) won route two, ending the day fifth overall and Class B winners.
Gill, who won last year’s Class B title with wife Chelsea as navigator, was in a positive mood after last night’s (Tuesday) Prizegiving at Savvy on the Bay.
“It was a fantastic rally, very well set. The marshals and everyone who helped to pull it off did an amazing job as always. Huge thanks to them all.”
“Gary is an excellent navigator; we had a trial rally last September and got along very well. Our communication in the truck is not quite as in tune as with my wife, so we made a few mistakes on Sunday. That is something for us to work on going forward, but we’ve started strong. Looking forward to a successful year with good competition from our fellow MudDogs,” Gill said.
Rain fell just before the start at Ace H & B Hardware, Warrens, St Michael at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, as crews set off on route one of roughly 45 kilometres, visiting the Vaucluse Raceway and Manor Farms, Clifton in St Thomas, before the lunchtime rest halt at Chefette, Charles Rowe Bridge, St George.
The Moores, who were Class B Champions in 2023, were in trouble just after the start, collecting 200 penalties for needing a redirect in the Warrens area, without which they would have won the day. As it was, they finished the morning route fourth behind Norris and Watkins, Gill and Mendes and the Suzuki Jimny of Christopher King and Warrick Eastmond.
The longer afternoon route of around 80 kilometres revisited the Vaucluse Raceway on the way to the northern parishes of St Joseph, St Peter and St Lucy, finishing in Speightstown. Youngsters Clarke and Barber nailed the second route, beating all the more experienced crews, route-setter Wayne Clarke describing their grasp of BRC map-work, as “quite an achievement”: the Moores were second, the consistent King and Eastmond third again and eventual winners Gill and Mendes fourth.
Youngsters Charles Clarke and Austin Barber impressed the more experienced crews with victory in route two. (Photo Credit: BRC/Image Vault)
Fifth overall, Clarke and Barber were top Class B crew on both routes. Nadcarnie Cyrus and 2024 Class B Champion Navigator Leslie Evanson (Range Rover Classic) finished second in class, George Mendes and Johnathan King (G&G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara) third and newcomers Jaden Eastmond and Trislyn St Hill (Nissan Frontier) fourth.
MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “It seems that everyone enjoyed the start of the season and is pleased to be back in action. Thanks to route-setter Wayne Clarke and to Ace H & B Hardware and Manors Farms for the prizes.”
(PR)
