Motoring Club Barbados Inc. (MCBI) champion driver Josh Read was the fastest two-wheel drive competitor at the club’s Spring Blaze 14 from Tappy Pond to Blackmans, St Joseph last weekend.
Spectators occupied every vantage point on the long and twisty nearly 7 mile course, the first road event of the new season and Read, at the wheel of the Stihl/Gliptone/ Hankook/SDRR/ Weetabix/ RoyalPurple/ EZone/Coffee Bean Toyota Starlet, did not disappoint as he posted a time of 2 minutes 18.44 seconds; won SM 10 and also finished third overall.
But the fastest man over the course was Roger ‘The Sheriff’ Skeete in the Sol/Michelin/Simpson Motors/Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre Subaru Impreza WRC S12 who signalled his intentions from the practice run when he returned a time of 2:19.82 seconds and bettered his times on every run.
He shaved more than three seconds off his practice run time on the first official run, returning a time of 2:16.69 seconds the rest of the field jostled for the lesser places. His second run time of 2:14.77 seconds appeared to strengthen his resolve as he placed the top spot out of the reach of everyone when he posted the fastest time of 2:14.08 seconds.
His closest rival was arch-rival Roger ‘The Ninja’ Hill in the Esso/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Corolla WRC who filled second spot with a time of 2:17.63 seconds. In fact, only Ian ‘WeeWee’ Warren in the Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift, on the second official run, provided Hill with any challenges as he returned a time of 2:20.23 seconds, compared with 2:21.82 returned by Hill.
But the day’s action was shortened when Warren lost control of his Simpson Motors/Automotive Art Suzuki Swift later in the day’s action and crashed out of the event extensively damaging the car.
Paramedics at the scene treated Warren and later took him to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was treated and discharged.
Warren, however, was still good enough to be the second fastest among two-wheel drivers in SM 10 with a time of 2:18.88 seconds and fourth overall ahead of another two wheel drive competitor, Dane Skeete in the Rubis/Williams Trading Inc. Peugeot 306 Maxi whose time was 2:21.02 seconds won SM 11, a feat which helped him to finish fifth overall.
Another fancied driver, Rhett Watson driving the Oreo/Chips Ahoy/Armstrong Agencies/Power King Batteries/Unknown Entity/Hankook Tyres/SpringBoard Marketing Platforms/In support of Little Pink Gift BMW M3, who won SM12, rounded out the top six with a time of 2:21.75 seconds.
Good performances also came from Andrew Mallalieu in the Terra Caribbean Subaru Impreza N10. He won the title Production 4 with a time of 2:23.38 seconds, while Daryl Clarke in the Amir’s Fresh Chicken/Ellco/Mum’s Pasta/P & N Hardware/Robert’s Manufacturing Honda Civic made off with the honours at stake for M7 with a time of 2:25.71 and Mark Kinch in a Toyota Starlet was responsible for the honours at stake in SM9 with a time of 2:32.75 seconds.
Stuart White in the Lucky Locks BMW 325 proved to be too much for the opposition in Historic Class when he posted a time of 2:33.19 seconds, while the M6 Class was won by Brendon Mckenzie in the MCK Motorsport/Turbo Plus/Promotech Computers/Concepts/Do-it-best Quality Paints/Colour XL/Blakey’s/ Hasselgren Engineering Inc Toyota Corolla, who posted a time of 2:35.64 seconds.
Eric Allamby in the Shelbury Construction/Blakey’s/This & That Bajan/Scrap Man Recycling/Castrol/SDRR Hydraulics/Redline Racing Fuels/MC Buccaneer/Goodyear Tyres Toyota Corolla carried off the Clubman Class with a time of 2:40.84.
