Photo courtesy of Clare Wilkinson
Sunday 31st July 2016 saw the 5th round of the 2016 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Harry Flatters Rally held on the tarmac roads over the military ranges of the Brecon Beacons mountain range.
It was the 13th rally since the Harris & Co Mini Cooper was completely rebuilt by RSR Historic Engineering in 2014.
“The military ranges over Epynt are notoriously fast with lots of blind crests that require complete commitment and famous for being very hard on cars,” explained Phil. “I’d not been there for over 30 years and so we made sure that we did a good reccee on the Saturday. The pace notes were good and we were looking forward to the event.”
“We started the first stage well, the pace notes working perfectly. About two thirds of the way through the stage the engine started to develop an oil pressure issue. We got the car back to service and we decided to retire it rather than press on and risk damaging the engine.”
“With the next three rounds quite close together and with us being in a good position in the Championship, we thought it better to not risk destroying the engine and then not getting out on the next rounds.”
“It was the 13th event since RSR Historic Engineering rebuilt the car and it’s not missed a beat in all that time, so I guess its unlucky 13th!”