ACT Mini club profile
Full Dakar Report
love:mini
ISSUE: 2.5
FRESH CONTENT, honest opinion
s e H C N U A L WRC MINI ! n o i t c a into
SHOWS
OZ Mini 50 Lincoln BIG day Malvern & more...
test drive W RC M IN I PR ESS LAU NCH!!
Masters of the hill
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WELCOME
love:mini www.love-mini.co.uk
ISSUE 2.5 Catch -up
Tes ting out the MI NI’s big boy. p.6
A
fter a long abscense - sorry about that we’re pleased to announce the return of love:mini. This issue is a catch-up issue of all the stuff people sent in to us and what was already laid out in the magazine. It’s a filler issue,
just to let you know we’re back, and that a proper new issue will be out soon. :) Since we’ve been gone we’ve had a number of new ideas to help out you Mini fans - so expect more helpful guides and resources on the website and keep up-to-date
WEBSITE www.love-mini.co.uk BLOG http://loveminimag.blogspot.co.uk
with the latest news and events on the love:mini blog. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter, so follow us there.
Craig McBeth Editor editor@love-mini.co.uk
FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/loveminimag TWITTER https://twitter.com/love_mini
THIS ISSUE WAS MADE WITH HELP FROM:
Craig Watson, Trina Roberts, Peter Gavin, Simon Strong, Brian Thomas, kpbphotography.co.uk, Simon McBeath, everleyphotography.co.uk, Stuart Poole, Neil Masters. Copyright blurb
Copyright of all contributions remains with the original owner. love:mini produced content is copyright of love:mini. By submitting words and photos to love:mini you agree to allow us to use and reproduce this material in any way, shape or form (in a non-offensive manner) for the foreseeable future. We do not intentionally use copyrighted material without permission, and for the most part we have been given permission to use copyrighted material. However, if you believe we have used copyrighted material without permission, we will do what we can to make amends. Reasonable attempts have been made to find and contact any copyright owner whose material may have been used.
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dash:board 4 WRC Mini launch
The grand unveiling of the WRC MINI at Plant Oxford.
6 MINI COOPER SD TEST DRIVE
An exclusive press day to test drive the new Cooper SD models.
12 OZ MINI 50
Celebrating the Mini’s 50th year in Australia.
love:mini 36 HRCR MOTORSPORT Coverage of classic Minis competing on the rally track.
42 Gurston down hillclimb
Neil Masters’ KADpowered Mini competing for the trophy.
16 Event reports
46 Club profile
20 World rally championship
50 Events listing
A round-up of some of your submitted event reports.
Coverage of MINI’s progress through the WRC.
28 Dakar 2011
ACT Mini Club from Australia tell us all about themselves. A quick reference for the upcoming events in 2013, with full details on the website.
Full reports on the X-Raid Monster MINI team’s adventure.
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on the PULSE
motorsport
When
the
invitation to attend MINI’s WRC launch at Plant Oxford came through the post it was like Christmas time for us. This was the most exciting news since BMW had bought the Mini name - the Mini’s official reappearance into world rallying. The word is that the Countryman, the platform the WRC MINI uses, was specifically designed with entry into rallying and competition in mind with the ALL4 four-wheel drive system
WRC RALLY MINI LAUNCH
Rally MINI unveiled at Oxford plant spectacular. the key to choosing the Countryman over the other FWD MINI models. On April 11, 2011, the stage was set in the “T Building” for MINI to show off. Pulling out all the stops, MINI had assembled a line-up of the top bods from Board of Directors Representative, Ian Robertson, to drivers Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke, as well as Mini
Drive it away We were surprised to see Kris Meeke’s WRC rally MINI donning a valid tax disc. Is it coming soon to a dealership near you?? (kidding)
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rallying legends Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Aaltonen. Walking through to the presentation area you had to pass through a Hall of Fame, with countless rally heroes tackling the terrain in their classics, just as this new one would hope to emulate. With the lights dimmed a short film detailing the history of Mini rallying and the time and effort spent working on the new model culminated in Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Aaltonen charging through the screen in their Works-replica Mini before narrowly avoiding reversing off the plinth. Then
Pics clockwise from top left: Kris Meeke’s MINI preparing to burn rubber; team line-up Carlos Del Barrio, Paul Nagle, Kris Meeke, Dani Sordo; stripped MINI interior and pedalbox; Ian Robertson and Dave Richards; JCW rear spoiler.
the roar of the WRC MINI’s tuned 1.6-litre turbo engine broke the silence before arriving in style driven by Dani Sordo. After a lengthy presentation guests were invited to field questions to the team members before being allowed to get upclose to the rally car. The Works rear spoiler and stripped out interior provide a significant weight shift, while uprated suspension and tuning cover most of the other modifications. Outside Kris Meeke was on hand to “do some donuts” in the car park in the new machine. A full set of tyres later and once the smoke had cleared everyone seemed to have that giggly schoolchild feeling that this was something rather exciting and special. MINI is officially back in the world of rallying. Game on.
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on the PULSE
MINI SD PRESS TEST DRIVE MINI launches the Cooper S D (Diesel) and we get to try it out. Test drive
Well
, this is
embarassing. Since we did this review back in April 2011, and with all the changes that have subsequently gone on... we’ve lost the notepad with all the information from this day. So, unfortunately, there’s not much we can say about the cars themselves. We were invited to Babington House, a Grade II listed manor house that is very popular for celebrity weddings - located just outside Frome, Somerset.
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“
to take the car keys off their hands. With a choice of four, from a Hatch, Clubman, Convertible and Countryman, we let others rush for the Countryman whilst we took the newly-released MINI Clubman Hampton Cooper SD for a spin. The interior space maybe as limited as it is on all other models and the vinyl/
leatherette seat material may have burned out legs in the hot sun and shorts, but it looked quick, it sounded quick, and boy it was quick! The neat little touches that make the Hampton a Special Edition are pretty nice too. The black 6-spoke wheels are sweet as, and then there is the Mini 50 doorstep which is a nice nod to the Mini’s
“
It was a beautiful, hot day and when we arrived there was a line of over 30 brandspanking new MINI SDs all polished and sparkling in the sun... and we were going to get to test drive them! After a quick presentation, spurting out the fuel efficiency blurb of the Diesel engine alongside regenerative braking and automatic on/ off when stopping it was time
it was time to take the car keys off their hands.
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“
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it looked quick, it sounded quick, and boy, it was quick!
heritage. With a car of this size and the extra power now unleashed as diesel model, in comparison, there is some noticeable lag before the power kicks in, but once it does - you’ll be flying along.
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Convertible After enjoying the Clubman Hampton SD, we took it back to try out the next car. Our time was limited and with the day ticking by we chose to skip the MINI Hatch and take out the Convertible - well it was such a beautiful day, it would have been rude not to. In a beautiful shade of red, the sleek lines of the Convertible look so good and with the roof down it’s the perfect summer car. It looks amazing - we expect it drive just as well. It did. Immediately it felt just like a petrol car and the power as
instant. With some stunning scenery in the locality and some excellent country roads, we took our time to enjoy the ride and day in the sunshine. The Convertible, we found, was the most economic on fuel - according to the car’s in-car information. I think it’s fair to say we were quite liberal in our driving and were impressed by the economy of it. But after a couple of stops to take some scenic pictures for y’all, we had to take it back and try out the Countryman.
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it’s the perfect summer car - it looks amazing
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Countryman At the time, the Countryman hadn’t long been released, so this was actually our first hands-on encounter with one. Bearing in mind that I have a classic Mini as a daily driver - the Countryman was big! In most cars you have to sit down to get into them, in this, you have to step up. But once in, and adjusted and comfortable, it was time to accustom ourselves to the slightly altered layout. It is so different to the other MINIs in size and feel. It is big and lumbering and wobbly. We didn’t like it. The central pod line to the rear seats was odd and it just didn’t fit with the MINI ethos. It is essentially a small SUV or a mini SUV, to use a play on words. And although they’ve
“
packed in the power under the bonnet, and indeed it is quite swift, we didn’t find it as economical when driven at speed as the other MINIs. Now you might argue that this is normal, or to be expected - it is a larger car, so less economical, but at love:mini, it’s not just about whether a car can carry your kids or golf clubs or how much power it’s got etc... it’s about the fun factor - the spirit of Mini and whilst the styling nods and badge may say MINI, it’s just not.
whilst the styling nods and badge may say MINI - it’s just not.
