Hutchinson and Linton tied for top spot
The Red Bull
International RallySprint at the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas on
Saturday (May 19) will provide island motor sport fans with their first
chance to see the visitors to the seventh annual Barbados Rally
Carnival in action.
European competitors, popular crowd-pleasers Kevin Procter and
Martin Stockdale among them, have been arriving at Grantley Adams
International Airport since Saturday and their competition cars are due
to emerge from the Bridgetown Port early this week.
Qualifying is slated for 10.00am, with the Group heats scheduled
for a 3.00pm start; the sun will have set long before the Group Winners
Handicap KnockOut begins. A prize-giving will complete the day's
activities.
Saturday's event is the third and final round of the 2007 Vaucluse
Raceway RallySprint Cup, which is poised for a thrilling climax, with a
spread of just five points across the top four drivers.
Jointly leading the way after two rounds are Adrian Linton and
Spencer Hutchinson. Driving his regular Ravensden/Crane &
Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke
Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi, Linton has been one of the stars of the
St Thomas venue this season, with a near-perfect record - apart from
finishing second to Roger Marshall (Photofinish/One Hour Photo Hyundai
Accent) in qualifying in the opening round, he has headed the Modified
7 Group throughout, and gained a couple of useful bonus points for wins
in the Handicap KnockOut in round two.
Hutchinson, who races a Peugeot 306 S16, does have a perfect
record in the Production Group, but with only one bonus point for a
Handicap win, is tied on 47 with Linton; it has been a good
performance, though, as former kart racer Hutchinson returned to
competition this year after some years away. He carries competition
number 200, as the Vaucluse Raceway clocked up its double-century of
competitors when Hutchinson first raced there in March.
Just two points adrift of these two is Kirk Watkins (Abacus
Builders Inc/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), who has the distinction
of being the only competitor not to have missed a single event at
Vaucluse since the venue opened in August 2000. He in turn is just
three points ahead of Jonathan Still in the Hitachi Power Tools/Philips
Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3.
The Red Bull International RallySprint (May 19) is the third and
final round of the Vaucluse Raceway RallySprint Cup and a round of the
BRC Driver's Championship. It is organised by the Vaucluse Raceway
Motor Sport Club and sponsored by Red Bull.
Since its creation, the Barbados Rally Carnival has attracted
nearly 160 overseas competitors, followed by more than 4,000 supporters
over the years, who annually inject around Bds $2 million into the
island's economy, much of it in valuable foreign exchange.
2007 Vaucluse Raceway RallySprint Cup
Positions after two rounds
1st equal Spencer Hutchinson (Peugeot 306 S16) & Adrian Linton
(Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden
Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi), 47 points
3rd Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc/Hankook Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V), 45pts
4th Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3), 42pts
5th Andrew Skeete (Hitachi Power Tools/Rent-a-quip/Quality Tyre Mitsubishi Lancer), 37pts
6th William Branch (Automotive Art/ImitationTrees.com Toyota Corolla), 36pts
7th equal Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries/NASSCO/Castrol/VP
Racing/Barbados Industries Toyota Corolla RunX) & Greg Cozier
(Citgo/Hyundai Commercial & Industrial Ford Escort RS2000), 32pts
9th Sean Gill (First Caribbean VISA/Automotive Art/Shell V-Power Suzuki Swift), 24pts
10th equal John Corbin (Corbin's Garage/Klark-Odio Toyota Corolla)
& Trevor Manning (Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 20pts
etc
Key dates for Barbados Rally Carnival 2007
Friday, May 18 - scrutineering for all competitors
- Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Wildey
Saturday, May 19 - Red Bull International RallySprint
- Vaucluse Raceway, St Thomas
Thursday, May 24 - Rally Barbados 2007 shakedown
Saturday, May 26 - Rally Barbados 2007, day 1
Sunday, May 27 - Rally Barbados 2007, day 2
Monday, May 28 - Rally Barbados 2007 prize-giving
- The Boatyard
For further information:
e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.barbadosrallycarnival.com
