REPORT: HRCR ‘Old Stager’ Rally Isle of Man

Peter Horsburgh/Graham Carter took the win

Leg 1
A beautiful sunny day greeted the Mini crews for the start of leg 1 of the rally Isle of Man. The organisers made a sterling effort to make the HRCR welcome, putting all the Minis in a separate service area to have their own gathering – this also included two modern ones brought over by Dan Harper, driving a Mini Cooper S.

The ‘foreign’ Mini crews have ended their journeys, coming from Japan and America, setting up home in the service park for the four days after shipping the Minis for six weeks to get to the event.

Peter Ellerby elected to do the shakedown stage to run in in his new gearbox. Shane Gamble was late entry purchasing a Mini from Jersey, having rebuilt the engine, added new seats, belts and fire extinguishers ready to compete in the event. The car was finally loaded onto the ferry Wednesday night to arrive just in time for scrutineering on Thursday morning.

Clive King in action

By the time our crews started the now traditional first stage on Douglas Promenade the rain had arrived making for interesting driving conditions. By the end of this leg Clive King/Anton Bird were the first Mini home taking the time of 23:11:09 having had a good run over the 11 stages and the Mini not faltering, but Peter Horsburgh/Graham Carter were snapping at their heels, despite having to change some suspension parts on the Mini before the end of Leg 1. 

Peter Ellbery/Paul Price had to repair the heater after it fell on Peter’s foot during stage 3, trapping his foot on the clutch. Adding to the drama the car took a detour on to some tram tracks resulting in his steering rack sustaining damage leaving them in 5th place.

Andrew O’ Hanlon/Brian Hodgson's Leg 1 was less then perfect. First a time mix-up and then being handed a 2-­minute time penalty for booking in early into a time control - they also suffered a stall on the first stage. This left them trailing Clive by over four minutes.

The first Japanese Mini team are Shinobu Kitani/Hiroko Kitani in their Austin Mini Cooper S taking a time of 25:25:0 placing them 3rd. Yoshinao Tsuchiya/Ristsuro Okano are close behind with only Shane Gamble/Paul Kendrick in their recently purchased Mini between them, all split within a minute. Osamu Sumida/Asska Sumida were the final Mini across the finish line on Leg 1.

Leg 2
The weather on this leg improved all the time, which was welcome, as crews were faced with the prospect of the two final stages being the longest stages of the event at over 11 miles and 18 miles. 

Peter Horsburgh/Graham Carter used numbered pace notes for the first time and made it home first despite having driveshaft issues on the final two stages. Andrew O’ Hanlon/Brian Hodgson finished the rally second after taking a steady drive to ensure valuable Mini Cup points and Yoshinao Tsuchiya/Ristsuro Okano came in 3rd place.

The long event had taken its toll - Peter Ellerby/Paul Price rolled their Mini on SS20 having put in some quick times and Shinobu Kitani/Hiroho Kitani retired with gearbox issues. Shame Gamble’s engine cried enough on the Friday night with him saying it went with a bang before the castle town stage.

Clive King/Anton Bird also had gear issues which put them out of the rally on Friday night. They worked on the car 'til two in the morning trying to replace the release bearing but without success.

Being the first Mini home Peter Horsburgh/Graham Carter were awarded a free entry into next year event.

And our Japanese friends have promised to bring over six Minis next year!

RESULTS
Andrew O’Hanlon -­ 137pts 
Anton Bird -­ 138 pts
Clive King -­ 106 pts 
Graham Carter -­ 79 pts
Peter Horsburgh -­ 79 pts 
Paul Kendrick -­ 69 pts

The next round is the Cambrian Rally on Oct 17th 2015

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