Team MINI Victorious at Dutton Rally

Beating off a field of 100 hard-charging competitors including exotic sports thoroughbreds and rally-bred Japanese challengers by the dozen, the lone MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works Tuning Kit emerged victorious in Victoria.

With champion Paul Stokell sharing driving duties with Publishing Director Mike Sinclair, the CarPoint-backed Team MINI entry claimed three prizes: First outright on handicap, and first in class for drivers, with Mike Sinclair picking up a trophy for third in class for co-drivers.

The Victorian win backs up a similarly successful effort at the previous Alphera Dutton Rally round in Queensland, where the team recorded a class win and second place on handicap for co-drivers and third overall on handicap for drivers.

The Team MINI racers are based around showroom cars, with only safety equipment such as FIA-compliant roll cages, race seats and harnesses fitted. The cars use Dunlop road-legal competition tyres and AP-derived race brakes, both of which are available to customers keen to build their own event winner.

Stokell was pumped after cleaning up on track at Shepparton and Winton, being the first MINI to crack a 1min40sec lap at the circuit. His race time at Sandown was as impressive, logging just a smidge over 1min30sec.

"We ran very strongly over the whole event," Paul said. "The car never missed a beat and we continued to leave other competitors astonished at our cornering speeds.

"The result at Winton is spectacular."

CarPoint’s Mike Sinclair was equally excited by his third in class result, vastly improved over his last Dutton outing.

"I have got my head around the gymkhana events and now we’re really starting to give the seasoned campaigners as well as the much more expensive cars a run for their money in the co-driver class as well as the driver class," he said.

Mitsubishi EVO IX drivers Peter Gazzard and Jeff Beaumont held on to outright victory at the rally, even though they were penalised in the last two stages for changing tyres, earning them a five-second penalty per stage, which shortened the margin.

Series champions and 2005 winners Martin Notaras and Simon Arthur were second in their Mitusbishi EVO VIII, closely followed by 2004 winners Ernie and Andrew Fuller in an EVO III.

The next stop for the rampaging Team MINI cars is an anniversary party at Bathurst over the weekend of October 5-8 as part of the MINI Conquers the Mountain event, including a parade lap comprising 50 classic MINIs and the three 2006 Works cars.

Legendary MINI racer Bob Holden will drive one of the Team MINI cars around Bathurst, 40 years after he won the race in a 1966 MINI Cooper S partnered by Finnish BMC driver Rauno Aaltonen.

Bob, 74, continues to participate successfully in motorsport. He was also in action this weekend, campaigning a classic MINI Cooper S at the Speed on Tweed event in New South Wales.

Immediately following the Bathurst anniversary Parade, Team MINI heads north for an exciting debut in Surfers Paradise, before returning to Victoria for the final event of the year, the Mount Buller Sprint.

Alphera Dutton Rally Victoria results