Success on the Monte Carlo historic
Friday 6th February 2009
Congratulations to Peter Barker and Willy Cave who finished as the highest placed British team (car and crew) on this year's Monte Carlo Historic rally. The MiniWorld team finished a credible 52nd overall and 2nd in class.
The Monte Carlo Historic Rally finished in the early hours of Wednesday morning and with over 300 entrants, 253 finishers and torrential downpours, Peter and Willy did well to finish so high up in the rankings in their Morris Cooper S. The highlight of their rally was a 2nd place finish on the 16th stage, as the rally took on the steep Col de Torini pass for the 3rd time.
The highest placed Mini was crewed by the French team Ludovic Bincaz and Andrew Boggis (above), who managed an impressive 19th overall and 1st in class.
The aim of the rally is to drive as accurately as possible through set timing points rather than as fast as possible, which is probably a good thing for a 1960s Mini! A decent finishing position requires intense concentration and driving skill, with some good luck too.
Bill Richards and John Morrow managed to complete the rally in 209th place after some severe gearbox difficulties. Given the difficulty of some of the rally stages, a finish is still a real achievement.
Willy and Peter after the exhausting 4 day event. A full report of the rally will be featured in MiniWorld soon.
Mini results:
19th- Ludovic Bincaz and Andrew Boggis (France)
52nd- Peter Barker and Willy Cave (GB)
79th- Tom Jahn and Markus Jahn (Finland)
99th- Preben Kristoffersen and Knud Hedegaard (Denmark)
121st- Charlotte Castelein and Stephanie Vereecke (Belgium)
171st- Andrea Castronovo and Barbara Adamoli (France, Italy)
172nd- PICQUIER Jean-François/THONE Michel (France, Belgium)
200th- Geoffrey O'Nion and David Wilkinson (GB)
209th- John Morrow and Bill Richards(GB)
219th- Franco Galli and Federico Galli (Italy)
DNF- Froilan Gisbert and Marek Pikc
DNF- Bernard Paulet and Daniel Pelletier
DNF- Paul Lips and Mauro Ussello
DNF- Peter Steinfurth and Wulf Biebinger
