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The four top drivers in the 2005 John Cooper Challenge were selected represent the UK in the MINI Challenge World Finals in Misano.
They were:
Arthur Forster - overall and S Class Champion.
Barney Craggs - Club Class Champion
Andy Sayle - runner up S Class
Rob Austin - runner up Club Class
Twenty identical new left hand drive Cooper S Challenge race cars were prepared and supplied by BMW for the event, along with a single mechanic for each driver. All 20 cars were destined to be shipped at a later date to New Zealand for competition in 2006.
All drivers were put through a punishing practice schedule during Friday to familiarise themselves with the ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles), Karts, Slalom Course and Circuit.
Points scoring competition started on Saturday morning with the ATV Trial Race which was won by 18 year old Johannes Stuck (Austria).
Craggs and Forster finished in 13th an 14th places respectively, with Austin in 17th and Sayle struggling in 20th position.
The Karting was dominated by Seffi Helm (Germany) and Maxime Martin (Belgium) but Andy Sayle made up for his poor quad bike performance by finishing 4th in the Kart Finals. Craggs, Austin and Forster were 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.
The UK drivers were looking forward to making up points in the more familiar circuit racing. However, none of them had previous experience racing in left hand drive cars and were on a steep learning curve around the Misano circuit, on slicks and in the dark for the first race. Big hipped Barney Craggs found he couldn’t fit into the standard size race seat and had another larger size fitted to the car in time for timed practice in the early evening.
Maxime Martin secured pole position, with Sayle and Forster in 9th and 10th and Austin bringing up the rear in 18th. Barney Craggs secured 14th on the grid but with a last minute clutch problem had to be supplied with a replacement car within 15 minutes of race one starting. Frustratingly, there was insufficient time for him to swap race seats.
Disaster struck Arthur Forster when he was forced to retire with rear suspension damage, having been shunted off early in the race. The race was won convincingly by Markus Palttala (Finland) with Sayle (who sustained heavy offside damage) and Austin putting in fine performances in 11th and 12 respectively.
Palttala’s race performance gave him the overall lead at the end of the first day of competition, with Andy Sayle in 10th.
Sunday morning began with the second round of the Slalom competition. Andy Sayle secured a worthy 4th place in this discipline the day before and finished 5th overall with a solid second round performance. The Slalom competition brought up yet another winner – 40 year old Urs Hintermayer (Switzerland) but it proved to be Rob Austin’s weakest discipline with him coming last on both days. With Craggs and Forster in 17th and 18th, there was plenty for the UK to do in the second circuit race later that day.
The second race was to prove to be Rob Austin’s finest half hour, with a fighting performance securing 9th position in the overall race standings. Desperate bad luck with clutch failure caused Forster to retire yet again. Craggs had a ‘moment’ early in the race when he contacted a tyre wall at the chicane and nearly rolled. Although he managed to rejoin the circuit he found himself at the rear of the pack for the rest of the race and was soon joined by Sayle who ended up at the back following contact and a stop-go penalty.
The second race secured Maxine Martin (Belgium) the World Championship, with Frederik Lestrup (Sweden) in 2nd and Johannes Stuck (Austria) in 3rd.
Andy Sayle finished a creditable 12th despite his racing incidents and Rob Austin 17th, thanks to his legendary steady race performance.
High spirited Barney Craggs took 19th place, with Arthur Forster a surprising 20th having had the unluckiest weekend of them all.
Special congratulations should be afforded to 22 year old Oliver Mortimer, the Scottish Mini Challenge Champion who secured 7th place overall (including a podium in the karting). Oliver was warmly adopted by the John Cooper Challenge team who were proud to be associated with him as a fellow UK representative.
A final mention should also be given to Jim Loukes, fellow John Cooper Challenge S Class racer, who drove for BMW in the Special Guest race on Sunday afternoon.
Loukes put up a brave fight against the likes of famous drivers such as Dron, Aaltonen, Ravaglia and Zanardi. His ‘claim to fame’ for the cheering UK supporters came near the end of the race when he made contact with the German driver Danner, who ended up in a gravel trap while fighting for 8th position. The Guest race was won by ex- Formula 1 star Zanardi with a perfectly timed move on the last corner of the last lap.
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