Bourne Extends Championship Advantage
Day of attrition for many crews
Victory in Sunday's (April 22) Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Carnival Warm-Up
Tarmac has given Paul Bourne a healthy lead in this year's Texaco BRC Rally
Championship; with co-driver Stuart Maloney in the Subaru Impreza WRC,
Bourne was fastest on all but one of the nine stages run, winning by a
margin of 25 seconds . . . and now leads the Championship standings by 12
points.
At the end of the day, a relaxed Bourne said: "There were no problems; we
just put gas in the car, checked the fluid levels . . . and that was it. We
even did the whole rally, apart from Bushy Park, on one set of tyres that
still look brand new."
Second were Jamaicans John Powell and Michael March in the
Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota
Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC, Powell's performance remarkable in light of an
injury to his hand suffered some weeks ago; he literally drove through the
pain barrier, second all day to Bourne until Bushy Park, where his fastest
time on the SuperSpecial was a major achievement . . . and a real treat for
the hundreds of spectators who turned out.
Jonathan Still was delighted to end the day third, his first 'podium
finish' since the start of the Texaco Championship in 2005; with co-driver
Heath Hazell, 'Stillo' claimed third-fastest time on five of the nine stages
in the Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipment BMW M3 and
only slipped out of the top five at Bushy Park, where his commitment to
crowd enjoyment overcame his desire for speed. They were also the
highest-placed two-wheel-drive entry.
Roger Hill launched the new livery of his Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota
Celica GT4 with a determined drive to fourth place, despite some fuel issues
during the morning; he was second-fastest at Bushy Park and never out of the
top six all day.
St Elmo Cumberbatch and son Owen claimed three top six stage times - the
best fourth at Stewarts Hill - to finish fifth in the Michelin/F
Taylor/Carib Supply BMW E36, while the top six was completed by Nick Gill
and Sue Rogers in the Castrol Syntec/Hennessy/Vita
Malt/Lysol/Listerine/McEnearney Quality Inc/Mazda Genuine Parts Mazda 3;
their best stage finish was third, at Stewarts Hill, and they were also
highest-placed of the six crews including a female competitor.
There was a lot of mechanical attrition - Kirk Watkins/Rhett Watson were
the first casualties, after just two stages, with a smashed rear diff in the
Abacus Builders Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. Among other key retirements
were Sean Gill/Michael Cummins, fourth overall in the Simpson Motors/Shell
V-Power/VISA/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift when engine problems forced them
out on stage four; a couple of top six times had promoted Cliff Roett/Bryan
Hurley to 10th by the end of same stage, but the engine of the Thorogood
Shoes/Nassco/Michelin/Lucky Horseshoe/ Sunpower/Castrol/Roetts Garage Toyota
Starlet expired one stage later . . . and that same stage claimed Neil
Armstrong/Barry Ward, fifth when the engine of the Shell Helix/Hankook
Tires/Soldier Seal Gunk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI gave out.
After a slow start, Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood got to grips with the
new Ezone/Globe Finance/Café Blue/Sunbeach/Essco/Automotive Art Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo IX to post fourth-fastest time at Bushy Park, while Ian
Warren/Matthew Staffner posted two top six times late afternoon in the MQI
Collision Repair Centre/Subzero Services Ltd/Details Car Valet Inc Peugeot
206, although he was running with a heavy penalty after arriving late for a
stage following a driveshaft change.
The next two rounds of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship are the two days
of Rally Barbados 2007, on May 26/27.
Carnival Warm-Up Tarmac Rally, April 22
Texaco BRC Rally Championship - round 2
Provisional results
1st Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (Subaru Impreza WRC), 17m 49.26s
2nd John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (Intercontinental
Shipping/Trinidad Mooring and Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla
WRC), 18m 14.11s
3rd Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Crane
& Equipment BMW M3), 18m 40.42s
4th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac Toyota Celica GT4),
18m 49.56s
5th St Elmo Cumberbatch/Owen Cumberbatch (Michelin/F Taylor/Carib Supply BMW
E36), 19m 06.03s
6th Nicholas Gill/Sue Rogers (Castrol Syntec/Hennessy/Vita
Malt/Lysol/Listerine/McEnearney Quality Inc/Mazda Genuine Parts Mazda 3),
19m 22.79s
7th Geoffrey Noel/Kriegg Yearwood (Ezone/Globe Finance/Café
Blue/Sunbeach/Essco/Automotive Art Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 19m 25.05s
8th Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc
Ford Escort MkII), 19m 41.85s
9th Sammy Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (Williams Equipment/F Taylor/Michelin
BMW M3), 19m 43.73s
10th Adrian Linton/Jackie Linton (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage
Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi),
20m 12.41s
etc
Texaco BRC Rally Championship
Provisional positions after round 2
1st Paul Bourne (Subaru Impreza WRC), 30 points
2nd Jonathan Still (BMW M3), 18pts
3rd Mark Hamilton (Ford Escort MkII), 14pts
4th = Trevor Manning (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) and John Powell (Toyota
Corolla WRC), 12pts
6th Kirk Watkins (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 10pts
etc
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