Brian Carless, Gleaner Writer

IN LIFE things are always changing; nothing is static - and like the Sam Cooke song, Change Must Come, the 2008 Rally Jamaica ended with Jeffery Panton and co-driver Mike Fennel coming out ahead of the 'three-peat' champion Gary Greg and Hugh Hutchinson.

Both Panton and Greg were running well-prepped ex-WRC Ford Focus and they were equally matched, platform-wise. The sole purpose of Panton acquiring his Colin McRae Focus was to dethrone 'The Colonel'. Panton has already won Rally Jamaica five times; Gregg, with his ex-Carlos Sainz machine, holds the last three Petcom Rally trophies.

The rally started on Friday, December 5, at the National Stadium. Panton had the look of a man who wanted to make this rally his 6th win, as he had been without a competitive car for the past few years. Not wanting to get rusty, he entered last year's rally with a Mitsubishi Evo 9 just to see if he could regain times fast.

This year would mean the year of change for Panton, so with a new car and long-time co-driver, he entered with high hopes. Other competitors also made changes as well. Doug Gore drove his Evo X in Group N trim, which gave him a sure win in his class and also a place in the top five overall.

Large Bajan contingent

Among the overseas drivers who came down to enter Jamaica's premier rally event was a large Bajan contingent. It came to witness the likes of Paul 'Surfer' Bourne who came in his WRC Impreza S9, along with Rodger 'the Sheriff' Skeete with the same platform. Both drivers wanted to win the rally that has eluded them for years.

The Bajan who lit up the New Kingston stage in 2005, Jonathan Sill, forwarded in his rally-prepped 1998 BMW M3, but top honours eluded him as he wrecked his ride on the second day. The Mexican Team of Trivinio and Salom came to Jamaica in their ex-Gronholm WRC 2003 Peugeot 206 for the first time to try and take hold of the title. The pair finished 8th in the WRC rally of Mexico. Even the Mexican Ambassador Leonora Rueda was at the three days of racing here in Jamaica to give support to her countrymen.

Car wouldn't start

Jeffrey Panton would have none of it! Like the president-elect Obama, he believed he could. Panton battled Gregg over the three days. After a lightning start by Gregg, it was hard to think that he wouldn't have raised the winning trophy for the fourth straight time.

But it was not to be. Panton nibbled at his lead, stage after stage. It was a hard-fought contest. It all came to a head at the 21st stage when, according to Gary Gregg, "We got there on time ... for the stage 21. But the stage was not open as yet, because they were running late. So I shut off the car .... 12 minutes later when they were ready to go, my car wouldn't start ... it took me eight more minutes to get my car started ... at the end of the stage, they then added eight minutes to my time." But the ignition problem took him out of contention for top honours and gifted Panton the win on the final day.

Newcomers

Victory would go to the man who started his racing career at the age of 14, taking his 6th hold on the title. A "bittersweet victory it was," he said. Gary 'The Colonel' Gregg will have to go back to the barracks to come again and try take hold of the Rally Jamaica title once more.

This year's Petcom-staged event took quite a few favourites out of contention; a few newcomers entered the event, with one more female driver compared to last year's line-up. The husband and wife team of Jason and Katryna Lawson was thankfully able to finish the event in their 2wd Corolla.

Portmore resident and Petrojam employee, Charles Maxwell, and co-driver Michelle Laidlaw, shoe'd their 206 Peugeot Gti to 14th overall and second in the JA2 class.

It was a high-attrition event: out of a field of more than 40 cars, only 18 finished. Natasha 'Chiney Doll' Chang driving her pet Evo 'Bubbles' in her maiden rally drove to a commendable fourth in the JN8 class and eighth overall. With Guy Fraser in the left seat, Group 'N' (as it is called by FIA) is the show room stock class and was very competitive - So Chang finishing up so high in the order her first time out only bodes well for her rally-racing future.

Arbitration

In such a competitive climate, every point and place is fought with tooth and nail. Winner in the JN8 class, Doug Gore, finished so far up on the leader board he was fighting for a overall podium finish. Gary Gregg, protesting the marshal's decision to tack on eight minutes to his stage time, won a partial victory and had the penalty reduced to seven minutes, which meant, said Gore "that Gary would have now beaten me by some four seconds". Gore has appealed this decision, arguing that there was too much leeway in the minute that was subtracted initially.

Larry Henriques and the Jamaica Millenium Motoring Club could not comment other than to say that the relevant documents had indeed been lodged. He said that because the arbitration was still ongoing, he didn't want public opinion to cloud the issue. At press time, the third-place trophy wat yet to be awarded.