THE orange groves of Bog Walk, St Catherine came alive with the sound of anti-lag and high revs last Sunday when it played host to the opening round of the 2012 Jamaican National Rally Championship.

With an entry field of seven, the event did not disappoint on the action as each driver battled over the day’s 10 special stages for the top step of the podium. However, young Spencer Whittingham with rookie co-driver Corey Miller, bagged a maiden rally victory in their Lancer Evolution V.

“We thought we had lost it,” Whittingham told Auto. “On the second-to-last stage, we ran off [the road] and couldn’t get the car started for a while.”

Whittingham — who shot to prominence in the downtown Kingston stages of last December’s Rally Jamaica — also secured the four fastest stage times. Along with his navigator, this a team for the future.

“It’s the first time Corey and I are driving together and I couldn’t want a better start to my season,” said Whittingham.

“I hope we continue winning,” quipped Miller.

The 10 am start meant the Tru-Juice Rally stages meant the venue was clear of early morning fog. However, it was the red mist that claimed the first victim.

SS1 saw the rapid exit of one of the competition’s top contenders Daryl King.

King and navigator Rameses McGregor in their attempt to set a commanding pace, blitzed through the tight undulating course posting the second fastest time on that stage. Unable to reduce its speed, the Honda Civic clipped the apex of the following corner and sent the vehicle airborne. The car violently rolled and was brought to a halt on its roof by an orange tree.

“The brakes failed,” King told Auto. “I came over the crest towards the flying finish. We went through and I realised there was nothing on the middle pedal. I tried everything to save it.”

The safety equipment did its job allowing both King and McGregor to walk away with harm.

“I left it on the roof,” King continued, “I’m not sure the condition the car is in now but we’ll have it repaired for the next event. In white!”

The young contender was not the only one affected by the lack of stopping power as his rival and friend Jordan Powell was also a casualty of overheating brakes. However, his Toyota Corolla FX survived after ‘climbing over the rocks’ which was bare of water in the Wakefield stage. A damaged sump guard and bruised radiator were the consequences of his ‘off-track’ mishap.

Thomas Hall, who had been setting some good times, was the next victim of the ‘waterless’ watersplash. A sudden lack of traction put his Toyota Starlet GT Turbo into a barrel roll over the rocks which had bothered Powell. Hall and navigator Dimitri Dawkins had a slow walk home as their rally hopes came to a close on special stage four.

This meant that by lunchtime, only five entrants remained with Whittingham leading the field and Powell chasing. The time difference between the top two reflected their class differences — Whittingham in an Evolution V, against Powell’s naturally aspirated two-wheel drive Corolla FX. So it was little surprise that Powell was really battling it out with class rival Matthew Gore, who had dropped from second due to a time penalty.

Peter Jaggon along with Keith Saunders rounded out the remaining cars and positions.

The final four afternoon stages proved why rallying is as exciting a motorsport as one can get. Several mistakes by Whittingham reduced his advantage to Powell, who smelled blood in the water. The scent of victory quickly turned to that of hot metal as he was struck by engine problem. This cemented Whittingham’s win, but left second place up for grabs until rear suspension failure hit Gore. The damage to his Toyota Starlet was significant enough to reduce his speed, allowing Jaggon’s Subaru WRX STi past to the final podium spot.

Gore finished ahead of Saunders whose Chevrolet Chevette was also nursing rear suspension problems to the rally end.

The Jamaica National Rally Championship continues on May 13.