 Welcome to the Competition page
It is 45 years since the Mini Cooper was introduced in 1961 thanks to the vision and skills of the late John Cooper. The Abingdon team and of course the works and amateur drivers who campaigned the cars brought them considerable competitive success in the 1960’s. It is a tribute to a car and its designer, the late Sir Alec Issigonis, that it remains so competitive in motor sport now. Rallying Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen, and Rauno Aaltonen are probably the most famous works rally drivers of the Mini Cooper after their epic wins on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964,1965 & 1967. It would take up too much space to name every successful driver/co-driver of a Mini Cooper S. In 2003, the last Mini Cooper to win its class on a WRC event was driven by Neil Burgess on the WRC Wales Rally GB. He and his car “Mildred” entered the record books. Corgi has produced a limited edition model in recognition his success. In 2004, 45 years after the Mini was introduced, several Mini Coopers took part in the Lombard Revival Rally and cars driven by Chris Day and Peter Valentine were in leading positions until the last day when the Welsh tests took their toll, Cliff Porter and Bryan Purves managed to get their cars to the finish. This year Alison Lock and Barbara Alexander can be seen out on Historic Stage events in their 1275s; they won the 1300cc class on the Rally Marketing Mid Wales Stages in June. www.hrcr.co.uk Peter Barker regularly campaigns his ex works Mk1 on events such as the Historic Monte Carlo and Alpine rallies with considerable success. In 2005 he took part in the Lombard Rally in his Rover Cooper which had been built for RAC and Monte Carlo rallies in the 1990’s. Peter Barker/Willy Cave, Chris Day/Simon Wheatcroft and Cliff Porter/Neil Burgess will take part in the 2006 Lombard Rally at the end of October in their Mini Coopers. Peter is also one of the organisers of the register’s Fosse 12 car Rally which has been run for over 10 years with full entry lists. www.endurorally.co.uk This year, at the Festival of Speed at Goodwood on the track designed by Hannu Mikkola, Rauno Aaltonen is due to drive the rally stage in a Mini Cooper S. Racing Each year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival events members including Norman Grimshaw and Paul Stanworth allow our Honorary members to use their cars to keep the spirit of the Mini Cooper alive. Anyone who has seen John Rhodes and Barry Williams entertaining the crowds at the Revival meeting by keeping at the front of the field amongst Galaxies and Lotus Cortinas will know what we mean. www.goodwood.co.uk Paul Clark is one of our current racers and can be seen in Mini 7 events this year. He has a particular fondness for the round at Spa where in round 5 of the championship this year he was awarded the Piper Cams Fastest Lap Award. Neil Burgess has also had a go at racing in the Mighty Minis series in 1998 and won the beginners award that year; in 1999 his car was reproduced as a model by Corgi. www.mini7.co.uk www.mightyminis.co.uk Barry Long is competing successfully in the HSCC Historic saloon championship in his Mini Cooper. www.hscc.org.uk Our President, Mike Cooper, has kept the tradition alive with his support of the The John Cooper Challenge for new MINI Coopers which is now in its 5th year and very successful. www.johncooper.co.uk Sprinting/Hillclimbing If your interest is sprinting or hillclimbing you might be interested in our association with the Midland Speed Championship where there is a Mini Cooper Championship class. 8 competitors have gained points in 2 classes of the 2006 championship. As at end on June 2006 Dave West in his “Road Modified” Cooper and Tara Collinson in her “Modified Production” Austin Mini lead their classes with Dave in 3rd place overall and Tara just outside the top ten. www.midlandspeed.org.uk Cliff has long been a fan of the Mini Cooper since he navigated on road events for his brother-in-law in a Mini in the early 1970’s. Within the last few years he has taken part in MCR 12 car events, Lombard Revival Rally 2004, Endurance and HRCR Clubman’s Rally Championship events in 2005 & 2006; not very successfully but at least finishing most of the time. He uses a Mk 3 S or Rover Mini Cooper both of which have been prepared for the relevant type of event. This page has been prepared from his own research and Cliff believes that a number of members are taking part in events and he would like to hear from them with a view to reporting on their progress in the magazine. Motorsport News reports on events and Mini Coopers often feature in the results; are the drivers members, we hope so? A recent report reveals that Shane Murphy, a National Hot Rod front runner, is developing a New MINI to compete! The Register is recognised by the MSA as a one make car club and is able to organise sporting events but limits its activity to 12 car rallies. Although not a competitive event a track day is held at Castle Combe in July or August each year so why not drive your sporting Mini Cooper there. At our National Mini Cooper day in June each year we have probably the biggest display of Ex Works and Competition Mini Coopers anywhere. We hope that “the legend lives on” for many years to come. The John Cooper Challenge is keeping the spirit alive with a championship for new Mini Coopers. | 