“ love:mini
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australia
Showtime
OZ Mini 50 Carnival Celebrating 50 years of Australian Minis. Words and photos Craig Watson
I
DATE February 27 March 6, 2011
Location Zetland & Wakefield Park, Sydney
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t was billed as the biggest Mini-only event ever held in Australia and, despite not quite reaching the numbers anticipated, it lived up to the hype. Over eight days – 27 February to 6 March – Mini enthusiasts from across the country celebrated 50 years of the popular small car in Australia, with events in and around Sydney, and Goulburn in NSW. The Carnival kicked off at the former site of the BMC/ Leyland factory at Zetland, only 5km from Sydney’s CBD, with a static display of around 300 Minis. Notable examples included famous race Minis of Brian Foley/Laurie Stewart and Don Holland, stretched Mini limousines, and every conceivable model Mini made locally – as well as a good representation of UK models. MINI Australia had a small presence, with two of the Countryman models, released to the public only the previous day, on display. Don Holland and Bob Holden
(winner of the 1966 Gallaher 500 at Bathurst in a Mini) were favourites among the crowd. Former Leyland factory Mini rally driver Andrew Cowan, coincidentally in Sydney on his way to his home in Scotland from New Zealand, also stopped in for a few hours and immediately drew a crowd. The rest of the week was spent with activities to keep the interest alive, including a tour to the old Catalina Park racetrack – attracting around 60 Minis – a Mini-only drivein movie night, showing The Italian Job of course, and a boat cruise of the fabulous Sydney Harbour. There was also a tour to Bathurst on the Thursday, which was attended by around 70 Minis. Departing from the Olympic Whitewater Regatta Centre near Penrith, the cars headed over the Blue Mountains via Springwood and the Great Western Hwy, before turning off the highway at Hartley and taking the picturesque and Mini-friendly (read here, twisty) back roads through Oberon, O’Connell, Lagoon and Perthville, to Bathurst. After a quick look at the
little-known old Bathurst racing circuit, the Minis assembled at the Mt Panorama pit complex, parking in line in front of the pit garages. What a sight, to see so many Minis, mostly of the Classic variety, lined up on such a famous venue, where the Mini was victorious 45 years previously; taking the first nine places outright – a record that still stands. Friday evening saw more than 130 enthusiasts gather for a celebration dinner at the Canada Bay Club, Five
Dock. Unfortunately, keynote speaker Stuart Turner from the UK was unable to attend, due to health concerns. But that didn’t diminish the evening. The Australian connection was emphasised with the talk by Bob Holden and an impromptu Question & Answer forum with former Mini racing greats Holden, Don Holland and John Leffler, and former BMC Works rally mechanic Peter Bartram, was very well received. So too was the excellent talk to camera by Stuart Turner, done exclusively for the event. Saturday saw the Sydney contingent decamp to Goulburn, two-hours’ south, and meet many more enthusiasts from interstate, for a display of over 100 Minis in the centre of town. The highlight of the afternoon’s display was a semi-trailer loaded with nine Minis, providing a perfect centrepiece for the display. The grand finale for the eight-day Carnival was the Oz50 Mini Festival, held the following day, Sunday 6 March, at nearby Wakefield Park. With over 400 Minis in attendance, including 70 in the racing and regularities
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Showtime
and more than a dozen in the special Mighty Minis parades, as well as nearly 20 former racing drivers from the Mini’s hey-day, this truly was a once in a lifetime Mini Experience. The aforementioned Holden, Holland, Leffler and Bartram, were joined by Brian Foley, Laurie Stewart, Lakis Manticas, Peter Brown, Carol Shaw, John Dellaca, Mal Brewster, and others. With three full racing grids of nothing but Minis – no fewer than 29 in Group N – the on-track action was thrilling. Old guns Graham Russell from Sydney and Henry Draper from Melbourne
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showed they still have what it takes, with one win each in the three Group N races. After winning Race 1, Russell had and electrical gremlin that caused him to pull over early in Race 2, but the engine came good and, being more than half a lap behind the leaders, he set off on a charge. Slicing his way through the field, he stormed through to take fourth place in the seven-lap event. The gremlins returned in Race 3, causing his retirement, but Draper’s run in that race was no less impressive, carving his way through from tenth on the grid to first place. That had followed a trying first race, where car problems put him back to last place, and an impressive Race 2 to move from last on the grid to tenth place. With Russell’s problems in Race 2, and Draper working hard from the back of the field, the top honours were
shared by Ben Tebutt, Ken Nelson (all the way from Ipswich, Qld, and running his original 1960s Mk2 Cooper S), and Greg Hewson, who finished in that order. Tebutt took second place in the other two races, with Nelson and Lindsay Siebler taking a third place each. The first and second Sports Sedan Races were won by Bob Bell, with the third taken by Charlie Borg. Borg had qualified an uncharacteristic 11th place, fighting hard to finish seventh and third in Races 2 and 3 respectively, in the highly competitive field. But the Mini action wasn’t reserved for on the racing track. The Mini Car Club of NSW were actively involved in running a motorkhana in the grass area behind the circuit, with over 20 keen competitors vying for the various trophies. Meanwhile, the Show’n’Shine, organised by the Mini Car Club of ACT, was a battle of
the polish cloths for around 85 entrants. Robert Diamante took home the coveted award for Car Of The Show, while his MG Metro Turbo also won the award for best Mini Derivative. Meanwhile, the Mini Masters (famous past drivers) were busily signing autographs, when not out on the track parading with the Mighty Minis special vehicles. The Mighty Minis included the likes of original race cars of Foley, Stewart, Leffler, Holland (also competing in the Group N races), Manticas and others, as well as a genuine ex-Works rally car, previously
driven by the likes of Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno Aaltonen and Australia’s Evan Green. Also sharing track space in the parades was one of the last 500 Classic Minis built in the UK, an equally rare Mini 30 from 1989, and various unusual Mini derivatives – Midas, Jem, Marcos, Nota Fang, Metro Turbo and more. The grand finale to the event was a parade around the track, at almost walking pace, in which every Mini present was able to take part in. Unfortunately, due to the lateness of the parade and an additional delay due to safety concerns – that were finally
resolved in the event’s favour – only about 120 Minis made it out onto the track. Despite that – the organisers had been aiming for over 300 – all those who took part felt it was well worth while, with faces beaming in every car. At the end of the day, the measure of the success of the one-off event was to be seen in the smiles on peoples faces, and the enormous amount of positive feedback already received by the organisers. This really was a lifetime experience that is not likely to ever be repeated, and was a fitting way to celebrate 50 years of one of the world’s most popular cars in Australia.
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Showtime
Lincoln BIG Mini Day Popular waterside show forced to expand to meet demand.
UK
Words and photos Peter Gavin
DATE April 17, 2011
Location
O
ver 200 Minis invaded Lincoln’s Brayford waterfront on Sunday April 19 for Trent Valley MOC’s 4th Lincoln BIG Mini day. Due to overwhelming demand event organisers extended the show on to both sides of the waterfront this year to accommodate all the Minis, from club stands to individuals who had travelled from all around the country to converge on the centre of Lincoln. They were joined by thousands of visitors who all enjoyed the fantastic display of Minis in glorious sunshine and also the chance for a spot of retail therapy.
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Brayford Waterfront, Lincoln
Website www. trentvalleymoc. co.uk
Malvern Mini Show Trade show lacking sparkle.
Words and photos Trina Roberts
DATE April, 2011
Location Three Counties Showground, Malvern
Website www. classicshows .org
T
he latest Mini show at Malvern showground seemed to be filled with a lot of Minis, but not many people and even less trade and autojumble. However as the day went on, things started to pick up. Mini-based kit-car clubs were well represented in the club stand areas with the Midas Owners’ club and Mini Marcos club in attendance. Hilltop Minis had the largest presence
with just under 50 cars. Their chosen theme was the celebration of William and Kate’s wedding, they had a real street party going on with plenty of food and jelly for pudding! The amazing display earned them the Best Club Stand award. Individual entries were of the usual high standard, some very nice minis including a totally original Cinnabar Red City, a green MkI which also picked up a
concours prize and a metallic gold van sporting 13-inch Dunlop alloys and a wicked rear spoiler. Mr Bean Minis were also on show including one with a rather scary dummy sat on a deckchair. Modified Minis were out in force and one of the biggest crowd pullers was a Suzuki powered Clubman with a BMW supercharger. Overall the show was good, hopefully the weather will be as kind for the October show.
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Showtime
Pride of Longbridge The finest examples on display at the home of the Mini.
DATE April 16, 2011
Location Cofton Park, Birmingham
Website www.austin memories.com
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T
he Pride of Longbridge show is a gathering at Cofton Park, Birmingham opposite the Rover factory. Any cars built there, at Cowley or Solihull can come along. Its usually held on the weekend nearest to when MG Rover shut in 2005. Quite a few Mini clubs turned up, including Market Drayton Mini Owners’ Club, Hilltop Minis, Redditch Mini Owners’ Club and Longbridge Mini Club. The show itself doesn’t have any autojumble or trade, just a couple of people selling bits out of their cars, a burger van and a very relaxed atmosphere. Just about every
Words and photos Trina Roberts
kind of Mini was on display from a standard ‘59 to one of the final special edition Mini Sevens. A very rare two-tone MkI van, which had originally been used as a works van then one-family owned its entire life, was drawing the crowds as was an ultra-rare Austin Ant prototype off-road vehicle. Another feature of the day was a road run from the BMW Cowley plant to Cofton Park with around 10 cars taking part, two of which were a very
tidy RSP Cooper and an early powder blue MkI. In all, it was a good day out with great weather and well worth another visit next year.
SCMC Beale Park Run The Mighty Morphs take a day off to visit an animal park. Words and photos Simon Strong
DATE April 24, 2011
Location
S
lightly cloudy Easter Sunday morning, we decided to meet at Benson MacDonald’s for 10am. Scott, Ali, Shifty, Shannon, Debs, Lee, Matt, Chris and Jane attended. A few of us managed to get a cheeky McDonald’s breakfast in before we left for Beale. We left Benson around 10:30 and headed down the A4074 and some other brilliant Mini roads. Luckily the sun started to burn through on our way to make the day even better. We arrived in Pangbourne where the Sat-Nav managed to take us down a narrow track, resulting in us all pulling off some brilliant 10-point turns!! Once back on-route it turned out the correct turning was only 200 yards down the road. On arrival we managed to bag ourselves a good parking spot and Shifty got some
good pics, whilst a few were occupied with some Micro Pigs, and a couple of the girls decided they wanted one! A heft £9 later we got into the park and started making our way around the animals. At this point the sun came right out. The temp was lovely. After continuing to walk around some more of the animals it was now getting on for lunchtime. Around 1pm we made our way back out towards the cars and sat down for a picnic, where some were tucking into sandwiches and lots of goodies. Unfortunately Matt was being stubborn and not eating anything except a packet of crisps, until mummy Debs stepped in and laid down the laws! We headed back into the park around 2.30 and used our free train ticket (that we acquired with our entry fee). After our 10-minute trip we headed to the bit of the park that we had missed - the racoons, meerkats, ducks and the slightly randy capybara!! Once we had seen it all we headed back to the cars to make our way home. In South
Central tradition we stopped off at a local pub for a cheeky pint before jumping in the cars and setting off. Was a great SCMC day out as usual, looking forward to the next!
Beale Park, Reading
Website www.southcentral-miniclub.com
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Motorsport Rally:Circuit:Hillclimb:Autograss:Sprint
ROUN D 5
MINI debuts in WRC After a year of planning and development the WRC MINI is put to its first competitive test.
T
he debut of the MINI WRC Team in Rally Italy, Sardinia was encouraging with both Mini John Cooper Works WRCs showing a good pace on Day One. Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) finished the opening eight stages of the rally in sixth, but unfortunately Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) had to retire on Stage Three due to a throttle problem that caused their car to go off the road. Despite the disappointment, the team was encouraged by the performance of Meeke’s number 52 car, having moved up to fourth overall. Sordo, in car number 37, had a trouble-free day. Sordo said: “At the end the car got better and better and I am really happy with it,
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but we started really carefully. The plan is to continue tomorrow the same way to learn more about the car, push a bit and change just a few small things.” Dave Wilcock, Technical Director, said of MINI’s first WRC appearance: “We had a meeting this morning with both drivers and they were incredibly relaxed about today. We had a plan to just go out and feel ourselves in. On the run out this morning Kris thought the throttle was not quite following his pedal very well. He felt the engine was just hanging on a little bit. That progressively got worse as the day went on. It just caught him out on a high speed braking area. It put him off line a little bit, he got onto the loose and just ended up
dropping off the road and damaging the suspension so we were unable to continue.” Day Two saw more mixed fortunes for the MINI team as Sordo and del Barrio held on their sixth place while Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle again suffered from engine problems after their MINI sprang a water leak, forcing them out for most of the day.
