Stuart Maloney Leads Barbados Rally Club's Champion Drivers' Title Chase as 2024 BRC Championships Heat Up
July 23, 2024
Stuart Maloney leads the Barbados Rally Club's Champion Drivers' title chase after five rounds, with close battles and multiple class leaders in the top 10. Former champions also vie for the title.
Following his victory at last month’s BCIC Rally Barbados (RB24) Stuart Maloney leads the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) Champion Drivers’ title chase after five out of eight rounds. More than 70 drivers have scored points as the 2024 BRC Drivers & Class Championships passed the halfway point. Close battles are brewing, with eight class-leaders and five former Champion Drivers currently in the overall top 10.
Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) leads the FIA R5 class with 88 points, beaten but once this year, in the opening round by his brother Mark (Fabia Rally2 evo). Neil Corbin is unbeaten in Modified 2 in his Toyota GT86 CS-R3. His class was not fully subscribed in the first two rounds, so reduced points were awarded. He trails by three points, lying joint second overall with Clubman 2 class leader Chris Hoad (BimmaCup), whose run of wins ended when he finished third behind Ryan Wood and Allan Kinch at RB24.
Despite missing the opening round, Kyle Gill (Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone) is fourth overall, with four straight Clubman 1 victories giving him 75 points, adding another class leader into the overall mix, while Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton (Fabia Rally2 evo) is fifth on 68, second to Maloney in the FIA R5 class and the 4wd Championship.
Joint sixth, another point behind, are Mark Maloney and the sole entry in Historic 2, Harold Morley (Porsche 911 RS), with Edward Corbin eighth after a mixed start to the season in his SuperModified 1 (SM1) Daihatsu Charmant on 66. Completing the top 10, tied on 65, are the leaders of Modified 4 (M4) and SM2, Kurt Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) – in his first season of 4wd competition – and Rhett Watson (BMW M3), who also leads the 2wd Championship.
2021 Champion Driver Stuart Maloney is one of five former winners in the top 10, each hoping to add to his CV. All the others are two-time Champions: Edward Corbin (2019 & ’22); Neil Corbin (‘12 & ‘20); Panton (‘17 & ’18); and Rhett Watson (‘14 & ’15).
The title is decided on points scored against peers in 13 classes based on engine capacity and level of modification with points earned reduced if there are fewer than three starters.
While some class leaders have a comfortable cushion of points heading into the second half of the season, three lead by only narrow margins: in Group B, Chadane Holder (Toyota Starlet) leads Shareef Walcott (Toyota Corolla) by a single point. Mark Huggins (Daihatsu Charmant) is a further seven behind. Watson leads Barry Mayers (Ford Fiesta) by two points in SM2 and the 2wd Championship – the same margin separates Stuart Garcia and Jonathan Still in the battle of the BMW M3s in class M3.
With island rallying currently in rude health, the Championship is set to be hard-fought over the remaining three rounds, a Double-Header Sprint on August 25 and the Winter Rally on November 17. With the now-traditional enhanced scoring system applied to the season finale, there is still a total of 58 points on the table, so there remains huge scope for a shift in fortunes in the standings.
BRC Driver’s Championship
Positions after round 5:
