The much anticipated Manx rally didn’t disappoint, with 15 Minis making their way to the infamous Isle of Man to tackle its closed roads. A slightly rocky start for some, with flight and ferry cancelations meaning some crews arrived at the Island later than expected, however all managed to arrive with plenty of time for recce on the Thursday.
Unfortunately we lost stages 6 and 7 on day 1 due to a non rally medical emergency, also losing stage 10 due to 2 cars colliding on day 2 but thankfully all crews were okay. Apart from that the first day and evening of the Manx rally went smoothly for most.
Following the final stages on Saturday the overall Manx Mini Rally Challenge results were as follows.
Mini Cooper S R53;
1st Tim Green and Jordan Joines
2nd Gareth Humphreys and Adam Burkill
3rd Martin Williams and Martin Allwood
Mini Cooper R50;
1st Owen Cule and Matt Walk
2nd Paul Green and Lucie Gutteridge
3rd Kevin Ablitt and Graham Child.
Jack Birch and Mike Jode were putting in a strong effort over the Friday, finishing day one 3 minutes ahead of the other R50 crews, but unfortunately a suspension failure on the Friday then gearbox failure on stage 10 meant their Manx rally was over for this year. Mike commented that Jack had been driving very well up to that point. I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll fuel them on for the coming rounds. This followed similar occurrences happening at the last round in Anglesey, hopefully they will be able to get their gremlins sorted and be fighting at the front on their next outing
Tim Green and Jordan Joines are our current ruling R53 champions and haven’t actually sat together since the Cambrian last year. With it being their first outing in the Minis for 2024 they wanted to try and hold a steady pace and aim for a strong finish with consistent stage times as it wasn’t worth risking the car due to the fact they aren’t competing for the overall title this year. That being said, in Tim’s own words he wanted to try and put in a quick first couple of stages before settling in to it because they didn’t want to be out of reach of the current series leaders. The pair had a fairly uneventful rally and Tim expressed how impressed he was with the performance of his little R53 compared to the cars he was seeded with. They said they both just click really well in the car and it was great to be back in the mini rally paddock.
In a contrasting series of events, the leaders of the R50 class Owen and Matt had been tackling gremlins since stage one. First of their trials, they lost first and second gear mid stage, luckily managing to rectify it on the road section. Further troubles on stages 6 and 7 when they lost their lights meaning they had to back off sacrificing precious minutes to bring the car home safe. Their final bump in the road was on stage 13 when they found themselves in a hedge bottom. Luckily for them a few near by marshals were able to push them free and send them on their way. Despite all of this they were fastest on 8 of the 12 stages meaning they took the top step in class, Owen has said they are very chuffed with the result and since they are only doing the tarmac rounds are looking forward to getting back out in August….. plenty of time to remove all that gravel they collected in the undertray from the bushes.
John Clayton and Christian Brown only managed to get their names on the start list last minute due to the popularity of the event, however they didn’t hang about getting stuck in to the Manx tarmac. The pair have experience on closed roads together meaning they were prepared and in the zone from the off. Day one they brought the pace and say they were in a great flow from stage 2, while still treating the undulating nature of the roads with respect. They luckily got themselves through a close call in stage three and ended the first days rallying on in 3rd position. However day 2 was to be more testing, they took a heavy knock against a bridge in stage 12 and then unfortunately a split coolant hose ended their rally between stages 13 and 14. Christian has said that him and John thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the Isle of Man and have plans to return in the future….. commenting hopefully with the Minis.
Gareth Humpreys and Adam Burkill went into the Manx tentatively as they were unsure how their car was going to hold up after a few niggling previous problems. As it turns out, they needn’t be worried as the car performed excellently over the 2 day rallying. The fantastic weather meant they had the confidence to push on early and quickly found themselves in second place chasing Tim Green and Jordan. Back out on the second leg was more of the same with the pair posting encouraging times in the early stages, until a slight scare on stages 8 and 9 with the clutch showing signs of slipping. Backing off the power a little allowed the car to cool and the clutch came back to them meaning they could resume their push. Day 2 was a continued impressive effort from the crew pushing hard on the fast and harsh Saturday stages. They found the clutch beginning to wear on the final stages but managed to keep pace and bring the car home in 3rd place, a second podium in a row for them both. They both agreed it to be a fantastic event with some truly breath-taking stages.
Stay tuned for part 2 to find out how our other crews got on tackling the notorious closed roads on the Isle of Man.
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