Motorsport
For Danio Sordo it was all good news and happy news, he said: “The day was not so bad. I am happy with the car and happier than yesterday as I have more confidence in the car. The performance of the MINI is good and we are really close to the car in front.” While the contrasting fortunes for Kris Meeke still failed to put a dampner on him: “We developed a water leak on the way to Stage 10. We tried to fix it but then in the stage it happened again, the engine temperature went up and we had to stop before we damaged the engine. It is a little bit unfortunate that I have not got into my stride yet, but that is part of the game. When you get to a rally you don’t have a second chance, you have to make it work for all three days and it just hasn’t.” The final day of the first official MINI rally team in 40 years resulted in Dani Sordo bringing his number 37 car home, across the finish line in a very respectable sixth place. But for car number 52, Day Three of the Sardinia WRC rally saw it parked up in the team
garage with Meeke and Nagle left to watch their team members from the sidelines. For the MINI WRC team, the result for this rally, and ultimately for all of the rallies MINI is competing in during 2011, is not important, it’s about what can be learnt and improved upon in time for a full calendar of WRC events in 2012. David Richards, Team Principal, said of the first event: “I think we have shown the performance of the car. We have proved what we can do and I think it has set the mark and set the standard. All signs are really encouraging and we have no real reliability problems at all that we are concerned about. We have to take a lot of positives from the event. “This morning we had to take the decision not to re-start with Kris. We know what the problem is but we didn’t have a solution to it
here, and anything we did would have been compromised and may have resulted in a recurrence of the problem. “What has come out of this weekend very strongly is that we have a real team effort and all members of the MINI WRC Team have instantly gelled together. I want to thank everyone for the hard work to get us to this point. It has been an amazing effort and the outcome has been very encouraging for all of us. It was also nice to see our efforts recognised as the team has been given the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally Award.”
Pos No 1 1 2 3 3 11 4 2 5 6 6 37
Driver Time S. LOEB 3:45:40.9 M. HIRVONEN 3:45:52.1 P. SOLBERG 3:46:04.7 S. OGIER 3:47:12.4 M. ØSTBERG 3:48:23.5 D. SORDO 3:49:08.5
Diff +11.2 +23.8 +1:31.5 +2:42.6 +3:27.6
12 29
A. ARAÚJO 3:58:50.6 D. OLIVEIRA 4:58:54.0
+13:09.7 1:13:23.1
17 12
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Motorsport
ROUN D 8
WRC MINIS fail the test in Finland
Sordo and Meeke forced to retire as the trecherous terrain causes car trouble.
F
ollowing the MINI team’s WRC debut in Sardinia, the Rally Finland was the next MINI event on WRC calendar. Having had a mixed bag of results from the first event, drivers Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke were looking to build on their previous outings - with Sordo looking to build his confidence in the car and Meeke searching for reliabilty and to finish a rally. At the end of Day One of the Neste Oil Rally Finland the MINI WRC Team was just where it
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wanted to be with its two cars still running and no problems to report. In the evening Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos de Barrio (ES) returned to service in Jyväskylä, after 39.74 kilometres of competitive running on three stages, sixth overall in the number 37 MINI John Cooper Works WRC, while Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) were ninth in number 52. From the first stage it was a matter of taking it easy on one of
the World Rally Championship’s toughest and most unforgiving events. Sordo has competed in the event for the past few years, but Meeke has not been here for five years and never in a WRC car. The weather was hot and humid as this is the driest summer in Finland for 23 years, but rain was forecast overnight. A largely problem-free day on Day two of Neste Oil Rally Finland
enabled both drivers to gain valuable knowledge and competitive experience of the MINI JCW WRCs, bringing them to the overnight halt in Jyväskylä without a scratch on either of them. Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) were seventh in the number 37 car, and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) were eighth in the number 52 sister car after over 170 kilometres of competitive driving since the start. Meeke’s MINI still hasn’t shaken its niggles and there was one small problem when he was about to start Stage Eight and the ignition failed. The resulting delay cost him two minutes, translating into a 20 second penalty. Meanwhile Sordo overshot at the first junction on Stage 11 to lose some time, but he was
and go home with experience. He is overachieving above our expectations, and driving within himself and taking no risks. Dani is driving well, but nobody knows these stages from today. He is happy with the car, the tyre wear seems to be good, but on the stages he knows tomorrow we are expecting him to go well and up the performance to show what the car can do.” Driver Kris Meeke was also pleased with his consistency: “It has been going pretty well. I probably have not been trying much harder than yesterday, but the more you get back into rally speed the more you get a feel for these roads and the more it just comes to you. On the long stages we are about half a second a kilometre behind the likes of Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, which I think in this territory is pretty good. It shows we still have a bit of work to do, with both the driver and the car.”
Downward Trend
soon back in the right direction despite losing 10 seconds to Meeke over the 12 kilometres. MINI WRC Technical Director, Dave Wilcock, was particularly pleased with Meeke’s perfomance on Day 2: “Today we are particularly pleased with Kris, who is driving very well. His plan is just to learn the roads, get through the rally
However, the optimism that filled the MINI team at the end of Day Two had all but evaporated 24 hours later following the retirement of both the WRC MINIs from Day Three of the WRC Finnish Rally. Meeke’s number 52 car was pulled out after 19 of the 22 stages, while Dani Sordo only missed out on the very last stage - both were precautionary measures after a lot of sand and dirt was sucked into the cars’ cooling system. The problems started on Stage 17, Leustu 2, when Meeke suffered from a puncture and then overheating. Then, on the next stage, Surkee 2, Sordo, then seventh, also had problems with the
Motorsport
sand blocking the air intake and lost 45 seconds to the leaders. The team’s engineers knew they would learn nothing more from cars limping through stages so they were ordered back to Jyväskylä and not attempt the Power Stage to avoid engine damage. Team Principal, David Richards, was understandably disappointed but took positives from the event: “There is obviously a great sense of disappointment throughout the team that the rally should end for both Dani and Kris within sight of the finish. However, we have to take heart from the performance of the cars throughout the event, with their pure speed and the fact we were close to the pace right from the word go. We now go to a very different surface, with the asphalt rally of Germany which will present further challenges and another step in the learning curve for our new team.”
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Motorsport
ROUN D 9
Tearing up the tarmac in germany
A first podium position for the WRC team as electrical gremlins cause grief.
D
ay one of the ADAC Rally Germany ended with the MINI WRC Team in a very encouraging fourth and fifth overall. From the very first of today’s six stages Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37 and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) in the number 52 sister car were putting in competitive stage times. As the cars arrived in Trier for the overnight halt the Spanish duo were in front by just 17.3 secs, although the honour of a top three stage time went to Meeke. While the weather had been hot and dry up to the start of the event, as the cars got onto stage two the rains came. The Citroen duo of Sébastien Loeb (FR) and Sébastien Ogier (FR) had opted for a different Michelin tyre strategy, as in Germany they could choose either hard or soft compounds. They took soft, while the other top teams took hard and this proved quite crucial
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in the wet conditions that only affected part of the one stage but gave them an advantage. With six stages over 133 kilometres covered today, the crews are now ready for another eight stages and 150 kilometres tomorrow. Ahead of them they have the very tough Panzerplatte stage on the Baumholder tank training ground, which is 34.18 kilometres long. This stage, which is run twice, has often been a major decider in the outcome of this rally. Dave Wilcock, Technical Director: “It was a good day for us. The weather played a big part in our positions and performance in the morning loop, with the rain on stage two. Everyone was on hard tyres and Citroen, with their weather information, took soft. They took 30
seconds off the rest of the field! Our battle is now with Ford and into the second loop we were chasing Mikko Hirvonen. Very quickly both Fords struck problems, so we find ourselves in a reasonable position at the moment in fourth and fifth. We are very pleased with where the MINI is in tarmac form, and very optimistic for the rest of the rally. I am sure tomorrow’s stages will suite Dani, and Kris is also really optimistic. Kris had a small fuel surge problem, but we have replaced all the parts
Motorsport
and are confident that is sorted for tomorrow.” Dani Sordo: “I am very happy as the performance from the MINI in this rally is quite good. Fourth is not so bad, and honestly I didn’t expect to be in this position after day one. This morning the times were really close, but now they are not so close, as I think everyone has started to wake up on these tarmac roads. We have a little bit of work to do on the understeer in the corners, but as we are only on our third rally with this car we are not so bad. The times from Citroen are very fast, but Kris and myself will keep pushing hard and I think the work the team has done today is very good.” Kris Meeke: “It has been a really enjoyable rally and driving here has given me a smile. I have always liked this rally and gone well in the junior categories. This is my first time here in a world rally car and everything is coming at you a little faster. This morning there were places where I was hesitating, and we had the damp stage on the hard tyres which was quite difficult. I got comfortable and was really happy, but had a little problem on the second stage of this afternoon’s loop. The engine started cutting out towards the end of the stage, and then on heavy breaking it stalled completely and I spun and lost six or seven seconds. Overall I have to be very encouraged by the pace and to be setting times in the top three has to be
encouraging. We have a 45 minute service so we have to get to work now to try and resolve that little issue, even though I did not have it on that last stage. ”
Day Two
The MINI WRC Team has every reason to feel satisfied after day two of Rally Germany, as Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) are now third overall in their MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37. While Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) in number 52 are still in fifth, they have had a far from easy day with a puncture on stage 13 and a broken rim on stage 14 causing them to lose over a minute on the leading cars. Number 13 proved unlucky for not only Meeke, but also the man chasing him for fourth, Petter Solberg (NO). While Meeke came
off the 15.23 kilometre stage 23.3 seconds behind the leader, Sébastien Loeb (FR), the Norwegian was even further behind with a loss of 31 seconds, also due to a puncture. The 34.18 kilometre final stage of the day on the Baumholder tank training ground also caused high drama for Loeb, as he became one of numerous drivers to suffer a puncture during the day and dropped to second behind his Citroen team-mate, Sébastien Ogier (FR). Day two was held in extremely hot and sunny conditions, but there is a question mark over the weather for the final day as heavy thunder showers are forecast for late morning. The remaining crews have another five stages and 76.31 kilometres of competition which include the Power Stage of Circus Maximus back in Trier early in the afternoon. Dave Wilcock, Technical Director: “That has been a pretty good day as we started fourth and fifth and finished third and fifth. Dani has had a clean run through and set really quick times with Mikko Hirvonen. Then on the last stage he put in a blistering pace and finished within a couple of seconds of Sébastien Ogier and was second quickest. We were clearly faster than the Fords on that stage, and
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Motorsport
that was the one I really wanted to see where we really were with the others working perfectly. This is only our third rally and we know we can improve and from where we are now that is a really good benchmark. Kris had a fantastic day starting in fifth. Petter Solberg jumped him on the first stage this morning, but then had his problems, as did Kris including a little scare on the last stage of the day where he had a slow run through after
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sustaining a little bit of damage to a wheel. He is still just in front of Solberg. Tomorrow Kris has to keep his nose clean, and Dani has to consolidate third if he can as Hirvonen will come out charging. The target is to stay on the podium, as we like it there and don’t want to get off it.” Dani Sordo: “Honestly we didn’t expect to be here in third on our first tarmac rally for the car. I am really happy
with the car. We did some changes to the set-up and today the MINI was quite good and helped me do the good times. We will continue to do the same tomorrow and try to finish on the podium. We don’t have enough of a margin to feel safe, as you can have a puncture, you can spin or the weather may be bad. I am not going to start thinking about the podium, but just to try to drive well as we still have another day. The most important thing is we are still close to the opposition, and if we do modifications to the car for the future we are planning we can then be really close.” Kris Meeke: “We have had a few wee problems, and we picked up another puncture on stage 13. Everyone seems to be hitting trouble. Dani and Sébastien Ogier are the only two in the top eight or nine who have not picked up a puncture, so it is proving to be a challenge. We were just a little bit unlucky in that sense. Then on the second run through Panzerplatte the car was a little bit nervous underbraking, it cut away from me and stopped very gently against a small stone,
it broke the rim and we had a massive vibration for the rest of the stage. When we have had a clean run we have really been on the money, and have been able to be right up there with the times. We have not been consistent enough, but that will come as this is only my second ever start on a WRC event on tarmac. ”
Day Three
A podium position on the ADAC Rally Germany was the reward for the MINI WRC Team after Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) finished third in their number 37 MINI John Cooper Works WRC after a flawless drive. It also looked as if their team-mates, Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR), were set to make it to the finish in Trier, but then on the penultimate stage an electrical gremlin struck and the car stopped while they were still fighting for fourth. Sordo had a rally long battle with the Ford of Mikko Hirvonen (FI) and after 19 stages and 359.59 kilometres of competition finished 48.1secs ahead of him. For Kris he started the final day in fourth ahead of Petter Solberg (NO) in his Citroen. Despite a rear puncture on the first stage of the day, Meeke only lost 1.1secs to Solberg. However, on the second one what Meeke described as an ‘optimistic’ pace note saw him have an excursion into the vineyards and drop to fifth. Despite this he started a fight back, but then when the car stopped on stage 18 the battle with Solberg was over.
