Rally Australia - Car 95, DNF SS6 (63 entrants and only 29 would finish)
The was the 16th and final event in the WRC series of 2004. Sebastien Loeb would win, his tenth in this year's WRC series and it would be his first WRC Championship win. He would go onto to win 8 successive WRC championships making him the most successful rally driver in WRC history. Harri Rovanpera was second and Francois Duval third on one of the toughest rallies in the WRC calendar. It would comprise 25 stages over three legs totalling 388 stage kilometres. HQ was at Perth and this would be the start point for all three legs. Petter Solberg, Marcus Gronholm, Alister McRae and many other would go out on this very tough rally that had a very high attrition rate.
'The last Waltz', as this was the very last event a Rover Mini would compete in the WRC series, as the homologation ceased in 2004. Trevor, Ian Harrop and Garry (servicing) were the only Mini team in the event. Local support was supplied by Mini Craft in Perth and the owner and his wife Cono and Ruth were instrumental in making this low budget expedition viable. A hire car from a local Toyota dealership enabled Trevor and Ian to recce some of the stages which were wet and muddy. Scrutineering was complicated by the car being 25kg too light, so a 25kg weight had to be bolted to the boot floor to satisfy FIA requirements!
The rally started on the Thursday evening with a super-special at Perth and the next day took them into the Australian gravel stages near Perth for which the event is renown. The stages had fortunately dried out since the recce and the first few stages on the following Friday morning were situated around a man-made reservoir with a surreal appearance of blackened tree limbs arising out of the water. These stages had a frantic tempo with plenty of intricate sections that suited the Mini. On the following stages the Mini seemed to shrug off the rigours of the rutted tracks and Trevor started to stretch the car and the stages began to flow. On the run back to Perth a troublesome snatch in the steering was noticed on a road section but nothing obvious was found at the next service halt. As the crew approached the final two gravel stages of the day the car started to dart across the road again and the decision was made to retire, as it was not safe to continue with the narrow tracks and the trees being so close to the racing line.
The retirement was 'temporary' as the Super Rally format meant the rally could be re-joined at any stage in a 'repechage' category after repairs have been made. As the diff had to be repaired, the engine had to come out - manually and not in a workshop! Trevor and Ian re-joined the super special on the Saturday. The Sunday stages began with a TV helicopter shadowing their Mini but soon gremlins returned and the ECU started to cause problems. The final retirement came a couple of stages later when engine overheating threatened big problems.
Sebastian Loeb would go on to win the rally with Harri Rovanpera second and Francois Duval third.
A copy of the Coventry Automotive newsletter from 2004…..
A Troubled Ending
This year, 2004, is the last year that the classic British Mini is eligible for competition on the international scene, in its multi-point fuel injected form. Knowing this, we at Coventry Automotive planned to give the old car a fitting send off with an entry on the last round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), which was Rally Australia. This involved getting the car, all its spares and equipment, plus ourselves halfway across the world.
Initially there were several teams interested in taking Minis to compete in Australia, but as the event got nearer and nearer the commitment waned, leaving just myself and driver Trevor Godwin to make the long journey, together with Garry to help us with the servicing. Shipping was arranged, and at the end of September we packed the car into a container and sent it on its way. Five weeks later we met up with it in Perth, none the worse for its journey.
In the meantime we had been in contact with Cono Onofaro, owner of Minicraft, a Perth based company specialising in Minis. Cono turned out to be just the sort of guy we needed, as he had so many contacts and a ‘just do it’ attitude which fitted in perfectly with our own outlook. Being a low budget outfit with no sponsorship other than my own bank account, we could not have competed on the rally without the support of Cono and his wife Ruth. The local service support was arranged through Minicraft, and suddenly we were a team of nine ‘on a mission’.
As Trevor and I went out to look over the stages to be used for the rally in a car borrowed from the local Toyota agents, Cono, Garry and the guys set about the final preparation of the car for the event. Some long hours were spent getting the Mini ready for scrutineering, but when ‘beer o’clock’ arrived, it was there looking great. The only problem we had with getting the car through the final checks was that it was underweight, which meant we had to bolt 25kg of lead to the floor of the car to ensure it met the FIA standards.
