Trevor Manning returned to his winning ways on Sunday (October 22) when the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) staged the Texaco BRC Gravel Rally... but his victory was not enough to prevent Paul Bourne becoming the second Texaco BRC Rally Champion.

Although only 19 cars contested the year's final rally, a quality entry provided some class action for the large numbers of spectators who lined the two five-kilometre stages at Yorkshire and Guinea, each run four times. The event started and finished at the Vaucluse Raceway, where a prize-giving rounded off the day's proceedings.

Things did not start well for Manning and James Betts in the Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII. Caught out by an earlier countdown then expected, his helmet was not fully fastened on the opening stage, so was a major distraction. This, plus a rather lurid moment with the Evo up on two wheels a stage later, meant Manning trailed by four seconds at lunch.

It had not all been plain sailing, either, for Bourne and Stuart Maloney in the Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC. A brush with a bank on the third stage had nearly removed the right rear tyre from its rim, and Bourne was lucky it had not deflated.

Behind these two, a number of fascinating duels kept their combatants entertained. Roger Hill and Graham Gittens (Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/ PPG Toyota Celica GT4) were third at lunch, four seconds ahead of Barry Gale and Ryan Rodriguez (Dentyne Ice/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), Gale admitting that his conservative start might have been "a little too conservative."

A similar margin separated fifth-placed Neil Armstrong and Jason Clermont (Hankook Tyres Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) and Kirk Watkins, co-driven for the first time by Max Ferri in the Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/ Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V.

And then there was the rear-wheel-drive tussle between Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3) and Mark Hamilton/Barry Ward (Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII); after being red-flagged, Still would be given a notional time for the first stage, so it was none-too-clear how hard Hamilton would have to work to overhaul him after his own opening stage time had been slow, thanks to rain. He did not need to worry, however, as the gearbox of Still's new BMW expired shortly after lunch.

Finally, there was the duel of the front-wheel- drivers, which would also settle the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship; with a non-starter in Production 1, the merged Groups were reshuffled at the start, pitting Virgin points leader Adrian Linton and wife Jackie (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi) head to head with Ian Warren and Matthew Staffner (Subzero Services/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206). All agreed this was the best way to settle what had been a year-long fight. At lunch, Linton was ahead by four seconds, Warren having taken a while to settle back into a loose-surface driving style.

After lunch, Bourne and Manning continued their battle, both paying brief visits to the scenery, but a driveshaft failure for Bourne cost time and he finished the day eight seconds behind. Hill and Gale went at it hard as well, but it was Gale who claimed third place, just two seconds ahead. There was no change in the order of the Armstrong-Watkins battle, the former's advantage more than five seconds at the finish.

Warren pushed hard to beat Linton in the second route - and succeeded - although a major excursion onto some cane ground left the Peugeot rather the worse for wear. It was all in vain, however - despite Warren finishing seventh overall and winning the Group, Linton still claimed the Virgin title.

Hamilton finished eighth, Linton ninth, the top 10 completed by the McEnearney Quality/AP Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII of Andrew Jones and Stuart White, who had entertained the crowd at every opportunity.

Texaco BRC Gravel Rally
October 22
Provisional results
1st Trevor Manning/James Betts (M9 Simpson Motors/Shell Helix/Automotive Art/VISA/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 28m 22.323s
2nd Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (M9 Warrens Motors/Plus Subaru Impreza WRC), 28m 30.837s
3rd Barry Gale/Ryan Rodriguez (M8 Dentyne Ice/Simpson Motors/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 29m 25.983
4th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8 Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/ PPG Toyota Celica GT4), 29m 28.047s
5th Neil Armstrong/Jason Clermont (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 30m 40.078s
6th Kirk Watkins/Max Ferri (M8 Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/ Aqua Pur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 30m 45.459s
7th Ian Warren/Matthew Staffner (M6 Subzero Services/Details Car Valet Inc/McEnearney Quality Collision Repair Centre/Aqua Pur Peugeot 206), 31m 25.941s
8th Mark Hamilton/Barry Ward (MO Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII), 31m 38.902s
9th Adrian Linton/Jackie Linton (M7 Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 32m 09.921s
10th Andrew Jones/Stuart White (MO McEnearney Quality/AP Jones Pharmacy Ford Escort MkII), 33m 20.201s

Texaco BRC Rally Championship
Provisional final positions
1st Bourne, 54 points
2nd Manning, 42pts
3rd Linton, 34pts
4th Hill, 34pts
5th Gale, 33pts
6th Warren, 32pts
7th Hamilton, 28pts
8th Watkins, 23pts
9th Harold Morley (Warrens Motors/Sunbeach Communications Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 20pts
10th Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3), 18pts