Barbados Rally Club Confirms 2009 Calendar
Monthly newsletter for members revived

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) has confirmed its competition calendar for 2009, following the first meeting of its Committee of Management for the New Year. The CoM has also announced a revised championship structure for rally and sprint events, after considering feedback from Members following changes in 2008.

The Club will organise three primary championships in 2009:
+ the Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship - as in 2008 (when it was titled the Virgin Atlantic BRC RallySport Championship), this will be based on overall results in the 12 qualifying rounds
+ the Virgin Atlantic BRC Class Championship - this will be based on Class results in the 12 qualifying rounds. In addition to individual Class Champions, there will be an Overall Class Champion
+ the BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship - the structure will remain unchanged for 2009; there will again be Safari Champion Navigator, Safari Champion Driver and MudFest Champion Driver titles

Announcing the revised structure for the BRC Driver's and Class championships, Club Chairman Mark Hamilton says: "Following feedback from a wide range of Members about the changes introduced at the start of 2008, the CoM has debated the issues at length and decided to simplify the Championship structure for 2009.

"Because the Barbados Rally Club is, at its core, a collection of club-level competitors, we feel strongly that we should continue to cater for the amateur nature of the sport at the Class level, while rewarding those who put in that extra effort to earn consistent results at the 'overall' level."

There will also a revised points system: in rallies, the points will be awarded as follows: 1st 20, 2nd 16, 3rd 13, 4th 11, 5th 10, 6th 9, 7th 8, 8th 7, 9th 6, 10th 5, and then 2 for every other overall finisher; in sprints, the scale will be 1st 15, 2nd 12, 3rd 10, 4th 9, 5th 8, 6th 7, 7th 6, 8th 5, 9th 4, 10th 3, and then 1 for every other overall finisher.

The same scale will apply in the Class Championship, except where a class has fewer than three entries - where there are only two entries, the points available will be those for second and third places, where there is only one entry, the points available will be those for third place. There will therefore continue to be no merging of classes. In both the Driver's and Class championships, competitors who score in every round must drop their lowest score; in the case of a tie, the competitor with the highest Overall or Class result respectively will prevail.

The Club has also announced that its Annual General Meeting will be held a 6.45pm on Thursday, February 19, at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association Club House, Searles, Christ Church. Hamilton notes: "We all enjoyed an amazing 2008 and are looking forward to an equally action-packed 2009."

In addition, the Committee of Management has revived The Horn; first published in the 1960s, the Club newsletter has been re- launched to improve communication with members, who received the first edition for 2009 this week. It will be available on a monthly basis via e-mail in PDF format.

Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's Championship
Virgin Atlantic BRC Class Championship
Qualifying rounds:
Mar 8 - MCBI Gravel Sprint (shared for points with BRC)
Mar 22 - BRC Spring Gravel Sprint
May 3 - Automotive Art Shakedown Stages
May 23 - Shell V-Power King of the Hill
May 29-31 - Sol Rally Barbados 2009 (scores as two Championship rounds)
Jul 25 - BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Sprint
Sep 12 - MCBI Tarmac Rally (shared for points with BRC)
Oct 4 - MCBI Tarmac Sprint Double Header (shared for points with BRC,
also scores as two Championship rounds)
Oct 18 - BRC Autumn Gravel Stages
Oct 31/Nov 1 - BRC Winter Rally

BRC Mud Dogs Safari Championship
Qualifying rounds:
Mar 7 - Mud Dogs March Safari
Apr 5 - Mud Dogs January MudFest
May 1 - Mud Dogs May Day MudFest
Jun 27/28 - Mud Dogs Shelbury June Safari
Aug 23 - Mud Dogs August MudFest
Sep 13 - Mud Dogs September Safari
Nov 8 - Mud Dogs November Safari

Autocross events:
Jan 18 - BRC Autocross 1
Feb 15 - BRC Autocross 2
Jun 14 - BRC Autocross 3
Aug 16 - BRC Autocross 4
Dec 6 - BRC Autocross 5