The Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) navigational rallying fraternity will honour some well-known names from the past this weekend as the 2024 season gets under way. Sunday’s (March 10) March Memorial Rally, the opening round of the Chefette MudDogs Safari Championship, will remember some leading lights in the discipline on which the Club was founded in the 1950s.

  In addition to the crews who will compete this weekend, the running order published after last night’s (Tuesday) Briefing Meeting at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, included these names, all members of the MudDogs ‘family’ who have died in recent years: Ronnie Alleyne, Audley Croney, Kenny Croney, Rory Gray, Robin Hinds, George Mendes, Philip McConney and Timothy Wells.

  MudDogs Chairman Ricky Holder said: “While this is the start of our new season, it is important to remember the part navigational rallying has played in the history of the Club. So we are looking back to remember and honour our past friends and competitors, many of whom have family members who followed in their footsteps and are among our competitors to this day.”

  Nine competing crews are listed on the running order, led by Leslie Alleyne and Chris O’Neal whose victory in the Old Brigand Rum November Safari more than three months ago sealed an eighth Champion Driver title for Alleyne and O’Neal’s seventh as Navigator. They will again campaign their Pod Store/Maxxis/Lucky Locks Suzuki Jimny. Their opposition will include father and son crew Stephen and Ben Moore (Moore & Moore Services/Maxxis Isuzu DMax), who won the Class B title last year and are therefore promoted to Class A.

  Route-setters for the season’s first Safari are Gary Mendes, Johnathan King and Rebecca Clarke. The event is contained mainly in the central parish of St Thomas, starting at 7.30am at Manor Farm Ltd, Clifton, with the first of three Driver Challenges at the Vaucluse Raceway about 15 minutes later at the beginning of the first route. After the lunch break at The Walk at Welches, there will be a second Challenge at 12.45pm at Grandview off Highway 2, before the event finishes back at the Vaucluse Raceway with the final Challenge at around 4.30pm.

  Looking ahead to the new season, Holder added: “Although our first event does not have a title sponsor, I’m pleased to say that Chefette is once again backing the Championship. And I am delighted to confirm the other rounds all have sponsorship and I’d like to thank All Terrain Enterprises, KG Enterprises and Savvy on the Bay for their support.”

  The results of the BRC MudDogs March Memorial Rally will be declared at the Prizegiving which starts at 7.00pm next Tuesday evening (March 13) at Savvy on the Bay, Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown.