The RaceJamaica.com 2010 navigational rally series, got off to a good start on Sunday, March 14. A total of 9 teams entered, with 6 novice and 3 expert teams. Despite the challenges faced by the organisers in the final week leading up to the event, the rally was successful. The event started at 11:30 a.m. from the Upper Manor Park Plaza and ended at Chilitos Mexican Restaurant on 64 Hope Road around 2:30 p.m.

The event saw the debuting of Dmitri Dawkins as a navigational rally route setter with Peter Clarke’s assistance. Dmitri stepped in after technical difficulties prevented use of the original route instructions. The teams that entered exhibited savvy navigational skills in going through the instructions, thanks to the training some of them received prior to the rally. All was not perfect as the rally had experienced an early bump in the road when TC1 had to be relocated due to an unexpected road closure by National Works Agency (NWA) on Jacks Hill Road.

The rest of the day went as could be expected with many if not all teams making their own errors while reading the instructions, which saw the route setters being chastised for the trickery they had designed. The route took them around the Kingston area from Manor Park to Oxford Road, around New Kingston to Mona before heading down to Chilitos. Up to the third checkpoint, halfway through the event, the underdog novice team of Gordon/Dressekie-Gordon with a final score of 2310 lead the pack. This, however, did not prove them to be the overall winners of the day as the expert team of Fennell/Khan who were their greatest challengers, narrowly nabbed victory with 1970 points.

Competition was just as stiff among the other teams. The other top three novice teams of Chin/Coke and O’Reggio/Morgan showed that they could play just as well as the experts, displaying true resilience and navigational skills. The second place expert team of Moodie/Moodie who finished with 5400 points marginally beat both teams, but they succeeded to earn lower scores than the third place expert team of Khan/Bernard on 6000 points. First timers Thelwell/Powell who completed their first navigational rally happily won the lost (yes we said lost) place trophy.

In spite of the minor issues, the event went well.

We would like to thank our sponsors and supporters:

Busta Sodas

Viva Flavoured Sparkling Water

Turbo Energy Drink

Xsomo International Limited

Jamaica Property Company Limited

Chilitos

Our marshaling team and other well wishers.

Be sure to checkout our next event on Sunday June 6, 2010!

Check back for photos, they are currently being uploaded!