Phil Harris at Brandywell Cottage on the famous Isle of Man TT circuit
Photo courtesy of Paul Lawrence
17th to 19th September 2015 saw rounds 6 and 7 of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship as part of the world famous Rally Isle of Man. The event covers 170 stage miles over three days and nights on the narrow, fast and bumpy roads and lanes of the Isle of Man. The rally uses some of the famous TT roads and is renowned for being one of the most demanding tests of both crews and cars.
The Harris & Co Mini Cooper started the rally from Douglas promenade on Thursday evening. Phil Harris said “Both my co-driver and I had never rallied on the Isle of Man before, so we were on a very steep learning curve as we headed off into the dark, wet first loop of night stages.”
“After a cautious start, we picked up the pace and got quicker as the event progressed.”
“The event fully deserves it reputation as a stern test of cars and crews. A lot of crews dropped out, but the car ran flawlessly throughout. The only issue we had was the clutch - it was just starting to fade on the final, long 18 mile stage on Saturday.”
“We backed off a bit and made it to the finish.”
“Not only did we get to the finish, but we won our class in both rounds 6 and 7, so it was a tremendous result on our Isle of Man debut.”