Team MINI takes stage at Duttons

Team MINI is celebrating its first outright stage win and another ‘first in class’ mantle after only its third outing. The team also secured a raft of additional honours including best driver and co-driver in class, and picked up an outright win in the co-driver handicap award.

Team MINI guest drivers Paul Stokell and co-driver James Dutton achieved 20th outright, with James Brock and co-driver Nathan Geier right behind in 21st place overall. Team MINI CarPoint did not contest the event.

BMW Group technician, Nathan Geier – a regular on the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship scene – walked away from the Dutton rally as best performer for Team MINI. Not only did Nathan hand the Team its first outright stage win on the Collett Street Car Park stage, he also won outright the co-driver handicap, and was best co-driver in class. Paul Stokell secured best driver in class for the Team.

Team manager, David Vervaart, was delighted with the result on only the Team’s third outing, just one week after its 1, 2, 3 finish in class at the Lake Mountain Sprint in Victoria’s high country.

“It’s rewarding for everyone involved in the Team to see it going from strength to strength, especially after the tight turnaround from Lake Mountain last week and all the effort the Team has been putting in,” said David.

“We decided to lighten-up the intensity that usually surrounds racing with some light-hearted fun at the Duttons event.

“A first outright win is a great achievement for our fledgling team. We’re determined to leave our mark at each and every event we compete in, and so far we’re managing to do that – although the water pistols and typical MINI frivolity on the weekend probably helped!”

Experienced motorsport campaigner, Paul Stokell, was pleasantly surprised with the point-and-squirt handling of his MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works kit and had a great weekend of racing:

“It’s quite a deceptive car – I wasn’t sure how it would go, but it was light and nimble and suited the setup of many stages and was absolutely awesome in the dry,” he said.

MINI’s presence at the event was boosted by the inclusion of the Sunnyfield MINI Cooper S, which competes at every Alphera Dutton Rally round to raise awareness of the charity. Sunnyfield also generates significant funds through high-end auctions at the events.

Sunnyfield’s main aim is to help people with disabilities lead more independent lives. A few lucky people who use Sunnyfield’s services were fortunate enough to take part in a ‘hot lap’ in the Sunnyfield MINI at Eastern Creek Raceway. Among the lucky participants was Jenny, who is 22 and has Williams Syndrome. Jenny features in the MINI Sunnyfield rooftop livery.

The NSW round of the Alphera Dutton rally is the second in the series. It consisted of various courses including speed, auto tests and motorkhanas around NSW and the ACT. A total of 72 two-driver teams entered.

Team MINI CarPoint will be back in action at the next Dutton Rally, held in Queensland from July 28 – 30.