This article first appeared in the Mini Cooper Register Magazine
M.I.N.I. (Minis In Northern Ireland) 40th Anniversary Classic Rally. 28th – 30th May 1999
Having volunteered to the Editor to write an article about this event – where do I begin? The entry, the route, the hospitality………?
Probably the best place to start is how the event came about. Back in 1997 Hugh Wyllie with Bob Kelly masterminded the first Circuit of Ireland Mini Run. This event was run in the south west of Ireland. Amongst the entries were at least 3 crews from Northern Ireland who were members of M.I.N.I. (Minis In Northern Ireland). On their return home they dreamed up the idea of a similar event based in the North. After 18 months of hard work their idea came a reality. Running the event in the North means that it comes under RACMSA rules and consequently requires Department of Environment authorisation, agreement of the Police, etc.
I decided to enter when Hugh and I both had our cars on display at Sandown Park at the end of 1998. He told me about this forthcoming event and how good the event would be. Appetite wetted I decided to enter. As you will see later on it really lived up to expectations.
A week or so before the event we received the final instructions and a copy of the programme for the event, no half dozen pages listing entries but one of 80 pages! With notes about each crew and car, a full entry list, an overview of the route and this paid for by a substantial amount of advertising.
The programme showed just how much effort and support the club had received. Running at number one was Rauno Aaltonen with Beatty Crawford navigating. A good part of the entry list read like a Who’s Who of Irish motorsport – just some of the more well known names Frank Fennell, John Lyons, Terry Harryman, Adrian Boyd, Dessie Nutt, and the local hero Ronnie McCartney. Six crews had come over from England including ourselves, Basil and Valerie Wales and the Wyllie family. Making an impressive entry of 54 cars including a number of ex-works cars.
Scrutineering was held on the Thursday before the event at Tom Turkington’s garage and museum, a truly magnificent collection of Minis. To make us welcome a Bar-b-que was held in the evening. The start was from the promenade in Bangor, and it was straight into a driving test! In the briefing before the start we were welcomed by the Mayor of Bangor. From Bangor we headed south over the Strangford Ferry and then headed north through the Mountains of Mourne to Nutts Corner Racing circuit and on to the finish for the evening at the Stakis Park Hotel in Templepatrick. This was to be our base for the whole event. On day two we headed north towards Tor Head and then worked our way down the coast to Larne with breathtaking views over the sea to the Mull of Kyntyre and then it was back to the Hotel. The final day took us west to the Sperrin Moutains, and almost to Omagh and then returning to the Templepatrick for the finish.
Each day consisted of a number of regularities, some long, others short. On the first two days the day’s competition started and ended with a driving test. The organisers had, not only arranged a good days motoring, but entertainment each evening. On Friday evening there was a Rally Forum, hosted by Ronnie Trouton and with Rauno Aaltonen, Terry Harryman, Ronnie McCartney, John Lyons and our own Basil Wales. Very entertaining. On Saturday there was a Bar-b-que, followed by more banter from the personalities present. This was described as a charity evening, with over 90 prizes donated for the raffle it raised a staggering value, over £700. The prize giving was on Sunday evening at dinner.
At the end of Day One Basil was pursuing an elusive can silicon brake fluid, having lost most of what he had in the car. He did find some the next morning and was able to rejoin the competition.
One of the three all female crews were Lucy Ford-Hutchinson and Wendy Austin. Lucy is the Northern Ireland Ladies Autotest Champion and Wendy is from the BBC. A film crew followed her around and covered the whole event. On the first driving test on Day Two Lucy lost all drive to her wheels. The organisers again showed their benevolence and found her another car to enable her to continue.
One crew was sidelined as a result of an accident with a white van – their car looked very second hand. Happily both driver and navigator were unhurt.
Another crew, in a borrowed car, whilst climbing a road used at other times for hill climbing found that the car gradually broke away and ended up with a large scrape along the passenger side, damaging the rear radius arm and a Minilite in the process.
As mentioned earlier the BBC were filming the event, they also had a camera in a 1997 Mini crewed by Jim and Dorothy Lyttle. Driving round we saw them in the most unlikely places often in the middle of nowhere. I understand that this material is going to be used in a programme, which will be one of a number being made about the Mini to be shown nationally around October. Also RPM (supplying Ulster TV, RTE and Sky) were filming the event.
The winners of the event were
1st Sam Bowden and Raymond Donaldson, both experienced autotesters.
2nd Eric and Glen Patterson, in a Riley Elf.
3rd Dessie and Rosemary McCartney.
As for us, at the end of day one we were 16th, but had two wrong slots on a regularity and a wrong direction on one of the tests on Saturday which dropped us to a final position of 34th.
A superb event, not just the competition, but the social side as well. This has to be one of the best events I have taken part in, several others said the organisation was better than some international events. Everyone made us feel most welcome. The organising club hopes to run the event again, but it’s not going to be an annual event. As Rauno commented at the awards presentation "don’t make it the for the fiftieth, some of us might not be around!"