It was only 11 months ago on the 15th September that the MINI rally car first turned a wheel in testing in Portugal. In that time the team has competed on only three World Rally Championship events and made it to the podium on its first tarmac event. While this may be the team’s first podium, for the second time this season it has been awarded the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally Award for Sordo’s great drive. David Richards, Team Principal: “I don’t know where to start to thank all the people who have made this possible. Dani has driven an impeccable event, and never put a foot wrong. I never doubted his abilities. Poor Kris - if there was any bad luck it was always with him. To have such cruel luck on the second to last stage I really feel for him, but his day will come. He has proved how competitive he can be here and I am sure he is looking forward to France.” Dave Wilcock, Technical Director: “The morning stages were dry and we took a bit of a gamble. All the competitors took soft tyres, but we did a split and took the safe option for Dani and Kris went for hard. It was absolutely the right choice, as we could see after ten kilometres into the first stage the hard tyres had warmed up and I was confident we were on for our first fastest stage. Then at the lunchtime service the heavens opened for the afternoon stages and soft was the obvious choice for everyone. Dani was matching Hirvonen and picked up the pace when he had to and drove a
stunning finish. For Kris we had a loss of electrical power three kilometres into the penultimate stage. The problem was a broken terminal, a really simple problem as you can do thousands of miles testing and never have this problem.” Dani Sordo: “I am really, really happy for me and the team. For the first rally of the car on tarmac this is very good. This is a surprise and the times were so close to Ford and Citroen that we have a lot of confidence for the next rally. The car is really good on tarmac. We have a good set-up and the suspension is perfect. I tried to push hard on the power stage and it was great to be third, but I didn’t want to take any risks.” Kris Meeke: “The day started out as going to be a bit of a battle with Petter Solberg. We held him in the first one and then on the second we had a little error on the pace note side as the note I had made on the recce was a little bit optimistic and I missed my braking point and lost ten seconds there. After lunch it was very wet and there was only a second between myself and Petter on the first stage, and then on the next about halfway through the car started to cut out on me, eventually stopped completely and there was nothing we could do. It was quite clear it was an electrical issue as there was no power to the control box inside the car. It was traced to just a little wire that had come off and it was one of those things. ”
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X-raid MINI takes win in second Abu Dhabi sanddunes are no match for the MINI All4 Racing team.
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he Monster Energy X-raid team celebrated an historic success in the five-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which started on April 3rd and finished on April 7th. It marked an historic achievement for the X-raid team. The MINI All4 Racing was triumphant less than three months after its first appearance in the Dakar Rally. The duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/FRA), claimed victory ahead of their team mates Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz (RUS/GER) in a
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BMW X3CC. Novitskiy not only secured valuable points for the FIA World Cup for off-road rallies, but he also took the outright lead in the World Cup drivers’ standings. The two X-raid crews controlled proceedings in Abu Dhabi and made the fight for overall victory between themselves. Peterhansel secured three of the five possible stage wins and eventually beat Novitskiy by a winning margin of 15m16s. The Russian and his German co-driver shadowed Peterhansel and Cottret throughout the event. Novitskiy snatched
victory on the third stage and briefly led Peterhansel in the overall standings. “Stéphane and the MINI All4 Racing have shown to be in excellent shape and deserved this victory,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “Although he stalled twice, technically we had no problems. Even Leonid has shown a very strong performance. The second place puts him in the FIA World Cup lead and in a very good position. He maintained his tactics and approached the rally wisely. “
Motorsport
The MINI All4 Racing was developed by the Monster Energy X-raid team in just 90 days for the Dakar Rally. In Argentina and Chile, it quickly became a crowd favourite. The next outing for the MINI All4 Racing will be further east at the Silk Way Rally. Teams will head from the Russian capital of Moscow to Sochi, the venue of the Olympic Winter Games 2014.
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Russian recovery
MINI team put problems behind them to climb back in to a podium position. Stage 1 - LIPETSK
The Monster Energy X-raid Team endured mixed fortunes on the opening leg of the Silk Way Rally between Moscow and Lipetsk. Electrical problems troubled the MINI All4 Racing team of French duo Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret, and they finished the stage down in an unofficial 68th position. Heavy rain had soaked almost the entire 261km of the route of the day’s stage between Moscow and Lipetsk and muddy conditions prevailed. Peterhansel was slowed around 40 kilometres after the start with
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electronic problems. The Frenchman had to stop twice and could not attack for the rest of the stage. He finished an unofficial 68th in the rankings. “At the beginning it was very good, but we had to stop at kilometre 43,” said Peterhansel. “We tried to solve the problem. But eventually we had no alternative but to drive slowly to the finish. The stage itself was not easy, because the grip changed continuously. “We still do not know exactly where the problem came from. We assume, however, a problem with the electronics. But it’s better for us to have those difficulties here and not
on the Dakar,” admitted Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “On the other hand, I must say that the MINI All4 Racing has never before driven in these conditions. Our vehicles have not been designed for this amount of mud.”
Motorsport
Stage 2 - VOLGOGRAD
Stage 2 is the longest stage for the participants in the rally. The day starts with a liaison of 364km, before crews tackle 484km against the clock. A short 2km liaison takes teams to the bivouac. The start of the stage is believed to be over fast, wide tracks before the terrain becomes sandier with a few dunes The Monster Energy X-raid Team was rewarded for its hard work by taking a stage win and the overall lead in the Silk Way Rally after the second special stage between Lipetsk and Volgograd on Monday. Peterhansel and Cottret clinched the stage victory in their Mini All4 Racing. The mechanics had worked all night on the car to resolve the technical problem that had slowed the Frenchmen on the opening stage. Peterhansel began the special in 11th position on the road and quickly caught several competitors. He was able to pass a Kamaz truck at a checkpoint and, in the dunes towards the end of the stage, he overtook Holowczyc and the two X-raid team drivers reached the finish together.
“If you start from 11th place, you have the motivation to pass all before you,” said Peterhansel. “It’s like a game and it was fun. When we caught up with Krzysztof we stayed behind him in order not to take any unnecessary risks. The stage itself was a mixture of everything: fast passages, sandy stretches and small dunes. It was definitely not an easy day.”
Stage 3 - ASTRAKHAN
The third stage takes crews from Volgograd to Astrakhan. After a liaison section of 148km, the special runs for 432km and finished 10km from the bivouac. The first 240km run through the Russian steppes, where navigation will be tricky on the deceptive tracks. Sand dunes will also be on the agenda again.
The Monster Energy X-raid Team had three reasons to celebrate on the third leg of the Silk Way Rally between Volgograd and Astrakhan on Tuesday. The team’s three cars snatched the top three positions on the day’s special stage. Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc and Belgian co-driver Jean Marc Fortin secured their first stage victory in a BMW X3 CC, the French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret finished second in the team’s MINI All4 Racing and the Russian pairing of Alexander Mironenko and Sergey Lebedev rounded off the top three in a second BMW X3CC and moved up to second place in the general classification. Peterhansel looked set to claim his first stage win through the early sections of the special, but a small mistake dropped him behind his teammate. “Shortly before the first dunes, in the camel grass, we got stuck,” admitted Peterhansel. “I selected reverse and then we got stuck on a large clump of camel grass. It was about nine minutes before I was able to get going again. This was very disappointing.” “Today’s result was very good for us,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “However, today’s stage was very hard for the cars and it has already taken its toll. It was important to have strong suspension and a good chassis. Our three cars are running like clockwork.”
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Motorsport Stage 4 - ASTRAKHAN
On Stage 4 sees crews tackle a 400km loop stage around Astrakhan. Fast tracks will again be part and parcel of the special, which also includes 45km in sand dunes and a return to faster tracks for the final 60km. The Monster Energy X-raid Team recorded the first and second fastest times on the fourth leg of the 2011 Silk Way Rally, a punishing loop stage around Astrakhan. The French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret set the fastest time of the day in the team’s MINI All4 Racing and moved up to second place in the overall classification. Peterhansel eventually won the special by nine minutes. “It was a very long sandy stage with many off-road sections,” said Peterhansel. “Especially when you are
traveling off-road, you must be very careful. The Silk Way Rally only lasts one week, but the stages are much longer than the Dakar.” Holowczyc was content with the runner-up spot. “It was nice to drive behind the master (Peterhansel – nine-time Dakar winner),” said the Pole. “I hope he is not angry with me. The stage lasted for six hours and the navigation was very difficult. To see the way was not so easy!”
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Stage 5 STAVROPOL
Stage 5 begins with a 55km road section to the start of a 689km special stage in the direction of Stravopol. This is followed by a short liaison of 21km to the overnight halt. Navigation across the vast Russian steppes will not be easy and water crossings and mountains will be prevalent towards the end of the stage. Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc and Belgian co-driver JeanMarc Fortin snatched victory for the Monster Energy X-raid Team on the fifth stage of the
2011 Silk Way Rally between Astrakhan and Stavropol in Russia on Thursday. The stage win marked the pinnacle of another successful day for the X-raid team, with the French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret recording the second fastest time in the team’s MINI All4 Racing and the Russian duo of Alexander Mironenko and
Sergey Lebedev finishing third in their BMW X3 CC. Later in the stage, the Pole caught Peterhansel and remained behind his teammate. “We saw that there was something wrong with him and stayed behind to help in case we were needed.” The Frenchman suffered problems with the cooling system for the turbocharger after around 150km of the stage
and had to stop twice to refill the system with water. “It was disappointing, but we made the best of it to finish in second place. There were some nice tracks near the finish, including an uphill pass through grassland.” Peterhansel had a special encounter when he visited the farm to ask for water to fill the cooling system. “I came with the helmet, ran into the yard and there was an old woman with no teeth,” said the Frenchman. “She was quite shocked when she saw me. Then I winced.
