MINI returns to Bathurst

In 1966, the mighty Mini Cooper S won Bathurst and filled the top nine places, a feat that remains unbeaten in 40 years. And since 1966, no naturally-aspirated four-cylinder vehicle has ever won the Great Race either.

40 Years on from its epic win at the Gallagher 500 race at Mount Panorama, MINI returns to Bathurst to lap the famous track on Sunday 8 October 2006. And the Australian who won the race in 1966 will drive a MINI Cooper S once again.

Bob Holden, 74, was partnered by BMC's Finnish works driver Rauno Aaltonen in 1966. Today, Bob is still competitive, driving MINIs and Escorts in circuit racing and rallying and he raced a V8 Ute at Bathurst earlier this year.

He's raced at Bathurst 34 times, and is very keen to return to Mount Panorama to drive a 2006-model MINI Cooper S Team MINI racer.

"I am really looking forward to driving a MINI Cooper S at Bathurst again," says Bob.

With eleven class wins in 13 years and the first nine places outright in 1966, the Mini set records at Bathurst which will probably never be matched -- even in races where everyone's in either a Ford or a Holden. Although racing back then was open to any production car of which at least 250 had been built, 24 of the 53 cars entered were Minis.

What sealed the win, forty years ago, was the shrewd driving of Bob Holden and the sheer speed of his co-driver Aaltonen. Each works team consisted of a local and an international driver -- Aaltonen, Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Makinen, but Makinen had rally commitments in Europe and had to return, leaving Hopkirk teamed with Brian Foley and Makinen's car going to John French and Steve Harvey.

Holden was the only driver who was also a mechanic -- when a dyno run the week before revealed that his car was down on power, he arranged to "borrow" it and with a team of apprentices working through the night, he balanced everything that goes around -- gears, crankshaft, even wheel hubs.

The car was returned before dawn and the next night he borrowed it again -- and drove it flat out from Sydney to Yass to Canberra and back to run everything in.

Holden and Aaltonen were paired together as the team's number three drivers -- had their car been fastest in practice it would have been given to one of the other teams, so they slowed down, despite being sure that the car was a whole second a lap faster.

Despite facing Studebakers and V8 Valiants, within six laps, the top 16 places were held by Minis.

Rauno Aaltonen remembers his Bathurst victory with much delight. The 1966 event was especially sweet for the BMC Works drivers after they had won the Monte Carlo Rally for the third time in a row -- claiming first, second and third placings - only to be disqualified on a dubious technicality concerning headlamp globes.

Aaltonen recalls that during the event, the three works cars would form up nose-to-tail in a bumper-touching train that made them 10-15 miles an hour faster than if they were on their own down the Conrod straight -- but water temperature quickly rose and they'd have to dive out to get cooling air through the radiators.

After just 28 laps, Hopkirk retired with terminal engine failure and on lap 65, exactly half-way, the leading Mini of Ron Haylen burst a tyre, rolled, smashed through a fence and bounced back onto the track, handing the lead to Bob Holden in car 13. He and Aaltonen were never headed, finishing the 130 laps in seven hours, 11 minutes and 29 seconds and at the front of a train of Minis.

Although 1966 was the heyday, Minis have a proud Bathurst history that spanned 16 years. Interestingly, many women chose Minis to race at the Mountain -- names such as Jane Richardson, Midge Whiteman, Christine Cole, Sandra Bennett, Ann Thomson, Carol Corness, Lynne Keeffe, Caroline O'Shanesy and Lynne Brown all feature in the finishers lists.

Bathurst in 2006 will resound to the distinctive cackle of MINI exhausts as hundreds of MINI fans arrive for a weekend of celebration of the 40th anniversary.

The special ‘MINI Conquers the Mountain' event will draw a large crowd of nostalgic MINI lovers, including some former works and privateer MINI drivers from the 1960s and 1970s.

The weekend kicks off with a gala dinner on Friday night, while the 50 special Classic MINIs will be on display outside the National Motor Racing Museum adjacent to the track on Saturday and Sunday.

Joining Bob Holden's 2006 MINI Cooper S on track for the special parade lap early on Sunday morning will be the CarPoint-backed racer of Publishing Director Mike Sinclair, and the third 2006 works car driven by a special guest of MINI, along with the 50 Classic MINIs.

Included in the parade will be a replica of the original 1966 winner, race number 13C, resplendent in one version of the now infamous Castrol Green paint.

The whereabouts of the original race winning MINI Cooper S are unknown. The car was painted white for its 1967 Bathurst attack, but was later pressed into use as a daily driver, only to be stolen from outside a Sydney nightspot. It was never seen again.

In 2006, MINI has recreated a three car race team to take part in iconic motorsport events through the year.

The first event was the gruelling Targa Tasmania in April, followed by Alphera Dutton Rally series in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, as well as Lake Mountain Sprint and Quit Targa West.

Results to date have been impressive with an overall win on Handicap for Drivers at the Alphera Dutton Rally Victoria in early September being the best result to date. In fact MINI Cooper S cars filled three of the top six positions.

Team MINI also secured overall first and second place for co-drivers on the Alphera Dutton Rally Queensland.

Following their anniversary run at Bathurst, the cars will take part in the Mount Buller Sprint in November, capping an exciting season of racing.