The rally started on the Thursday night, with a ceremonial presentation of the cars and crews and a first run over the spectator stage. The spectator stage was set out in a stadium in downtown Perth, more usually used for horse trotting races. The super-special stage format is similar to that used on every other WRC round, namely a course which allows two cars to go head to head against each other on a stage which has a cross over bridge so that both cars cover the same mileage.
As we lined up for the start, we were being treated to a rapturous reception though that was not apparent from within the car. The local spectators were very knowledgeable, and the pre event publicity had been promising the last competitive run of the Mini for some time. The super-special stage, whilst being ideal for the spectators, is more like trying to ride a bike around your living room for the competitor, with no room for error. We had decided to take it very easy on this first stage, as the action would really start the next morning in the forests around Perth, and a sensible run saw the car left in the overnight parc ferme in pristine condition.
Friday dawned bright and early, which was very encouraging as the inspection of the stages earlier in the week had taken place in foul, wet conditions. We had not been looking forward to wet stages as the mud would have sapped the limited power of the car and made it very difficult for us. There was a long run out to the first stage, and the road timing made it a bit of a dash to get there on time. The first couple of stages were around a man-made reservoir, which involved flooding a natural bowl. The trees that had formally grown there had been left to wither in the water and created a surreal landscape of blackened trunks appearing out of the water
The first stages were quick fire and had plenty of corners. They really suited the nimble Mini and we were settling into the rally. The next two stages were a little more open and we had the opportunity to stretch the car. The road surface was quite hard after the sun had dried out the roads, and the ruts left by all the four-wheel drive cars didn’t seem to be having too much of an effect on the Mini. This was good, as the car does not have much ground clearance and the track of the wheels is not the same as the modern cars, meaning that Trevor had to choose which of the ruts to use. There were some very rough places, but the Mini seemed to be shrugging the punishment off.
On the run back to Perth for the service there were a couple of occasions when the car was felt to dart across the road. Neither of us spoke about it, hoping it would go away. After a check over by the crew we were on our way for the final two gravel stages of the day. It became apparent that the darting was not going to go away, and that it would be foolhardy to carry on with the competitive stages. The trees in Australia are very much closer to the road than those familiar with British forest and any error would be severely punished. We reluctantly decided that we had to retire, which was a great shame as we were leading our class at the time.
A feature of WRC events from this year is the Super Rally format. This allows a competitor who has retired to repair his car and restart the rally at the start of the next leg. There are a couple of drawbacks to this arrangement: it meant that we were out of the rally proper, and we had to repair the car in the service area. Which effectively meant taking the engine out to replace the diff in the middle of a field.
The team got onto the job straight away, and the plan was to use a scaffold pole, some chain and every available person to hoist the engine up out of the car. It was a simple plan, and it worked very effectively, though it probably looked very odd to the passers-by. There were obviously some optimists amongst them however, as we were asked whether the car would be taking part in the super-special stage again that evening, approximately an hour and half later.
Cono had rushed back to his workshop and rebuilt a diff that he had available and brought it back ready for fitment. The engine rebuild completed, it was duly put back into the car using the scaffold pole again, and the car was fired back up. After draining the oil to get rid of as much broken metal from the diff as possible, some proper oil was put back in, and the car put away in parc ferme ready for the next day’s stages.
Saturday was hotter than the previous day and the first stage was not kind to the car. There was still some floating metal in the oil despite all the work the previous day and it all ended up on the magnetic cam sensor. The engine was running very sickly and we had to pull off. The sweeper car caught up with us as we were attempting to repair the car and hung around. It was interesting talking to them, and hearing that they were really behind us. They even offered to help us out, though Trevor didn’t need the assistance.
Once we had got the car going again all seemed well for a while, though it soon became apparent that we were in trouble again. Cue our second retirement, though there was the option of running again in the super-special later that day, and for the final day’s stages, if we could repair it. Back to the service area and after some cleaning and checking of the engine management sensors we had got the car running well again.
The super-special on the Saturday night was a bit special for us, as we were able to put on a bit of a display for our crew and for the masses of spectators that were following the Mini. Trevor even tried to get the Mini sideways through the tunnel for extra excitement, though fortunately for me he got it pointing the right way in time.
Sunday was going to be our day. We had had problems with the previous days, but surely all that was behind us? As we got to the start of the first stage, it was clear something was different. There was one of the official helicopters flying around, and that only happens to the guys running at the front of the field. As we waited for the start one of the marshals came across to us, and said that the helicopter was going to fly alongside us and film us down the stage. Our five minutes of fame had arrived!
The stage started well for us, and Trevor was really trying. The road surface had baked hard in the sun, and the ruts were quite deep in places, but the Mini was coping. And then the engine management let us down. Problems with the system meant that we were running on much reduced power, which was not good for our TV footage. The system cleared itself and we were off on full power again, but only for a short while. As we got to the end of the stage, both of us were very disappointed. With the car playing up like this we would be lucky to get it to the end of the rally.
Sure enough, towards the end of the next stage, with only two more stages to complete, the engine started to overheat. As we were close to doing irreparable damage to the engine, Trevor called a halt to it, and we pushed the car off the stage. As the same stage was being run again, we did have the chance to spectate as the top runners came through. They were very impressive with the exceptional speed with which they could travel on the unique ball-bearing surface that Australia has, but it was sad to be sat watching rather than competing. Many spectators came to look at the Mini, and have their pictures taken next to the car, but we were looking to retire to the nearest bar to drown our sorrows.
Rally Australia was a roller coaster ride for us, but it was an event I’ll never forget. It took a lot of effort to get the car and team out there, but it was rewarding in so many ways. We met people out there who became friends, and we will go down in history as the last Mini to compete on the World Rally Championship. However, at the time I would have happily given that up for a decent chance to show what the Mini can really do on the difficult Aussie stages!
Ian Harrop
The was the 16th and final event in the WRC series of 2004. Sebastien Loeb would win, his tenth in this year's WRC series and it would be his first WRC Championship win. He would go onto to win 8 successive WRC championships making him the most successful rally driver in WRC history. Harri Rovanpera was second and Francois Duval third on one of the toughest rallies in the WRC calendar. It would comprise 25 stages over three legs totalling 388 stage kilometres. HQ was at Perth and this would be the start point for all three legs. Petter Solberg, Marcus Gronholm, Alister McRae and many other would go out on this very tough rally that had a very high attrition rate.
'The last Waltz', as this was the very last event a Rover Mini would compete in the WRC series, as the homologation ceased in 2004. Trevor, Ian Harrop and Garry (servicing) were the only Mini team in the event. Local support was supplied by Mini Craft in Perth and the owner and his wife Cono and Ruth were instrumental in making this low budget expedition viable. A hire car from a local Toyota dealership enabled Trevor and Ian to recce some of the stages which were wet and muddy. Scrutineering was complicated by the car being 25kg too light, so a 25kg weight had to be bolted to the boot floor to satisfy FIA requirements!
The rally started on the Thursday evening with a super-special at Perth and the next day took them into the Australian gravel stages near Perth for which the event is renown. The stages had fortunately dried out since the recce and the first few stages on the following Friday morning were situated around a man-made reservoir with a surreal appearance of blackened tree limbs arising out of the water. These stages had a frantic tempo with plenty of intricate sections that suited the Mini. On the following stages the Mini seemed to shrug off the rigours of the rutted tracks and Trevor started to stretch the car and the stages began to flow. On the run back to Perth a troublesome snatch in the steering was noticed on a road section but nothing obvious was found at the next service halt. As the crew approached the final two gravel stages of the day the car started to dart across the road again and the decision was made to retire, as it was not safe to continue with the narrow tracks and the trees being so close to the racing line.
