Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins won Sunday’s Coastal Lubricants November Safari
Ben Norris and Kirk Watkins won Sunday’s (November 2) Coastal Lubricants November Safari to secure second place in the provisional final standings for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) 2025 Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship. Although absent on Sunday, Leslie Alleyne is set to celebrate a ninth Champion Driver title and Chris O’Neal his eighth as Navigator.
With brother Gary switching to navigator from marshal at short notice, George Mendes finished second on Sunday, while Rebecca Clarke achieved her best result to date, third overall, claiming her first Class B win and a second for teenage navigator Austin Barber. Fourth place was sufficient for Clarke’s sister Chelsea and husband Alexander Gill to become Class B Champions-elect.
Route-setters for the fifth and final Safari of the season were Chris King and Warrick Eastmond. Post-event, King said: “We must thank the marshals for their great work on Sunday. No matter how well we prepare for the event and plan the route, success on the day all comes down to the volunteers who come out to marshal. They were brilliant.”
The Mendes brothers led the crews away from the start at Hayman’s Factory, St Peter, at around 9.00am in their Suzuki Vitara for the first route in the north and east of the island, but it was Norris and Watkins who claimed an early lead. In their Jeep Rubicon, they incurred just 18 penalties on route one, with Clarke and Barber second (Mitsubishi Pajero iO, 154pens) and the Mendes crew third, 20 further penalties behind.
After a brief stop-over in Four Roads, St John, Norris and Watkins hammered home their advantage, winning the second route through St John, St Philip and St George finishing at Motorsport Services in Haggatt Hall, St Michael, after a total distance for the day of 120 kilometres. It was their first victory since September 2022, when they also finished second in the year-end standings, as they had done with two victories in 2019.
Stephen Moore and Leslie Evanson (Isuzu D-Max) finished second in the afternoon, 72 penalties adrift of the winners, but the remaining crews were covered by only 84 penalties, so small were the margins, that they were not able to improve on their sixth place at lunch. Finishing third again cemented second overall for the Mendes brothers at the day’s end.
After the morning route, Tyrone Chase and Sameisha Williams (Vitara) had been second in Class B, ahead of Alexander and Chelsea Gill (D-Max) and 2020 Class B Champions Abdullah and Bilal Patel (Jeep Cherokee). The competition remained tight all day, although Charles Clarke and his mother Robyn (Pajero) dropped out before the afternoon route, on which the Gills beat the Patels by only four points, with Clarke and Barber just two more behind, enough to hold on to their morning advantage.
Route-setter King added: “As you can see from the results, it was a close fought battle and that’s what we wanted to achieve with the route; a competitive event and from all reports the crews seem to have enjoyed it on the day.”
The results were declared at the Prizegiving on Tuesday evening (November 4) at Savvy on the Bay, Bay Street, Bridgetown, after which MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “We are all grateful for continued title sponsorship for the championship from Chefette, also to Ace H & B Hardware, KG Enterprises and Savvy on the Bay for their support of individual events during the year. I must thank our marshals for turning out in all weathers to help us run events safely and smoothly and, of course, our crews who make the championship what it is. We look forward to next year.”
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship
Round 5 – November 2 – Coastal Lubricants MudDogs November Safari
Results
1st Ben Norris/Kirk Watkins (Jeep Rubicon), 226 penalties
2nd George Mendes/Gary Mendes (G & G Sales and Service Suzuki Vitara), 506pens
3rd Rebecca Clarke (F)/Austin Barber (Mitsubishi Pajero iO), 528pens
4th Alexander Gill/Chelsea Gill (F) (Isuzu DMax), 580pens
5th Tyrone Chase/Sameisha Williams (F) (Executive Auto Centre/E-Travel Services Suzuki Vitara), 592pens
6th Stephen Moore/Leslie Evanson (F) (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Tyres Isuzu DMax), 614pens
7th Abdullah Patel/Bilal Patel (Patel’s Motoring Jeep Grand Cherokee), 730pens
DNF: Charles Clarke/Robyn Clarke (F) (Lubriguard/Gunk/First Step Security Mitsubishi Pajero)
Route 1: 1st Norris/Watkins, 18pens; 2nd Clarke (F)/Barber, 154pens; 3rd Mendes/Mendes, 174pens; 4th Chase/Williams (F), 208pens; 5th Gill/Gill (F), 212pens; etc
Route 2: 1st Norris/Watkins, 208pens; 2nd Moore/Evanson (F), 300pens; 3rd Mendes/Mendes, 332pens; 4th Gill/Gill (F), 368pens; 5th Patel/Patel, 372pens; etc
Class B
1st Clarke (F)/Barber, 528pens; 2nd Gill/Gill (F), 580pens; 3rd Chase/Williams (F), 592pens; 4th Patel/Patel, 730pens
Route 1: 1st Clarke (F)/Barber, 154pens; 2nd Chase/Williams (F), 208pens; 3rd Gill/Gill (F), 212pens; 4th Patel/Patel, 358pens
Route 2: 1st Gill/Gill (F), 368pens; 2nd Patel/Patel, 372pens; 3rd Clarke (F)/Barber, 374pens; 4th Chase/Williams (F), 384pens
Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship – provisional final positions:
Drivers: 1st Leslie Alleyne, 238 points; 2nd Ben Norris, 236pts; 3rd Alexander Gill, 218pts; etc
Navigators: 1st Chris O’Neal, 238pts; 2nd Kirk Watkins, 236pts; 3rd Chelsea Gill (F), 218pts; etc
Class B Drivers: 1st Alexander Gill, 238pts; 2nd Rebecca Clarke (F), 234pts; 3rd Tyrone Chase, 222pts; etc
Class B Navigators: 1st Chelsea Gill (F), 238pts; 2nd Austin Barber, 234pts; 3rd Sameisha Williams (F), 228pts; etc