Currently the only female MudDogs driver, Rebecca Clarke and navigator Austin Barber are second in the Class B standings
A scenic six-hour route passing through nine of the island’s parishes is ahead of crews in Sunday’s (September 14) Savvy on the Bay MudDogs September Safari. Using some trails which have rarely, if ever, been used before, along with some novel methods of navigation, completing the 110 kilometres in the time allowed will present competitors with a tough challenge.Route-setters for the fourth round of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship are Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins, who currently lie second respectively in the Driver and Navigator standings after three top three finishes in their Jeep Rubicon. Unusually, there is only one route, which will start at 9.00am in Windsor, St George, and finish around 3.00pm in Top Rock, Christ Church, passing through all but the northernmost parishes of St Lucy and St Peter.
Norris explains more: “The route will capture some particularly scenic spots and we have also spent time clearing some trails which have not been used for some time, together with some spots which we think have never been used. Hopefully this will lead to competitors enjoying something a bit different; at the same time though, they have a lot of ground to cover in a relatively short period so they will need to stay on top of their navigation and keep moving!”
While there is no actual lunch or dinner stop, which is the norm for MudDogs events, there will still be one of the popular Driver Challenges, where spectators can enjoy the skill of these off-road competitors. It is scheduled for around 11.30am close to the Three Crosses in Bath, St John.
As well as the ability of the driver to control his or her vehicle in tricky conditions, the MudDogs Championship requires skill in navigation, the discipline on which the Rally Club was founded nearly 70 years ago. For this Sunday’s events, the more traditional methods of navigation, including basic map reading, have been supplemented to include a novel challenge.
Norris again: “We are always big fans of the traditional BRC map-work, but we have set some of the event to one of the Barbados ‘tourist maps’ for a bit of fun and we are also using the Barbados Building ID system to create a Point-to-Point navigational section of the rally.”
Introduced by the Lands and Surveys Department last year, the BBID assigns a unique six-character code to every building on the island, making it easy to locate structures using modern mapping tools. It provides precise and reliable directions, benefitting emergency services, delivery and transport companies.
Reigning MudDogs Champions Simon Parravicino and Andrew Croney will be missing for a second consecutive event, after engine problems with their Jeep Wrangler, making their title defence now near-impossible, even with the drop score rule in place.
Multiple Champions Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal (Suzuki Jimny Sport) currently lead the standings from this weekend’s route-setters Norris and Watkins, with Alexander and Chelsea Gill (Isuzu DMax) third, also the leaders of Class B.
The results of Sunday’s event will be declared at the Prizegiving which starts at 7.00pm next Tuesday evening (September 16) at Savvy on the Bay.
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship – remaining rounds: Round 4 – Sep 14, Savvy on the Bay MudDogs September Safari; Round 5 – Nov 2, KG Enterprises MudDogs November Safari