The retirement was 'temporary' as the Super Rally format meant the rally could be re-joined at any stage in a 'repechage' category after repairs have been made. As the diff had to be repaired, the engine had to come out - manually and not in a workshop! Trevor and Ian re-joined the super special on the Saturday. The Sunday stages began with a TV helicopter shadowing their Mini but soon gremlins returned and the ECU started to cause problems. The final retirement came a couple of stages later when engine overheating threatened big problems.
Sebastian Loeb would go on to win the rally with Harri Rovanpera second and Francois Duval third.
A copy of the Coventry Automotive newsletter from 2004…..
A Troubled Ending
This year, 2004, is the last year that the classic British Mini is eligible for competition on the international scene, in its multi-point fuel injected form. Knowing this, we at Coventry Automotive planned to give the old car a fitting send off with an entry on the last round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), which was Rally Australia. This involved getting the car, all its spares and equipment, plus ourselves halfway across the world.
Initially there were several teams interested in taking Minis to compete in Australia, but as the event got nearer and nearer the commitment waned, leaving just myself and driver Trevor Godwin to make the long journey, together with Garry to help us with the servicing. Shipping was arranged, and at the end of September we packed the car into a container and sent it on its way. Five weeks later we met up with it in Perth, none the worse for its journey.
In the meantime we had been in contact with Cono Onofaro, owner of Minicraft, a Perth based company specialising in Minis. Cono turned out to be just the sort of guy we needed, as he had so many contacts and a ‘just do it’ attitude which fitted in perfectly with our own outlook. Being a low budget outfit with no sponsorship other than my own bank account, we could not have competed on the rally without the support of Cono and his wife Ruth. The local service support was arranged through Minicraft, and suddenly we were a team of nine ‘on a mission’.
As Trevor and I went out to look over the stages to be used for the rally in a car borrowed from the local Toyota agents, Cono, Garry and the guys set about the final preparation of the car for the event. Some long hours were spent getting the Mini ready for scrutineering, but when ‘beer o’clock’ arrived, it was there looking great. The only problem we had with getting the car through the final checks was that it was underweight, which meant we had to bolt 25kg of lead to the floor of the car to ensure it met the FIA standards.
The rally started on the Thursday night, with a ceremonial presentation of the cars and crews and a first run over the spectator stage. The spectator stage was set out in a stadium in downtown Perth, more usually used for horse trotting races. The super-special stage format is similar to that used on every other WRC round, namely a course which allows two cars to go head to head against each other on a stage which has a cross over bridge so that both cars cover the same mileage.
As we lined up for the start, we were being treated to a rapturous reception though that was not apparent from within the car. The local spectators were very knowledgeable, and the pre event publicity had been promising the last competitive run of the Mini for some time. The super-special stage, whilst being ideal for the spectators, is more like trying to ride a bike around your living room for the competitor, with no room for error. We had decided to take it very easy on this first stage, as the action would really start the next morning in the forests around Perth, and a sensible run saw the car left in the overnight parc ferme in pristine condition.
Friday dawned bright and early, which was very encouraging as the inspection of the stages earlier in the week had taken place in foul, wet conditions. We had not been looking forward to wet stages as the mud would have sapped the limited power of the car and made it very difficult for us. There was a long run out to the first stage, and the road timing made it a bit of a dash to get there on time. The first couple of stages were around a man-made reservoir, which involved flooding a natural bowl. The trees that had formally grown there had been left to wither in the water and created a surreal landscape of blackened trunks appearing out of the water
The first stages were quick fire and had plenty of corners. They really suited the nimble Mini and we were settling into the rally. The next two stages were a little more open and we had the opportunity to stretch the car. The road surface was quite hard after the sun had dried out the roads, and the ruts left by all the four-wheel drive cars didn’t seem to be having too much of an effect on the Mini. This was good, as the car does not have much ground clearance and the track of the wheels is not the same as the modern cars, meaning that Trevor had to choose which of the ruts to use. There were some very rough places, but the Mini seemed to be shrugging the punishment off.