The men had recently slaughtered a lamb and were about to pull the skin off! They were very friendly and gave me water…”
Stage 6 - MAYKOP
For Stage 6 the crews tackle two short special stages en route to Maykop. The day began with a 36km liaison section to the first 113.68 km timed stage. The terrain
duly set the second fastest time in their Mini All4 Racing, a mere 1m 24s behind the Proto driver. Peterhansel was the fastest driver on the track for much of the stage, but had to stop and change a flat tyre. The delay cost the Frenchman about three minutes and the day’s stage win. “Too bad we had to stop short,” said a disappointed Peterhansel. “Especially since the test was very nice to drive today. The navigation was not too difficult for the stage. “
Finish - SOCHI
features wide, open grassland and
The final leg of the 2011 Silk Way Rally sees crews tackle a 227km liaison section and then a short 16km seventh special against the clock. The route runs through a riverbed and includes numerous water crossings. After a further 117km road section, crews hope arrive in Sochi for a triumphant podium finish. The Monster Energy X-raid Team completed the gruelling Silk Way Rally in first, second and fifth positions at the podium ceremony in Sochi on Saturday. Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc and Belgian co-driver Jean-Marc Fortin claimed outright victory in their BMW X3 CC, the French pairing of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret finished
second in a MINI All4 Racing and the Russian duo of Alexander Mironenko and Sergey Lebedev were fifth. For Peterhansel, the first stage had been crucial to the eventual outcome. After problems with a supply of diesel, he lost over two hours to the front-runners and was classified down in 68th position. But the Frenchman worked his way quickly back up the leaderboard and, after the third stage, he had already reached fourth overall. A day later, he snatched second position. Peterhansel also won two of the six stages. “I’m rather disappointed, I finally came to Russia to win,” said the Frenchman. “But at least we were able to use the rally well to continue to test the MINI. The prerequisite for this was good. The long tests were stressful and there was also a certain amount of pressure weighing on us.” “We started with three cars and have taken three to the finish, plus we could still secure the top two spots in the standings,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “Surely Stéphane is disappointed but, on the other hand, we carried out a lot of work on the MINI. The Silk Way Rally was good preparation for the Dakar, but we still have work to do.”
narrow, winding paths before heading into a 30km neutralization zone. The second timed section is extremely fast, and features numerous 90-degree bends. After three long days racing across Russia, the Monster Energy X-raid team only had to tackle a relatively short 168km special stage against the clock between Stavropol and Maykop on the Silk Way Rally on Friday. The French pairing of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were pipped to the stage win by the Russian driver Vladimir Vasijev and
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Baja Rally Spain Portugese teammates take over the driving of the MINI All4 in Spain.
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ust one week after the one-two success at the Silk Way Rally in Russia, the team was again in winning ways at the Baja Spain. The Portuguese duo of Filipe Campos and Jaime Baptista claimed victory in the round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies at the wheel of their BMW X3 CC. Portuguese team mates Bernardo Moniz da Maia and Joana SottoMayor secured eighth position in the MINI All4 Racing and the Russian-German duo of Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz finished seventh in their BMW X3 CC and maintained the lead in the 2011 FIA World Cup. Campos gave his opposition no real chance in the three-day event around Zaragoza. The Portuguese
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won the super special and three of the four stages. The result was all the more impressive, bearing in mind that the BMW driver had to open all four specials as the first car on the route and had no tracks to follow. Only on the last stage did he set the fourth fastest time. Novitskiy maintains his lead in the FIA World Cup for CrossCountry Rallies after this fourth round, courtesy of seventh position. Main French rival Jean-Louis Schlesser could only finish 10th. Novitskiy lost several minutes on the last stage with three flat tyres and, because his car was only carrying two spares, he had to wait for team mate Moniz da Maia to lend him a spare wheel. Baja Spain marked Moniz da
Maia’s first appearance in the MINI All4 Racing. The Portuguese tackled all the stages without problems and set several useful stage times to record an eventual eighth overall. “All three cars in the top eight. That’s a really good weekend for us,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “Filipe has driven very fast and steady and has rightly secured the victory. The Baja Spain was also a success for Leonid. “We must also remember that our rivals in the Mitsubishis were able to run with a six-speed manual gearbox and a larger air restrictor. Bernardo also had a good run to eighth. That was a really good result. “
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1 2 3 6 4 12 5 25 11 8 6 10 7 13 14 8 31 9 10 27 11 26 16 12 27 9 13 15 1 4 16 15 16 MM denotes M. Machine 16 NG denotes Non Genuine 22 17 17 18 26 17 19 20 23 21 18 22 20 23 24 22 28 25 17 25 21 26 29 27 23 19 28 22 29 30 31
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SUBFRAMES & COMPONENTS
GENUINE HERITAGE PANELS
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Bonnet MK1, MK2 & MK3 £135.00 Front wing with or without side repeater £88.00 Full scuttle repair £115.00 A post stiffener - internal hinges only £21.50 A post boxing plate - MK1 & 2 (MM) / MK3 £14.29/£13.00 A post step repair - internal hinges £70.00 Rear wing MK3 / MK1 & 2 (MM) £95.00/£84.83 Backpanel - Screen down/Gutter down £180.00/£250.00 Full boot hinge panel £140.00 Inner ‘A’ panel (including scuttle closing panel) £55.00 Outer ‘A’ panel MK1 & 2 / MK3 £32.50/£19.99 Scuttle closing plate £12.00 Door - MK1 & 2 / MK3 £535.00/£405.00 Door skin - MK1 & 2 / MK3 £70.00 each Rear valance / closing plate (Partial/Full) £45.00/£23.77/£31.64 Stiffener-boot floor to arch / Rear bulkhead £18.60/£10.87 Companion bin closing plate / Inner sill stiffener £11.76/12.18 Heelboard - Full / Half £62.00/£30.00 Full wheel housing £75.00 Rear turret repair / Mudguard £43.00/£31.60 Full floor pan / Half floor (rod change) £190.00/£87.00 Floor sling shoe £5.89 Jacking point / Seat belt anchor £13.74/6.40 Boot floor / Seat pan skin £160.00 Inner wing bare / comes with A post & ‘A’ panel £106.07/£175.00 MK1 & MK2 van pickup inner wings £99.00 Flitch repair panel (NG) £10.79 Radiator cowl / Vent panel £51.00/£39.50 Boot floor side repair / Rear repair (MM) £23.76/£18.00 RHD tank stand £12.18 Front panel Pre 1976 / Post 1976 (rubber mounted) £150.00 Boot lid MK3 / MK1 £170.00/£330.00 Waist rail (below 1/4 light) Pre ‘70 / Post ‘70 £25.54/£39.26 Clubman wings / Front panel £98.06/£96.60 Clubman bonnet / Inner wing £148.03/£162.96 Mini under wing liners (helps prevent corrosion) £83.52
Non Genuine rear subframe - Wet/Dry £217.50/£171.22 Genuine rear subframe Wet or Dry £350.00 Genuine front subframe. Pre ‘76/MPi £394.45/£375.00 Front subframe assembly includes all running gear, suspension, brakes, etc. £1591.22 5 Rear subframe assembly includes all running gear, suspension, brakes, etc. £1236.88 6 Rear subframe mount kit - bushes, pins, bolts, etc £41.76 £394.45 7 MK1 front subframes 1 2 3 4
BRAKES £46.48/£77.18 From £8.28 £1.42/£1.13 £7.02/£7.80 £2.05 each/£4.10 each £2.28 each £41.11/£32.89 £12.74/£12.29 £4.75/£4.20/£4.74 £14.29/£14.58 £10.20/£26.81/£14.40 £48.72 each £20.64/£13.80/£19.30 From £78.19 From £8.59 £327.60/£161.82
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CARBURATION Air filter - HS2 / HS4 / Injection Cooper £6.78/£5.08/£9.54 Carb rebuild kit - HS2 / HS4 std / HIF44 £37.58/£46.98/£55.49 Carb jets - Standard / Waxstat £16.85/£32.68 Heat shield kit - HS2 / HS4 Stainless £12.72 Throttle cable - HS / HIF £3.88/£9.19 Choke cable - MK1 & ‘S’ / 1969 & 1989 £14.40/£14.40/£7.31 Carb Needle / Spring £10.21/£5.46 Twin carb link pipe £10.08 Fuel pump - Manual N.Gen/Manual Gen/Electric N.Gen £17.75/£35.51/£56.10 Electric fuel pump mounting Bracket / Clamp £7.15/£6.60 S.U. pump banjo union £4.21 Fuel filter in-line (replacable element) £9.00 Fuel hose - Rubber / Braided (per metre) £5.06/£7.14 Front/rear copper fuel pipe - Saloon / Van & Estate £13.97/£28.37 Carb return spring - Standard / Twin carb £2.54/£2.56 Twin carb linkage kit £17.41 Fuel pump blanking plate £3.78
CLUTCH Clutch kit - Diaphragm / Verto / Injection Slave cylinder - Diaphragm Gen/N.Gen/Verto Gen/N.Gen Flexi hose - Diaphragm / Verto Clutch cover - Standard / Orange / Grey Master cylinder - Plastic tank / Tin tank Release bearing - Diaphragm / Verto Return spring
£59.05/£91.20/£113.11 £28.64/£11.44/£43.81/£25.91 £8.68/£4.74 £27.95/£38.28/£47.10 £52.51/£79.62 £9.68/£12.25 £2.34
Standard Radiator - 3 Row/Comp 2 row/MPi Oil cooler - 13 row Braided pipe kit - Mini / Clubman Thermostat / Blanking sleeve / Housing Radiator cowling rubber Radiator hoses to 1990 - Top / Bottom Top hose ‘S’ / GT Heater control valve MK1 / MK3 / MK4 Water pump Cooling fan - 2 Blade / 6 Blade Top radiator bracket - ‘S’ or GT Heater hose 1275 fan spacer Heater cable - MK1 / MK2 & MK3
ELECTRICAL Fuel sender Saloon/Estate £25.54/£25.54 Indicator switch MK1 / MK2 / MK3 £33.06/£30.60/£38.10 Fuse box - 2 Fuse / 4 Fuse £10.08/£18.00 Floor starter switch £27.84 Solenoid - Standard / Push button £10.20/£23.50 Floor mounted dip switch £19.92 Headlamp switch - MK1 / MK2 / MK3 £10.36/£21.60/£9.00 Battery cable - front to rear £19.50 Battery - Clamp / Rod £6.76/£1.91 Dynamo - reconditioned. (exchange) £63.00 Alternator - reconditioned. (exchange) From £45.90 Voltage regulator £22.07 Starter motor - recon. (ex) Inertia/Pre-engaged £90.00/£84.40 Complete wiring looms From £179.83 Wiper wheelbox - MK1 / MK3 £51.66/£17.36 Washer pump - Electric / Manual £13.50/£22.92 Wiper park switch / Multi plug £13.20/£6.54 Wiper motor - twin speed £43.50 Indicator flasher unit MK1 / MK2 & 3 / 1991 onwards £5.99/£4.68/£10.36
IGNITION H.T. leads & plug caps - Period MK1 H.T. lead set - Various colours / MPi Electronic ignition kits - Aldon / Lumenition
£32.05 set £12.25/£15.32 £97.87/£87.36
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£11.75 £8.20 £6.64 £18.65/£9.72 £5.04 £32.47/£12.25 £27.72 £195.00/£6.13 £6.64
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FLOORING PANELS 8 2 10
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12 3
Aldon competition dizzy Ignition switch MK1 & 2 / MK3 & MK4 £69.60/£91.78/£162.06 £42.62 £31.06/£35.03 £4.92/£8.82/£12.89 £5.40 £4.68/£8.64 £3.58/£6.74 £19.98/£15.00/£30.11 £20.45 £27.36/£34.32 £8.99 £3.06 per metre £9.38 £14.40/£11.94
Rear number plate backing Rear number plate bracket 1/4 valence seam capping Rear 1/4 valence Genuine/Non Genuine Rear 1/4 valence closing plate Centre valence Genuine/Non Genuine Centre rear valence closing plate Van or Estate - Fuel tank / Fitting kit Rear valence seam capping
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GENERAL RESTORATION PARTS COOLING
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WHILST WE ENDEAVOUR TO SOURCE AND SELL THE BEST QUALITY PARTS AVAILABLE, WE REGRET WE DO NOT CATER FOR CONCOURSE CARS.
