A Message from the 2014 Barbados Rally Club Champion Driver: 2014 Championship. After a long 8 months of Rallying it’s finally come to an end……2014 for Watson Racing will go down as “the year”. 3,2,1 START We started off the season right where we left 2013, two first places in the first double header, which brought us to the warm up rally. This rally was going to be different for me as it was my co-drivers first rally ever. James took the bull by the horns and settled right in as if he’d been doing this for years. Again we took the top step in the group and fifth overall. The “BIG ONE” Rally Barbados 2014 put another tick on my bucket list, from a win at KOTH the weekend before to leading 2wd in the rally by SS6, this was an unusual place for me at this point as there were three cars that should have been ahead of me, by and large the reliable beema stood up to the thrashing where others didn’t and we went in to the second day with a 49 second lead over Andrew Jones. Sunday morning and I’m feeling no pressure as we have moved to the east of the island (my back yard). It was now a matter of managing the lead to Jones and bringing it home. But that wasn’t going to be easy, a small mistake in the first stage of the day lost me 2 seconds, I knew driving at a slower pace than normal leads to mistakes because you’re too relaxed and not concentrating. So we made a push and by the end we increased our lead by well over 1 minute. Fastest 2wd, 1st in SM12 and 8th overall in the most prestigious rally in the Caribbean put my name among some of the best. The “Finals” After a few more group wins in other events and a 3rd overall in the Summer Nights Rally, we arrive at the last event of the year. By this time I’m tied for the lead of the Championship with Daryl Clarke with Stuart White 3 points behind. This wasn’t going to be easy as there were so many different ways the championship could be played out. With the 2wd and group championship in the bag, there was only the overall crown to be decided. I managed to hold off strong competition from Brain Gill and take 2 wins to seal the 2014 Championship. Between Logan and myself this is something we have been working towards for the better part of 10 years. We would like to thank ALL those who made it possible from the small beginnings with the escorts right up to now. Big thanks to my sponsors, without them this would never have been possible, Power King Batteries, Carters Pit Stop, Sthil, Gliptone, Packaging Centre Ltd, The Unknown Entity and all this in support of The Little Pink Gift Foundation. Huge thanks to my Crew: My co-driver James Hutchinson, Mechanics Kurk Ward, Ivan Yarde and Steffan Willett aka Stick these boys are the true champions, long nights, sunshine and rain they keep the Bimma going at full chat. Also thanks to a few special friends, Stuart White, Roger Mayers, Sean Corbin, Stuart McClery and the GT crew for all your help and technical advise. Special thanks to all the Marshals standing in all kinds of weather conditions to make sure we drivers are safe on the stages, and the BRC Committee of management for another outstanding year of Rallying. Last but not least a big thanks to my family and friends who have supported me though the years, its not easy and you guys make huge sacrifices to support me in this sport, especially Dad, Mum, Uncle Ian, Logan, Simone, and my girlfriend Adriana. Congrats to all the other winners and I would like to dedicate this win to my brother Logan who came very close to winning this title in 2012. We miss you on the stages and hope you make a full recovery and return to fight again soon. See you all at ROC this weekend! Rhett
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 02:42:33 +0000
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