On the run back to Perth for the service there were a couple of occasions when the car was felt to dart across the road. Neither of us spoke about it, hoping it would go away. After a check over by the crew we were on our way for the final two gravel stages of the day. It became apparent that the darting was not going to go away, and that it would be foolhardy to carry on with the competitive stages. The trees in Australia are very much closer to the road than those familiar with British forest and any error would be severely punished. We reluctantly decided that we had to retire, which was a great shame as we were leading our class at the time.
A feature of WRC events from this year is the Super Rally format. This allows a competitor who has retired to repair his car and restart the rally at the start of the next leg. There are a couple of drawbacks to this arrangement: it meant that we were out of the rally proper, and we had to repair the car in the service area. Which effectively meant taking the engine out to replace the diff in the middle of a field.
The team got onto the job straight away, and the plan was to use a scaffold pole, some chain and every available person to hoist the engine up out of the car. It was a simple plan, and it worked very effectively, though it probably looked very odd to the passers-by. There were obviously some optimists amongst them however, as we were asked whether the car would be taking part in the super-special stage again that evening, approximately an hour and half later.
Cono had rushed back to his workshop and rebuilt a diff that he had available and brought it back ready for fitment. The engine rebuild completed, it was duly put back into the car using the scaffold pole again, and the car was fired back up. After draining the oil to get rid of as much broken metal from the diff as possible, some proper oil was put back in, and the car put away in parc ferme ready for the next day’s stages.
Saturday was hotter than the previous day and the first stage was not kind to the car. There was still some floating metal in the oil despite all the work the previous day and it all ended up on the magnetic cam sensor. The engine was running very sickly and we had to pull off. The sweeper car caught up with us as we were attempting to repair the car and hung around. It was interesting talking to them, and hearing that they were really behind us. They even offered to help us out, though Trevor didn’t need the assistance.
Once we had got the car going again all seemed well for a while, though it soon became apparent that we were in trouble again. Cue our second retirement, though there was the option of running again in the super-special later that day, and for the final day’s stages, if we could repair it. Back to the service area and after some cleaning and checking of the engine management sensors we had got the car running well again.
The super-special on the Saturday night was a bit special for us, as we were able to put on a bit of a display for our crew and for the masses of spectators that were following the Mini. Trevor even tried to get the Mini sideways through the tunnel for extra excitement, though fortunately for me he got it pointing the right way in time.
Sunday was going to be our day. We had had problems with the previous days, but surely all that was behind us? As we got to the start of the first stage, it was clear something was different. There was one of the official helicopters flying around, and that only happens to the guys running at the front of the field. As we waited for the start one of the marshals came across to us, and said that the helicopter was going to fly alongside us and film us down the stage. Our five minutes of fame had arrived!
The stage started well for us, and Trevor was really trying. The road surface had baked hard in the sun, and the ruts were quite deep in places, but the Mini was coping. And then the engine management let us down. Problems with the system meant that we were running on much reduced power, which was not good for our TV footage. The system cleared itself and we were off on full power again, but only for a short while. As we got to the end of the stage, both of us were very disappointed. With the car playing up like this we would be lucky to get it to the end of the rally.
Sure enough, towards the end of the next stage, with only two more stages to complete, the engine started to overheat. As we were close to doing irreparable damage to the engine, Trevor called a halt to it, and we pushed the car off the stage. As the same stage was being run again, we did have the chance to spectate as the top runners came through. They were very impressive with the exceptional speed with which they could travel on the unique ball-bearing surface that Australia has, but it was sad to be sat watching rather than competing. Many spectators came to look at the Mini, and have their pictures taken next to the car, but we were looking to retire to the nearest bar to drown our sorrows.
Rally Australia was a roller coaster ride for us, but it was an event I’ll never forget. It took a lot of effort to get the car and team out there, but it was rewarding in so many ways. We met people out there who became friends, and we will go down in history as the last Mini to compete on the World Rally Championship. However, at the time I would have happily given that up for a decent chance to show what the Mini can really do on the difficult Aussie stages!
Ian Harrop