M. Cyl - single line (plastic tank) / Dual line Wheel cylinder - all types in stock M. Cyl seating gaskets - Large / Small Brake flexi hose - Front / Rear Rear brake Adjuster / Wedge Handbrake bellows Brake backplate - Front / Rear Brake shoes - Front / Rear Handbrake cables - Twin / Front / Rear to rear Brake drum - Standard / Spaced Brake disc - 8.4” / 7.5” / Vented Brake disc 997 / 998 Cooper Brake pads - ‘S’ / Late / Vented Complete brake pipe lit (copper/brass unions) Individual brake pipes Brake servo MK1 & MK2 / Brake servo kit MK3
VAN/ESTATE REAR VALENCE PANELS
£176.17 £10.36/£54.82
LIGHTING Clubman side indicator unit £68.74 Rear light - MK1 / MK2 / MK3 £47.86/£48.72/£49.60 Rear lens MK1 - Red / Amber / Screw kit £8.10/£6.05/£5.04 Rear lens MK2 & MK3 £15.66 Headlamp sealed beam unit £13.22 Quadoptic halogen headlamp kit RHD/LHD £38.98/£48.62 Steel headlamp - Bowl / Rubber gasket £10.80/£4.20 Plastic headlamp bowl (including rim, gasket & adjuster) £11.40 Headlamp bezel - Genuine / Non Genuine £16.27/£7.30 Front indicator unit - Genuine / Non Genuine £15.32/£7.14 ‘Works’ chrome boot mounted spot lamp £121.96 6” driving lamp set - Black / Chrome £31.66/£22.14 Stainless spotlamp bracket £7.20 Pick-up rear light - 1976 onwards £25.63 Rear number plate MK1 & 2 - Genuine / Non Genuine. £29.15/£8.02 MK3 Interior light / Interior light switch £9.90/£5.94
PLUGS/CONTACTS/CONDENSERS (All types in stock)
Standard coil/Ballast/Electronic/Sports Low tension lead (MK1 / MK2 25D) Distributor vacuum unit 25D / 45D Engine splash guard kit (includes clips, etc) Standard battery / Heavy duty Metal vacuum advance pipe with fuel trap
£19.03/£19.67/£22.28/£21.31 £5.34 £46.55 £35.75 £41.72/£59.16 £25.20
RUBBER BUSHES/MOUNTINGS Rear subframe mounting - Large / Small Rear sub mounting pin Tie bar - Standard / Heavy duty Bottom arm - Standard / Heavy duty Rear shock top cap Top arm rebound buffer Front bump stop (not hydro) - 1 Bolt / 2 Bolt Bump stop (hydro) - Front / Rear Shock absorber - Front / Rear, top
£3.53/£1.14 £17.26 £1.08 each/£7.66 set of 4 £1.80 each/£11.23 set of 4 £4.08 £1.80 £7.15/£7.66 £7.20/£6.60 £2.28/£4.86
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Radius arm nipple shroud £7.20 Saloon outer sill - MK1 & 2, 4 flute (MM) £18.36 Saloon outer sill - MK3 Genuine / Non Genuine £32.50/£10.20 Van & Estate outer sill MK1 & 2, 4 flute (MM) £17.64 Van & Estate outer sill - MK3 Genuine / Non Genuine £28.39/£10.50 Seat cross member - Pre 1974 / Post 1974 £56.17/£61.12 Seat cross member end repair £18.90 Companion bin - Saloon MK1,2,3 / Clubman Estate £30.46/£82.66 each Genuine companion bin MK3 onwards £31.64 Lower companion bin repair Saloon MK1,2,3/Club Estate £16.66/£14.86 ea Wide front to rear floor c/w outer sill and jacking point £135.29 Narrow front to rear floor c/w outer sill and jacking point £81.43 Full length inner sill - Saloon / Estate £26.46/£28.80 Battery cable cover £15.43 Complete floor assembly Heritage £535.00 Front foot well repair - Budget / Restoration £12.60/£35.75
Front subframe - Front mount / Rear mount Rubber suspension cone - Genuine Rod change mount Remote housing mount Engine mount manual Engine mount auto - RHD / LHD Engine tie bar kit - Standard / Up-rated Remote to gearbox - Front
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SUSPENSION/STEERING Radius arm rebuild kit £14.29 each Knuckle joint £4.08 each Swivel pin kit (service one hub) £10.73 Track rod end - Genuine / Non Genuine £13.50/£4.96 Steering rack (new) RHD / LHD £67.86/£72.22 Sports pack limited travel rack (Non Genuine) £90.00 Nylon steering column bush - Upper / Lower £4.50/£4.74 Timken front disc bearings - Genuine / Non Genuine £65.34/£14.04 Timken front drum bearings - Genuine / Non Genuine £68.26/£12.42 Timken rear bearings - Genuine / Non Genuine £42.89/£11.34 Drive flange ‘S’ / 8.4” / Drum £27.85/£30.48/£29.62 Shock absorber - Front & Rear £18.38 each Hydro pipe - Nylon / Copper £35.75/£33.78 Displacer dust cover £7.14 Top arm rebuild kit £13.20 per arm Front towing eye £10.20 MASSIVE SELECTION OF NUTS, BOLTS AND BODY HARDWARE
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Motorsport
ROUN D 2
HRCR Mini Cup: Down Ampney
Round 2 sees the King take the trophy while a host of newcomers battle for the scraps.
C
heltenham Motor Clubs ‘Get it Sideways’ Stages Rally was to be Round 2 of the Mini Cup Championship for all Minis up to the end of 1981. The event was held at the former WWII airfield at Down Ampney near Cirencester and provided 10 stages of around five miles each. The event attracted a full entry of 60 cars. 11 Mini Cup registered drivers entered, which was the largest entry of Minis seen since the championship started in 2008. There were also two other non-registered Mini crews entered. The venue, although having two quite long straights, suited the Minis, with Clive
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King/Polly opening up a small lead of eight seconds over John Brooks/Phil Harvey, both in Cooper Ss, after the first two stages. Unfortunately Paul Price, on his very first event, with the immaculately prepared 1960 Cooper S was to suffer a broken driveshaft on Stage 1. It was not to be his day for when he re-entered the ‘trophy’ rally later in the day the steering arm failed. Eric Davis/Russell Joseph, in a 1275 GT, were down on power for the first two stages until the fuel pump was changed at the second service, which got them back on the pace. Manxman Adrian Kermode along with Maurice Beckett from Northern Ireland,
Motorsport also in a Cooper S, started slowly but picked up the pace, setting the fastest time on Stage 5 before retiring with a cracked diff’ casing. Other Minis entered were son and father team of Jason/Hugh Thompson, Andrew O’Hanlon back with Gemma Roberts for the first time since their big accident together on the ranges of Epynt last year, Nigel Dutson/Keith Fellowes in another GT and Alison Lock/Hugh Myers in yet another Cooper S. Two new crews to the series were Finlay Mackintosh/Abi Somerfield and Stuart Hart/Paul Griffiths again both in
Mini Coopers.
Leading the line
King/Polly had a trouble-free run, always managing to just stay ahead by a few seconds of the rest of the field, setting fastest times on all but two of the 10 stages. They also finished in 13th place overall in the event which was an amazing achievement amongst some very quick ‘modern’ machinery. The real battle was for second spot between Davis/Joseph, O’Hanlon/Roberts and Brooks/Harvey. It was ‘nip & tuck’ all day with only two seconds covering the three of them after Stage 7. Davis/ Joseph went on the attack and set the second quickest time on Stage 8 and the fastest time on Stage 9 opening up a 13-second gap on O’Hanlon/Roberts. However Brooks/Harvey were still only one second behind O’Hanlon/ Roberts going into the 10th and final stage. O’Hanlon/Robert pulled three second back on Davis/Joseph and beat Brooks/Harvey by two seconds, so at the end there were still only 13 seconds covering all three crews. Thompson/Thompson suffered clutch problems for part of the day but had a good battle with another HRCR crew out in an Austin Healey. Mackintosh/ Somerfield suffered an intermittent misfire, Dutson/Fellows, Hart/ Griffiths, and Lock/Myers did not report any problems and all recorded good finishes in the overall event.
RACE RESULTS 1 2 3 4 5
King/Polly Davis/Joseph O ’Hanlon/Roberts Brooks/Harvey Thompson/
Thompson
6 Dutson/Fellows 7 Hart/Griffiths 8 Mackintosh / Somerfield 9 Lock/Myers
WORDS Brian Thomas PHOTOS www.kpbphotography.co.uk To follow the championship visit www.hrcr.co.uk and click on the Historic Stage Rally Challenge
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Motorsport ROUN D 3
HRCR Mini Cup: Severn Valley
Tortuous terrain takes its toll on the Mini teams.
