Neste Finnish Rally - Car 74, 41st and 2nd in class
Trevor was navigated by David Wyer on this event
The event, based in Jyväskylä, had its WRC status demoted to just F2 (FWD) cars as part of the FIA rally rotation scheme. The event would comprise a total of 536km split over 3 days and 32 stages, most of which would be wet, cut up, rough gravel stages. It would be run as a clover leaf with crews returning to Jyväskylä after each leg. HQ was at the Rantasipi Hotel situated in woodland a few miles from the city centre. The ramp for the start and finish was just outside the hotel main entrance and parc ferme in the hotel's car park.
This represented Trevor's first overseas WRC rally and it proved to be great fun with an excellent final result and a super trophy! Getting there and back was a logistical challenge, as they were on a very tight budget and they were having to camp using an old leaky tent belonging to David’s father. On arriving in Jyväskylä they were thrilled to find the organisers had arranged for two motorcyclists on their Paris-Dakar motorbikes to escort them into town and on to the HQ – they felt like royalty!
Four UK crews made the trip; Alister McRae/David Senior in their Nissan Sunny, David Stewart/Brian Wileman in a Mazda 323, Adam Kent/Clive Jenkins in a Peugeot 106 and Trevor Godwin/David Wyer in the Mini Cooper WNR 904S. Alistair McRae/David Senior and Trevor/David would be the only UK crews to finish the event.
Trevor and navigator David Wyer could not afford the time for a prior recce and they had to drive the rally using a copy of Alistair McRae's pace notes (cost £100)! Fortunately, the organisers had paid their ferry crossing to Finland and their rally entry fee, as well as some of the costs likely to be incurred during the event. This was the thirtieth anniversary of the first Mini win on the 1000 Lakes, so nostalgia and spectator support were in abundance. Tommi Makinen would win, followed by Marcus Gronholm. Alister McRae would be fifth.
Unlike events to come this Rally of Finland was WET! Very heavy rain made for slippy, wet gravel stages but did eliminate the usual challenges of hanging dust. It did however make life miserable for the service crew. The stages had wide fast bends and multiple blind crests with deep ditches or high banks often containing old tree stumps or hidden rocks. The event is one of the fastest in the WRC calendar but one with a very high attrition rate.
Trevor recounts how they overcame a host of problems to bring WNR 904S to the finish 2nd in class ahead of a French driven 205GTI.
Day 1 (SS 1 to SS14)
SS1 was a short 7km gravel stage which would see Juha Kankkunen running as car 2 go out of the event. He clipped a rock and the left front wheel promptly folded under the car with collapsed suspension finishing his rally. Parkkola (SS2) was a 22km gravel stage and the Mini's progress was hampered by two punctures within the same stage causing Trevor and David to drop 10 minutes and to go tentatively until next service. De Mevius was not so lucky, a spin on this stage destroyed the rear of his Nissan against a telegraph pole ending his event. Tommi Makinen would lead by the end of Day 1.
Day 2 (SS15 to SS27)
This was a very rainy day making visibility poor at times and the stages very muddy with standing water an extra hazard. The intercom failed on Leustu (SS15) and David Wyer had to shout the notes and almost lost his voice that day. On Paijala (SS17) they broke a magnesium wheel rim which sent them into a ditch. Spectators lifted the car back onto the road and held the car up while the wheel was changed. David reported that with this spectacular assistance they only lost 5 minutes during the whole episode!
At Hassi (SS 16) which was both windy and rainy, a woman did not hear car 0 driven by Bruno Thiry and was on the stage. Bruno Thiry threw the car into a ditch to avoid her but it bounced back into the stage killing her. This caused SS16 to be cancelled and had a big impact on the tone of celebrations at the end of the event.
At Himos (SS25), a short 2km spectator stage, the earlier 4x4s had cut up the stages and on one particular steep hill they had to have 4 attempts, as the ruts caused the Mini to repeatably ground out! To make matters worse the sump guard dug in every time Trevor tried to reverse and on the final attempt David had to push, only to slip and roll back down the hill much to the crowd's hilarity. The blue Mini finally scrambled to the top and finish the stage and the crowds cheered. They were mobbed by a delighted crowd at the stage finish and dropped 20 seconds of road penalties at the next Time Control due to meeting the demand for autographs. There was a 30 minute delay at Ouninpohja (SS 23) as an Opel Manta had gone off and the injured co-driver needed air evacuation. Harri Rovanpera would also be unlucky and go out with a seized engine on SS25. It was a late finish with crews arriving back at HQ from 10:30 onwards.
Day 3 (SS28 to SS32)
An early start with the first cars going off at 06:30 am. On a road section Trevor was pulled over by the Police for speeding and was given the option of paying a fine or spending the night in a cell. If it was not for the rally he would have opted for the latter as his tent was leaking! As it turned out he simply had to pay the fine within 5 years and a few years down the line on a subsequent rally of Finland he was summoned at the end of the first day to pay the overdue fine! The five stages went well securing an excellent result on their first Rally of Finland.
The Flying Finns Mini club looked after them magnificently and with it being the Mini win anniversary the crowds treated them like royalty, especially as they were the only Mini on the event! Rough stages, speeding fines and sleeping in a waterlogged tent did not put Trevor off, he would return repeatedly!
In Finland drinking and rallying go hand in hand as national pastimes. All the crowds would be very 'well oiled' and vocal in their support and the crews at the end of each leg with their service crews knew how to party. On heading home towing WNR, they were pulled over by the Police. The Policeman did not recognise it was right hand drive, hence, the front passenger, who was not a great drinker was breathalysed and passed with flying colours!
