Manning Leads Sunbeach Rallysprint Cup
Massive handicap no problem for 'Electric Micey'

Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning in the Simpson Motors Racing Team Mitsubishi Evo V is the early-season leader of Sunbeach RallySprint Cup 2003 after the opening round at the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas on Sunday (April 6).

To the cheers of his fans, the track record-holder first defeated Paul 'Surfer' Bourne in the Banks/Pirelli/Texaco/Williams Industries Subaru Impreza WRC (right) to win his group. He then faced two stiff challenges - and the biggest handicap ever seen at Vaucluse - to collect an extra two points in the KnockOut Handicap.

First, he faced Simpson Motors team-mate Sean Gill (Suzuki Ignis), with a 12-second handicap. Gill simply flew off the start pad in the little Suzuki, consistently the fastest two-wheel-drive car of the day. Despite the former Barbados Rally Club champion's best efforts, however, 'Electric Micey' caught him in the final turn and crossed the line just one second ahead.

But the best was yet to come. In the final KnockOut Handicap run of the day, Manning faced another crowd favourite, Geoffrey Ullyett . . . and there was a gasp from the crowd as the handicap was announced: a massive 25 seconds! That meant Ullyett would have completed around one-fifth of the course before Manning even left the start pad.

Ullyett was driving one of the new category Budget racers which the Barbados Auto Racing League, of which he is now chairman, has introduced at Bushy Park this year. When his side of the lighting stack flashed green, Ullyett set off, a man with a mission; it seemed an age before Manning gave chase. At the mid-point, the gap had come down to 15 seconds, and it seemed as though Ullyett might hold on, but Manning kept up the pressure, closing in on his rival on the exit from the southern hairpin (right) and crossing the line less than two seconds ahead in a great finale to a good day's sport.

The only slight disappointment was the lack of a new lap record, which had been widely expected following track improvements. Manning's best of the day - set in the final run against Ullyett - was 2mins 07.2secs, a couple of seconds adrift of the record. Afterwards, Manning said: "It was very dusty in a couple of sections of the track, so the grip wasn't there. But I still think I can go faster. Wait until next time!"

Earlier in the day, group wins had been claimed by Ullyett, the impressive Sean Corbin (Budget Datsun) on his RallySprint debut (right), Freddie Gale (Toyota Starlet Turbo), Kirk Watkins (Toyota Corolla), Gill and Manning. The day was notable for a number of new car/driver combinations seeing action at Vaucluse, including Jonathan Still in his mighty Nescafe-backed BMW M3, and Ian Weekes, who caught the attention of many in the Nissan Sunny, which he had driven to victory at Bushy Park the previous weekend.

There was only one incident, when Vaucluse newcomer Mark Thompson rolled his Budget racer Toyota exiting the Simpson Motors bridge; he was unhurt and the car went on to contest more races before the day's end in the hands of Thompson and Stuart White.
Round 2 of Sunbeach RallySprint Cup 2003 is at the Vaucluse Raceway on Sunday, May 4; qualifying is from 9.00am with head-to-head racing from 1.00pm.

Sunbeach RallySprint Cup 2003 - after round 1

1st Trevor Manning (Simpson Motors Racing Team Mitsubishi Evo V), 17 points
2nd equal, Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries Toyota Starlet) and Sean Gill (Simpson Motors/DaCosta Mannings Autocentre/Pirelli Suzuki Ignis), 16 points
4th equal, Geoffrey Ullyett (Ullyett's Machine Shop/Goodyear Tyres/Argent Lubricants/Sikkens Nissan), Sean Corbin (Datsun 120Y) and Kirk Watkins (Sunbeach Toyota Corolla), 15 points

Sunbeach RallySprint Cup 2003 - round 1 results

Group 1:
• 1st Geoffrey Ullyett (Budget Nissan);
• 2nd Stuart White (Budget Toyota);
• 3rd Balchand Geberdhan (Budget Nissan); no other finishers
Group 2:
• 1st Sean Corbin (Budget Datsun);
• 2nd Graham Manning (Budget Nissan);
• 3rd Shaun Alleyne (Toyota Starlet); no other finishers
Group 3:
• 1st Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries Toyota Starlet);
• 2nd Tristan Gibbs (Datsun 160J);
• 3rd Chris Alleyne (Toyota Starlet)
Group 4:
• 1st Kirk Watkins (Sunbeach Toyota Corolla);
• 2nd Lindsay Farmer (Nassco/Phillips Lighting/St James Travel/Mobil 1 Toyota Starlet Turbo);
• no other finishers
Group 5:
• 1st Geoffrey Ullyett (Ullyett's Machine Shop/Good year Tyres/Argent Lubricants/Sikkens Nissan);
• 2nd Greg Cozier (Carib/Valvoline Oil Ford Escort RS2000);
• 3rd John Corbin (Corbin's Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla);
• 4th Adrian Linton (AutoZone/Crane & Equipment/Williams Trading Inc Vauxhall Astra)
Group 6:
• 1st Sean Gill (Simpson Motors/DaCosta Mannings Autocentre/Pirelli Suzuki Ignis);
• 2nd Barry Gale (Sunbeach Toyota Corolla GTi);
• 3rd Jonathan Still (Nescafe/Phillips Lighting/Castrol BMW M3); 4th Graham Gittens (Nassco/Phillips Lighting/St James Travel/Mobil 1 Toyota Starlet Turbo)
Group 7:
• 1st Trevor Manning (Simpson Motors Racing Team Mitsubishi Evo V);
• 2nd Paul Bourne (Banks/Pirelli/Texaco/Williams Industries Subaru Impreza WRC);
• 3rd Brian Gill (Banks/Pirelli/Texaco/Williams Industries Subaru Impreza)
Group winners KnockOut Handicap:
Ullyett beat Corbin; Gale beat Watkins; Gill beat Ullyett; Ullyett beat Gale; Manning beat Gill; Manning beat Ullyett