T
he Severn Valley Stages organised by Midland Manor Motor Club over seven fast flowing forest stages of Epynt provided an opportunity for the HRCR Mini Cup contenders to sample all but one of the same stages as those tackled by the BHRC crews. A well thought-out route and timetable meant that the crews had the minimum of ‘second usage’ and those stages that they did twice remained in good condition. The only stage not tackled again was reported to have been the roughest by other crews. The organisers even arranged for the Mini crews to run at the front of the field in a totally separate event. Slightly disappointing was the entry of only six, but together with the British Historic Rally Championship contenders the ‘historic’ crews made up over 75 percent of the total field. Series leader Clive King was back with his regular co-driver, Bob Ward, for the first time this year in their Cooper S. They set off in their usual ‘all out attack mode’ from the off and were around 20 seconds a stage quicker than anyone else on the first four stages. They held a 1 min 26 second lead over Eric Davis/Russell Joseph in their 1275 GT when they pulled into the showground at Builth Wells for service. Hot on Davis/
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Motorsport Joseph’s heels were Andrew O’Hanlon/James Crook’s Cooper S, only 4 seconds adrift. Next up was Paul Price who was paired up with ‘Polly’ for Paul’s first real event following his first stage problems on the previous event. After a steady start, they picked up the pace and they finished second fastest behind King/ Ward on SS4. Nigel Dutson/Keith Fellows, also in a 1275 GT, had an interesting morning having quite a few moments including a very near stage exit on SS3. The remaining Mini crew suffered problems
on the first loop, Jason/Hugh Thompson lost all brakes on their Cooper S on SS1 and drove the remaining three stages using only the handbrake, but had to take two stage maximum scores. Tyre wear was a talking point in service as most of the fronts were well worn after only 24 miles of stages. Despite the problems, all the crews set out on time from the Showground for the final loop of three stages.
Turning point Stage 5 was to be the turning point of the event as King/Ward suffered their first DNF of the season with driveshaft failure and the Thompsons retired with a reoccurrence of their brake problem. Stage 5 also saw Price/Polly retire with engine overheating which left only three of the original six Minis still running. King/Ward’s retirement left the fight for the outright win between Davis/Joseph and O’Hanlon/Crook. O’Hanlon took back the four second deficit on Davies to lead by 0.6 second going into Stage 6. Davis/Joseph seeing King stopped on stage must have inspired them as they then took 10 seconds out of O’Hanlon/ Crook to lead by nine seconds going into the final stage. Another five seconds to the good on the last stage meant a Davis/Joseph took the overall win by margin of only 15 seconds over 40 miles. O’Hanlon/Crook were second and Dutson/ Fellows came home third and picked up a pot. Davis and Joseph take over the lead in Mini Cup with King dropping to fourth.
RACE RESULTS 1 Davis/Joseph 2 O ’Hanlon/Crook 3 Dutson/Fellows
DNF King/Ward DNF Price/Polly DNF Thompson/ Thompson
WORDS Brian Thomas PHOTOS www.kpbphotography.co.uk To follow the championship visit www.hrcr.co.uk and click on the Historic Stage Rally Challenge
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Motorsport
ROUN D 4
HRCR Mini Cup: Midsummer Stages
Mini crashes and mechanical failures shake up the leaderboard again,
S
outh Wales Auto Club (SWAC) provided Round 4 of the HRCR Mini Cup supported by Astran Cargo Services Ltd. The whole of the event runs within the confines of the MOD site at Caerwent. The venue has a multitude of different roads and provides a great test of a driver’s ability and keeps the co-drivers on their toes with all the changes of direction. It has a reputation of taking no prisoners if you stray from the straight, and in some places very narrow, tracks and getting too close to their unforgiving kerbs. Those that have ventured there before either love it or hate it. It was the first time the series or the HRCR has been there for a full blown stage event and prior to the event it appeared to be a popular choice to be included in the series. Seven Mini crews took to the start, but only three of the drivers had been to the venue before. There were
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seven stages, each around 10 miles with various loops added or removed to provide the changes. The day also turned out to be the hottest day of the year, luckily the organisers had suggested we service together in the overspill area which provided plenty of shade. First up was the early championship leader, Clive King with Bob Ward (Cooper S) hoping to put their first retirement of the year on the Severn Valley behind them. They were followed by Eric Davis/ Russell Joseph (1275 GT) the new leaders in the Mini Cup, Andrew O’Hanlon/James Crook (Cooper S), Fin Mackintosh/Craig Jones (Cooper S) and Nigel Dutson with new codriver Melanie Holmes, (1275 GT). The 2009 HRCR Mini Champion Ken Pryce with Mark Crisp (998 Cooper) put in his first appearance of the year, Stuart Hart/David Percival (Cooper S) rounded of the seven-car
entry. All our guys were seeded together numbers 60-66. Stage 1 was unfortunately stopped after only King/Ward and O’Hanlon/Crook had completed their run which meant the remaining six crews all received a rather unfair ‘notional’ time as per the MSA rules. Davis/Joseph probably suffered the most as they came across the Escort which had gone off and correctly stopped as the SOS board was being shown. The notional time dropped them nearly a minute behind King/Ward and 21 seconds behind O’Hanlon/ Crook. Stage 2 was to be the end for three crews, Dutson/Holmes had an off and visited quite a bit of the surrounding countryside before getting stuck down a bank, while the Mackintosh/Jones’s Mini lost a front wheel when the studs sheared. Both these crews finally got out but
were both declared OTL. Worse was to come on the same stage when Hart/Percival rolled their Mini into a ball, fortunately neither suffered any injuries but it looks like the car will require a complete re-shell. After this things started to settle down, although several crews reported loss of brakes part way through each stage and King/Ward were also reporting a slipping clutch. They still set the fastest times on Stages 3 and 4 but both Davis/Joseph and O’Hanlon/Crook were starting to get much closer to them, with only two seconds separating the three crews on SS4. O’Hanlon/ Crook set the fastest time on Stage 5 with Davis/Joseph a few seconds behind, both now setting quicker times than King/ Ward whose clutch problem was getting steadily worse. However they did still hold a 38 second lead going into Stage 6 and hoped it would hold out, but eventually the clutch said enough and forced them into
Motorsport
retirement. This meant O’Hanlon/ Crook briefly held the lead, but then had an off when they conditions, a few delays but lost brakes on SS6 which took generally the organisation was very them several minutes to extricate good. Only one problem for us – themselves. This promoted Davis/ Joseph into the lead with O’Hanlon/ they had forgotten to get any awards for our guys – hopefully soon to be Crook still in second spot but now rectified. nearly a minute behind. A steady The results of the last two events run to the finish and the win would have certainly altered the points be theirs and would see Davis/ tables with Andrew O’Hanlon and Joseph consolidate their lead in the Russell Joseph now holding top Mini Cup. However as they say spots in the Mini Cup. ‘it’s not over until the large female Next round will be back on the sings! Going down a fast straight gravel for the Neath Valley Stages, a balljoint broke sending them this popular event usually has a into the only tree anywhere within very good entry from our guys, but sight. The GT took a big frontal with the extensive damage to two hit and was extensively damaged, of the cars there will be a lot of but fortunately again neither crew midnight oil to burn if they are to members suffered any personal make it to the event. injuries. This left O’Hanlon/Crook to take the win with the only other finisher Pryce/ Crisp and the only crew to have a fairly troublefree day. A really tough event 1 O’Hanlon/Crook DNF Dutson/Holmes probably made worse 2 Pryce/Crisp DNF Hart/Percival by the extremely hot DNF Mackintosh/ DNF King/Ward
RACE RESULTS
Jones
DNF Davis/Joseph
WORDS Brian Thomas PHOTOS www.kpbphotography.co.uk
To follow the championship visit www.hrcr.co.uk and click on the Historic Stage Rally Challenge
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ROUN D 1
Tiff FINDS FIFTH GEAR AT GURSTON
WORDS Simon McBeath PHOTOS Simon McBeath / everleyphotography.co.uk
Motorsport
While Masters’ and White’s Minis rule.
T
iff Needell and Fifth Gear co-presenter Jonathan Smith entertained a lively crowd at Gurston Down Speed Hillclimb weekender on April 16-17 with some spirited and very rapid driving in the amazing Ariel Atom V8 supercar. Although it was the first time in the 500bhp car AND the first time in a hillclimb competition for both drivers, the pair looked like hillclimb veterans by the end of the meeting! Tiff won the Chairman’s Invitation class on 32.56 seconds from Jonathan on 33.89 seconds, and both drivers professed to having thoroughly enjoyed their day, which was also being used to gather footage for an item to be aired on Channel 5’s Fifth Gear motoring programme. In the up to 1400cc modified limited production saloon car class
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it was a tight affair as Neal Masters from Southsea, in his 1.4 Austin Mini, edged in front of Jim White (Southampton) in his Clubman on the second run by just nine hundredths (36.48s). Sunday’s event was unfortunately curtailed to a single competitive run apiece following a lengthy delay in which the rescue crew and the paramedics dealt with first a high speed incident that befell one of the drivers, which thankfully saw him only bruised and shaken, and an almost simultaneous call to a spectator who was taken ill. The competitive runs had to be stopped while the relevant medical personnel were tied up with these incidents, and the ensuing delay meant the meeting was shortened. Neal Masters set an identical
winning time to Saturday in his 1.4 KAD-powered Austin Mini to take the up to 1400cc modified limited production saloon car class again, although he had dipped under the class record in practice so there’s more to come from Neal. Former Bournemouth resident Colin Smith, now from New York, Lincs, showed the progress he has made with his 1.0 turbocharged Vauxhall Nova as he edged into second spot just two hundredths ahead of Jim White in his 1.4 Mini Clubman.
ROUN D 2
beating down the gates of brockenhurst
Motorsport
Wet weather puts Masters in control.
WORDS Simon McBeath PHOTOS Simon McBeath / everleyphotography.co.uk
F
requent heavy showers played havoc with track conditions in Saturday’s ASWMC Hillclimb Championship counter, but Terry Graves, from Launceston, mastered the conditions in his 3.5-litre Gould GR37 V8 to top the times and grab ‘BTD’ (Best Time of the Day) on his sole run, pipping Andy Forsyth from Blandford by a mere two hundredths of a second, thus ending 3.5 Pilbeam MP58 pilot Forsyth’s 18 month unbeaten run at Gurston club events. The second round of the Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship and Top Ten Challenge on Sunday saw much better conditions with some fast times being recorded, including two class records. Neal Masters, from Southsea, trimmed another two hundredths off his own up to 1400cc modified limited production saloon class record set just three weeks earlier in the 1.4 Austin Mini shared with father Graham, who also set a personal best. And Anthony Orchard from Wareham
carved nearly three tenths off the up to 1400cc modified limited production sports car class record in his 1.4 Westfield Megabusa. The weather intervened, for not the first time, on Saturday afternoon as the up to 1400cc modified limited production saloons came out, and Jim White from Southampton (1.4 Austin Mini Clubman) was the last to get a virtually dry run as the heavens opened. His three-second plus winning margin was not really representative, as final class runner and arch-rival Neal Masters had to contend with deep standing water. On Sunday there was a good battle again in the up to 1400cc ‘modprod’ saloon car class with first Neal Masters dipping
To follow the series visit www.gurstondown.org
under 35 seconds, then Jim White edged ahead on his second climb by six hundredths only for Masters to reassert himself again with a new class record and a four tenths winning margin. Unofficially this puts him into the lead of the Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship after the second round, ahead of White in second place.
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ROUN D 3
Rough ride as masters and white
Bike entrant pushes the Minis to the limit.