Trevor was navigated by David Wyer on this event
The event, based in Jyväskylä, had its WRC status demoted to just F2 (FWD) cars as part of the FIA rally rotation scheme. The event would comprise a total of 536km split over 3 days and 32 stages, most of which would be wet, cut up, rough gravel stages. It would be run as a clover leaf with crews returning to Jyväskylä after each leg. HQ was at the Rantasipi Hotel situated in woodland a few miles from the city centre. The ramp for the start and finish was just outside the hotel main entrance and parc ferme in the hotel's car park.
This represented Trevor's first overseas WRC rally and it proved to be great fun with an excellent final result and a super trophy! Getting there and back was a logistical challenge, as they were on a very tight budget and they were having to camp using an old leaky tent belonging to David’s father. On arriving in Jyväskylä they were thrilled to find the organisers had arranged for two motorcyclists on their Paris-Dakar motorbikes to escort them into town and on to the HQ – they felt like royalty!
Four UK crews made the trip; Alister McRae/David Senior in their Nissan Sunny, David Stewart/Brian Wileman in a Mazda 323, Adam Kent/Clive Jenkins in a Peugeot 106 and Trevor Godwin/David Wyer in the Mini Cooper WNR 904S. Alistair McRae/David Senior and Trevor/David would be the only UK crews to finish the event.
Trevor and navigator David Wyer could not afford the time for a prior recce and they had to drive the rally using a copy of Alistair McRae's pace notes (cost £100)! Fortunately, the organisers had paid their ferry crossing to Finland and their rally entry fee, as well as some of the costs likely to be incurred during the event. This was the thirtieth anniversary of the first Mini win on the 1000 Lakes, so nostalgia and spectator support were in abundance. Tommi Makinen would win, followed by Marcus Gronholm. Alister McRae would be fifth.
Unlike events to come this Rally of Finland was WET! Very heavy rain made for slippy, wet gravel stages but did eliminate the usual challenges of hanging dust. It did however make life miserable for the service crew. The stages had wide fast bends and multiple blind crests with deep ditches or high banks often containing old tree stumps or hidden rocks. The event is one of the fastest in the WRC calendar but one with a very high attrition rate.
Trevor recounts how they overcame a host of problems to bring WNR 904S to the finish 2nd in class ahead of a French driven 205GTI.
Day 1 (SS 1 to SS14)
SS1 was a short 7km gravel stage which would see Juha Kankkunen running as car 2 go out of the event. He clipped a rock and the left front wheel promptly folded under the car with collapsed suspension finishing his rally. Parkkola (SS2) was a 22km gravel stage and the Mini's progress was hampered by two punctures within the same stage causing Trevor and David to drop 10 minutes and to go tentatively until next service. De Mevius was not so lucky, a spin on this stage destroyed the rear of his Nissan against a telegraph pole ending his event. Tommi Makinen would lead by the end of Day 1.
Day 2 (SS15 to SS27)
This was a very rainy day making visibility poor at times and the stages very muddy with standing water an extra hazard. The intercom failed on Leustu (SS15) and David Wyer had to shout the notes and almost lost his voice that day. On Paijala (SS17) they broke a magnesium wheel rim which sent them into a ditch. Spectators lifted the car back onto the road and held the car up while the wheel was changed. David reported that with this spectacular assistance they only lost 5 minutes during the whole episode!
At Hassi (SS 16) which was both windy and rainy, a woman did not hear car 0 driven by Bruno Thiry and was on the stage. Bruno Thiry threw the car into a ditch to avoid her but it bounced back into the stage killing her. This caused SS16 to be cancelled and had a big impact on the tone of celebrations at the end of the event.
At Himos (SS25), a short 2km spectator stage, the earlier 4x4s had cut up the stages and on one particular steep hill they had to have 4 attempts, as the ruts caused the Mini to repeatably ground out! To make matters worse the sump guard dug in every time Trevor tried to reverse and on the final attempt David had to push, only to slip and roll back down the hill much to the crowd's hilarity. The blue Mini finally scrambled to the top and finish the stage and the crowds cheered. They were mobbed by a delighted crowd at the stage finish and dropped 20 seconds of road penalties at the next Time Control due to meeting the demand for autographs. There was a 30 minute delay at Ouninpohja (SS 23) as an Opel Manta had gone off and the injured co-driver needed air evacuation. Harri Rovanpera would also be unlucky and go out with a seized engine on SS25. It was a late finish with crews arriving back at HQ from 10:30 onwards.
Day 3 (SS28 to SS32)
An early start with the first cars going off at 06:30 am. On a road section Trevor was pulled over by the Police for speeding and was given the option of paying a fine or spending the night in a cell. If it was not for the rally he would have opted for the latter as his tent was leaking! As it turned out he simply had to pay the fine within 5 years and a few years down the line on a subsequent rally of Finland he was summoned at the end of the first day to pay the overdue fine! The five stages went well securing an excellent result on their first Rally of Finland.
The Flying Finns Mini club looked after them magnificently and with it being the Mini win anniversary the crowds treated them like royalty, especially as they were the only Mini on the event! Rough stages, speeding fines and sleeping in a waterlogged tent did not put Trevor off, he would return repeatedly!
In Finland drinking and rallying go hand in hand as national pastimes. All the crowds would be very 'well oiled' and vocal in their support and the crews at the end of each leg with their service crews knew how to party. On heading home towing WNR, they were pulled over by the Police. The Policeman did not recognise it was right hand drive, hence, the front passenger, who was not a great drinker was breathalysed and passed with flying colours!
| 1995_rally_of_finland_costs_detailed.pdf |
| rally_of_finland_1995_route_map_cover.pdf |
| 1995_rally_of_finland_newspaper_article.pdf |
| 1995_rally_of_finland_mag_article.pdf |
| rally_of_finland_1995_press_bulletins.pdf |
| 1995_rally_of_finland_report.pdf |
| rally_of_finland_1995_entry_list.pdf |