An enthusiastic crowd was on hand at the Black Bess Plantation in St Peter on Sunday (March 12) to witness the start of the 2006 rally season . . . and the return of Paul 'Surfer' Bourne to winning ways, as he claimed victory in the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) March Gravel Challenge.

Twenty-four drivers came under starter's orders - a healthy number for the opening round of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship - and more than 2,000 spectators lined the popular gravel course. Bourne's winning Subaru Impreza World Rally Car was one of three entered in the event, banishing fears in some quarters that support for the four-wheel-drive Groups is on the decline.

Although co-drivers were not required, the BRC March Gravel Challenge was nevertheless run like a rally, with times for the six 'stages' being totalled to arrive at the result; there were three runs uphill and three downhill, with a controlled drive-through before each, to allow drivers to see the course.

Bourne, whose past record at Black Bess has been patchy, set the fastest time on the first stage, but was a mere two-tenths quicker than Harold Morley's Sunbeach Communications Inc Impreza WRC S9, being seen in action for the first time in Barbados.

Despite his VP Racing/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI having been prepared hurriedly for the event, Barry Gale was third quickest, three seconds adrift, with Roger Hill (Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4), Sean Dowding, sharing Gale's car, and Geoff Noel in Morley's previous Impreza WRC completing the top six.

Despite an early error, Bourne improved his time on stage two by three seconds, while 'Doc' Morley dropped back to fifth fastest behind Gale, Hill and an impressive Kirk Watkins; after a big moment on stage one, the former Toyota Corolla driver was surprised by his pace on the second run, but enjoying his debut in the ex-Dowding Evo V, backed by Abacus Builders Inc and Planned Maintenance.

At the lunch halt after stage three, Bourne was leading by four seconds from Gale, Morley, Hill and Watkins; Dowding had slipped to 10th after the engine of the Evo cut out on stage two, while reigning Group N Champion Noel was content with sixth place, steadily dialling himself in to the greater power of the Impreza, compared with his Evo VI of the last few seasons.

The leading positions remained the same over the three afternoon stages, Bourne's eventual margin of victory over Gale being more than eight seconds; Morley finished third, another 13 seconds back, with a margin of just 11/100ths of a second over a determined 'Ninja' Hill, who had bettered Morley's time on the fifth stage. Watkins earned the Texaco Star of the Rally Award for his impressive first outing in a four-wheel-drive car, finishing fifth, with Noel sixth.

The battle for the highest-placed two-wheel-drive entry, for which there is also an award in each round of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship, lost one of its potential winners just yards into the first stage - Jonathan Still's Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/VP Racing/Crane & Equipment/Autolink BMW M3 ground to a halt with gearbox problems. While 'Stillo' merely commented "today, it just wasn't meant to be", Mark Hamilton was very disappointed, as he had been hoping to repeat last year's victory over the M3 in his Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII.

'Hammie' was not to have an easy ride, however; seventh fastest on the first stage and sixth fastest on the second, he then came under pressure from Adrian Linton, who beat him on stage three, despite the Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi having lost its power steering.

In the afternoon, the downhill runs favoured the front-wheel-drive Astra, Linton quicker than Hamilton on all three, winning the two-wheel-drive award by just 1.1 seconds. The pair finished seventh and eighth overall after a good fight.

Dowding recovered somewhat from his stage two problem to finish ninth, while Ian Warren was delighted with 10th place in his Peugeot 206GTi, which had only emerged from the Bridgetown Port on Wednesday after its trans-Atlantic journey home from England. The only other drivers to clock top 10 stage times were James Betts, who retired when his Opel Corsa lost a rear wheel on the final stage of the morning, and Brett Clarke, who was 10th on the final two stages of the day in his Suzuki Swift GTi.

The second round of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship is the BRC Carnival Warm-up Tarmac Rally, slated for Sunday, April 9.

BRC March Gravel Challenge
March 12 - Black Bess Plantation, St Peter
Texaco BRC Rally Championship, round 1

Provisional results:
1st Paul Bourne (Subaru Impreza WRC), 12m 57.666s
2nd Barry Gale (M8 VP Racing/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 13m 06.092s
3rd Harold Morley (Sunbeach Communications Inc Subaru Impreza WRC S9), 13m 19.278s
4th Roger Hill (Mobil 1/Nassco Ltd/Motormac/PPG Toyota Celica GT4), 13m 19.380s
5th Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 13m 27.628s
6th Geoff Noel (Subaru Impreza WRC), 13m 43.986s
7th Adrian Linton (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 13m 51.056s
8th Mark Hamilton (Consolidated Finance/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Escort MkII), 13m 52.171s
9th Sean Dowding (VP Racing/Nishikoi Fish Foods Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 13m 56.653s
10th Ian Warren (Peugeot 206GTi), 14m 10.314s
etc
Highest-placed two-wheel-drive: Linton
Texaco Star of the Rally: Watkins