I
n a thrilling and incident packed meeting featuring a large car and bike entry, Neal Masters from Southsea retained his hold on the top spot of the Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship with another pair of consistently quick times in the 3rd Tony Marsh Memorial event at Gurston Down on July 17th. On a track just about dry after morning practice was affected by rain, Masters posted sub-36 second times on both runs in the family 1.4 Austin Mini, within half a second of his own class record, to fend off class and championship rival Jim White’s (Southampton) 1.4 Mini Clubman by just 0.23 seconds. Meanwhile Chris Cannell
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from Salisbury took his 1.7 St Bruno Roughcutter to the win in the Historically Interesting class and posted his best championship score this year to retain third overall. Once again the up to 1400cc modprod saloon car class produced an exciting battle between two men who have pulled away from the rest of the class in the past couple of seasons. Southampton’s Jim White ran first in his 1.4 Austin Mini Clubman but could not break the 36-second mark, although he was close first time up. But archrival Neal Masters from Southsea definitely has the edge at the moment and once more dipped into the 35s to win by 0.23 seconds and consolidate his overall Gurston championship lead.
WORDS Simon McBeath PHOTOS Simon McBeath / everleyphotography.co.uk
Motorsport
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australia
Social life Club Profile:
ACT Mini Club
Down Under in central Australia the ACT Mini Club are celebrating over 25 years of union. Submitted by Stuart Poole
H
ow would we some up our club culture, maybe I should check with the members on that one? I would say we are fairly casual people aged from Kids up to 70s. A hardcore group go to just about everything. Some turn up for specific events and others are into shows. I had the idea that we should look into competition more. The way I see it the younger people are the future of the club, Club Level Competition might appear more attractive to them than putting on your grey
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cardigan and driving intestate at 55mph. We haven’t had too many members take it on, but now with CAMS affiliation our members can race under our club banner now. It’s all still new, and I hope its a growth area into the future. The members are a diverse bunch, and I wouldn’t trade one of them for quits, they are all great people. Our culture is about as varied as our members list. You have your died in the wool roundnose boys, the MINI drivers, the
Clubby-lovers and the Mokers. We have nutters, cruisers, BHP chasers and pie-eaters (on runs to Braidwood anyway) to name but a few. The best part is most of them just like having fun with their cars in their own way, whichever event or car they chose.
Fun Times
We have had lots of fun over the years, but probably the best times have been in years gone by at the Hay Mini nationals. Close knit accommodation and
Social life
We have nutters, cruis ers, BHP- chasers and pie-e aters...
FEATURE
My Club
way too much cheap Port from the dodgy winery over the road. All our runs are great fun, and these days we especially enjoy catching up with our friends from the Wagga club for their annual Mini Muster (thanks guys). Back in the day (before draconian speed laws) there used to be a tradition among the Cooper/GT boys to go for a “hoon� after most runs. I was never old enough or big enough cc-wise to participate in my mere 998, but I believe they were a high speed pub crawl. How they all survived is beyond me!
WEBSITE www.actminicarclub.org love:mini
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Club Social life FactFIle
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ACT Mini Car Club
A
My Club
www.actminicarclub.org
B
Formed 25th November 1984
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Meeting place Deakin Soccer Club, Deakin, ACT, Australia
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Contact details Club President Stuart Poole
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Secretary Renata Moores
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Why should people join your club? Cos we’re awesome Membership fee $40 per year or $50 per family
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cars of interest Saints KAD Mini, Barry and Pam Quick’s beautiful MkI Cooper S
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Project cars Lots, probably more than runners
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What is the most expensive/rarest car owned by a club member? Sue Chong’s 2009 JCW
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Which is the most desired club member’s car by other club members? Barry’s or Saints’ cars
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Which is the fastest car/ largest bhp? Probably Matt Power’s Starlet GT Hybrid
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Which is the most popular paint colour (of members cars)?
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FEATURE
love:mini
actmini@hotmail.com 0409 637 308 Areas covered ACT and southern districts Members About 60 Activities Runs, tech days, shows, some competition Red Any motorsport competitors? Yep, 3 appendix J racers and a couple of people into Gymkanas Who’s in a band? Marcel!
Who owns the most? Another good question, probably Wayne Who owns the oldest? Definitely Renata, and she’s proud of it too.
Who’s the Chief?
Anto (Minis don’t have computers)
Probably reluctantly me, Stu
Who is the one who always runs on empty?
Who’s the Techie? No doubt Wayne, and a bloody good one at that.
No-one really
Who’s the joker?
You shouldn’t ask a gay man that question!
Anto, without a doubt, but Matt power isn’t far behind
Who’s the Computer boffin? Anto again
Who’s the Anorak? Got a few of ‘em actually
Who’s the Boy Racer? Matt Power
Who’s the Wise Owl? Ian Miller/ Barrie Brown
Who breaks down the most?
Who is the prettiest? Who is the oldest? I haven’t asked!!
Who is the most musical? Marcel/ Chris G
Who is the cheekiest? Anto /Matt
Who is the most likely to have road rage? Let me know so I can steer clear of em!
Who is the most likely carry lots of spares? Dunno, but Anto should. Probably Wayne.
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Event highlights
Comprehensive listings from around the globe
APRIL 3 SHMG Polly Run
APRIL 21 Suffolk Run
www.shmg.co.uk
www.buryminiclub.co.uk
MARCH 2-3 Mini Winter Rally
APRIL 21 Mega Mini Meet 2013
www.mini-winter-rally.blogspot. com
www.lancashireminiregister. co.uk
MARCH 10 Minimine Run
APRIL 28 H2H Run
www.crewes-missiles.co.uk
fwww.hamoc.co.uk
MARCH 10 Austin Morris Day
MAY 2 Dutch Mini Rally
www.brooklandsmuseum.com
www.dutchminirally.nl
MARCH 24 Brooklands Mini Day
MAY 3-6 Shropshire Mini Splash Dash
www.brooklandsmuseum.com
MARCH 31 Mini Scatter Rally www.snowdonminis.co.uk
APRIL 1 East Coast Mini Run www.eastcoastminiclub.co.uk
APRIL 1 Easter Mini Run www.miniclublimburg.be
APRIL 10-14 Techno Classica Essen www.siha.de/tce_uk.php
APRIL 13 Pride of Longbridge Rally www.austinlongbridgefederation. co.uk
APRIL 14 Lincoln BIG Mini Day www.trentvalleymoc.co.uk
APRIL 14 Malvern Mini Show www.classicshows.org
APRIL 14 Mollenrit www.minifunclub.be
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www.minisplashdash.webeden. co.uk
MAY 4-6 Riviera Run www.rivierarun.co.uk
MAY 4-5 Back to Downton www.dewsc.org.uk
MAY 6 East Midlands Mini Show www.classicshows.org
MAY 9-15 Italian Job Special Edition www.italianjob.com
MAY 10-12 Minis on the Bay www.morecambebayminiclub. co.uk
MAY 12 British Mini Day www.britishminiclub.co.uk
MAY 17-20 IMM 2013 www.imm2013.eu
MAY 25-27 Minis on the Prom
www.newportmini owners.co.uk
MAY 25-26 The East Anglian Job www.eastanglianjob.co.uk
MAY 26-27 Motorsport at the Palace www.motorsportatthepalace.co.uk
MAY 26-27 Cheshire Classic Weekend www.classicshows.org
MAY 27 Surrey Festival of Transport www.classicshows.org
JUNE 1 East Lothian Fun day www.elmoc.co.uk
JUNE 1-2 Mini Cooper Show ‘n’ Shine Weekend www.cheshireautopromotions. co.uk
JUNE 2 London to Brighton www.london-to-brighton.co.uk
JUNE 8-9 MCR Mini Cooper Day www.minicooper.org
JUNE 15-16 National Transport Festival of Wales www.ntfwswansea.co.uk
JUNE 16 Normanby Hall Mini Day www.trentvalleymoc.co.uk
JUNE 16 Bristol Mini Day www.bristolminiday.co.uk
JUNE 16 Knebworth Father’s Day Festival of Transport www.classicshows.org
JUNE 21-23 North Yorkshire Mini Adventure
Event highlights
Comprehensive listings from around the globe www.northyorkshireminis. co.uk
JUNE 22-23 Brands Hatch Mini Festival www.mini-festival.co.uk
JUNE 27 - JULY 1 LEJOG www.smallcarsbighearts.co.uk
JULY 4-7 Magical Mini Adventure www.greatdays.co.uk
JULY 7 Retro Fundraiser www.retrofundraising.co.uk
JULY 7 Gaydon Mini Festival www.heritage-motor-centre. co.uk
JULY 12–14 SkegMiniFest Episode 3 www.SkegMiniFest.co.uk
JULY 13-14 Scottish Vintage Vehicle Transport Extravaganda www.glamis-castle.co.uk
JULY 14 Thames Valley Festival of Transport www.classicshows.org
JULY 16-24 Italian Job Tour www.italianjobtours.co.uk
JULY 21 Minis on the Wreck www.brightonminiclub.co.uk
JULY 26-28 Help for Heroes Mini Weekender www.h4h-mini-cruise.co.uk
JULY 28 Cotswold Mini Classic Tour www.minifixers.co.uk
AUGUST 2-4 Cambridge Mini Club Weekender knowles.madhouse@virgin.net
AUGUST 11 Mini In The Park www.miniinthepark.co.uk
AUGUST 16-18 Mini Club Limberg Weekender www.miniclublimburg.be
AUGUST 17-18 Mini Clubman & 1275GT Weekend www.cheshireautopromotions. co.uk
AUGUST 23-25 The Northern Mini & Retro Ride Show www.northernminishow.com
AUGUST 23-25 International Mini Moke Meeting for Mokes www.belgianminisontour.be
AUGUST 25-27 Legendary Grand Tour www.smallcarsbighearts.co.uk
AUGUST 25-26 Blenheim Festival of Transport www.classicshows.org
AUGUST 26 East Midlands Mini Show www. classicshows. org
SEPTEMBER 1
MiniFest @ Uttoxeter www.
SUBMIT
Event Listings
britishminiclub. co.uk
SEPTEMBER 1 Berkshire Festival of Transport www.classicshows.org
SEPTEMBER 8 Lancs Classic Car and Motorcycle show www.classicshows.org
SEPTEMBER 13-15 Goodwood Revival www.goodwood.co.uk
SEPTEMBER 15 National Mini Show www.miniownersclub.co.uk
SEPTEMBER 19-26 Minis to Ireland 01730 818336 www.minicooper.org
SEPTEMBER 28 Castle Combe Mini Action Day www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk
OCTOBER 11-13 South American International Mini Meet www.clubmini.com.br
OCTOBER 19-20 Late Autumn Run 07834 081667
OCTOBER 20 British Mini Club NEW show www.britishminiclub.co.uk
i e:min v o l e k the Chec ite for th t s web d bes n a t es Bigg event mini gs listin
OCTOBER 20 Malvern Mini Show www.classicshows.org
DECEMBER 1 Christmas Mini Show www.classicshows.org
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