Hill & Gittens Win Karcher Winter Rally
Successful end to Barbados Rally Club season

Roger Hill and Graham Gittens in the Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC won the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) Karcher Winter Rally on Sunday (November 14) . . . but the crew faced some early pressure on the six-stage event, as the fast, flowing course favoured the cream of the island's two-wheel-drive campaigners.

The final event of the 2010 Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships rounded off the season in style; sponsor Karcher arranged a mid-afternoon Prizegiving with trophies and the traditional champagne-spraying at the central service area at the Colleton Plantation Yard, St John, which was followed by an after-party for competitors, family, friends and marshals.

BRC PRO Neil Barnard said: "The after-party was very well attended, as only a few competitors left early. We're grateful to Chefette for providing the food for our marshals, all of whom stayed behind to enjoy the occasion, and were in very good spirits."

Hill had been beaten on the opening stage by a determined run from Ian and Robert Warren (Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift), who broke the timing beam a quarter-second earlier; the next three drivers were covered by just one-tenth of a second, an impressive Sammy Cumberbatch (BMW M3) ahead of the Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IXs of Geoff Noel and Barry Gale.

Afterwards, Hill said: "I was rusty in the morning session but got going by SS3. I guess I could have gone quicker from the start, but there's no sense being on the limit without a real need to be." The Corolla driver won the remaining five stages, with Warren second each time, the margin at the day's end being a little over nine seconds.

Behind them, there was intense competition, with another four drivers claiming a top three stage time, of whom the most consistent was Cumberbatch, who used the long legs of his M3 to good effect, finishing third overall; he claimed his third SuperModified 11 win of the year, and earned praise from class champion-elect Mark Hamilton (Ford Escort MkII): "I was trying hard to catch him, but I failed. Well done to Sammy!"

There were only fractions in it in two very good battles: Cumberbatch was less than three-tenths ahead of fourth-placed Josh Read (Toyota Starlet), who had clocked third-best time on the final morning run; it was even closer for fourth, outgoing Overall Class Champion Noel finishing just 14/100ths ahead of Neil Armstrong, who suffered some gearbox problems with his Toyota Starlet, each having beaten the other three times.

Hamilton and Gale, the only two drivers who were still in with a chance of becoming this year's Overall Class Champion, finished seventh and eighth, Gale claiming the title, but Hamilton the satisfaction of beating his rival by one second on the final event.

The top 10 was completed by Modified 8-A winner Michael Worme (Subaru Impreza STi) and Neil Corbin (SM9 Toyota Starlet), while there were other performances of note: co-driven by Darryl Clarke, Norman Catwell pushed the Chicken Pen Racing Peugeot 205 ever further into the top 10 on the three afternoon stages – fifth on last of the day – while Avinash Chatrani, still learning his ex-Armstrong Evo VI, finish second to Worme in M8-A, having managed to stay ahead of the returning Kirk Watkins (Evo V), who had a burst rear shock absorber.

The Karcher Winter Rally (November 14) was organised by the Barbados Rally Club (BRC), which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; it was the 10th and final round of the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's and Class Championships.

Karcher Winter Rally, November 14
Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's & Class Championships, round 10
Results - overall:

1st Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8-WRC Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC), 12m 12.59s
2nd Ian Warren/Robert Warren (SM10 Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift), 12m 21.97s
3rd Sammy Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (SM11 F Taylor Insurance/Williams Industries/AutoLink BMW M3), 12m 39.32s
4th Josh Read/Mark Jordan (SM9 Automotive Art/Baram Services Toyota Starlet), 12m 39.60s
5th Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Globe Finance Inc/Mix 96.9/Sentry Insurance Brokers/Dewalt Tools/Automotive Art/Ezone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 12m 42.75s
6th Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (SM9 Pit Bull Energy Drink/Hankook/Gunk/Electric Avenue Toyota Starlet), 12m 42.89s
7th Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (SM11 Automotive Art/PowerMaster Batteries/Consolidated Finance/Valvoline Oil/Kumho Tires Ford Escort MkII), 12m 53.35s
8th Barry Gale/Cherie Edghill (P4 redlinefuels.com/Autolink/Maxi Malta/Rockstar Energy Drink/Metal Craft Works/Weetabix/Bella Beauty Supply Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), 12m 54.35s
9th Michael Worme/Jason King (M8-A Cot Media Group/Dingolay/Speedline Performance Auto/Ullyetts Machine Shop Service/Slowboy Racing Subaru Impreza STi), 13m 01.53s
10th Neil Corbin/Zach Heaselgrave (SM9 Nassco/Jason Jones/Auto Solutions Toyota Starlet), 13m 02.14s
etc
Modified 8-WRC 1st Hill/Gittens
M8-A 1st Worme/King; 2nd Avinash Chatrani/Martin Goddard (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 13m 16.18s; 3rd Kirk Watkins/Graeme Finlayson - SCO (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 13m 18.62s
Production 4 1st Noel/Yearwood; 2nd Gale/Edghill; 3rd Terry Sealy/Rommel Coppin (Premier World Cargo/Speedline Performance Auto/Caribbean Alliance Insurance Subaru Impreza WRX STi), 15m 31.69s
SuperModified 11 1st Cumberbatch/Yarde; 2nd Hamilton/Howell; 3rd Harold Morley - ENG/Geoff Goddard (Porsche GT3), 13m 04.22s; etc
SM10 1st Warren/Warren; 2nd Norman Catwell/Darryl Clarke (Peugeot 205), 13m 06.62s
SM9 1st Read/Jordan; 2nd Armstrong/Ward; 3rd Corbin/Heaselgrave; etc
M7 1st Kyle Catwell/Dario Hoyte (AM Electrical/FG Wilson/Ellesmere Quarries/Meridian Windows/Carib/D2 Suspension/Starfish Designs/Valvoline/Freekz Customz/Auto Plus Motors Mitsubishi Mirage RS), 13m 42.72s; 2nd, John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (Corbins Garage/Klark-Odio/Automotive Art Toyota Corolla), 14m 22.64s; 3rd David Brewster/Umar Dyer (SRG Engineering/Castrol Peugeot 205GTi), 15m 47.54s
M6 1st Edward Corbin/Rodney Clarke (M6 Automotive Art/Klark-Odio/Corbins Garage Daihatsu Charmant), 13m 48.68s; 2nd Danny Williams/Reuben Nelson (M6 Cutters of Barbados/Lexy's Piano Bar/Sunbury Plantation House/Lucky Horseshoe/Sitar Ford Fiesta), 14m 36.21s; 3rd Jeremy Croney/Mario Clermont (M6 Peugeot 206), 14m 38.45s; etc
P3 1st Sean T Field/Darnley Rayside (Field Insurance Brokers/Castrol/Ackee Tree/AM Realty Services/Landscapes in Harmony Peugeot 306), 14m 22.01s
P2 1st Simon Gillmore/Richard Blenman (Peugeot 106), 15m 30.63s; 2nd Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (Barbados Business Listings/Crimson Jade/RCR Tours/Bovell Auto Repair/Big P Customs Brokers/De Fx-Bar Suzuki Ignis Sport), 15m 57.19s