Finally back in the Mini hot seat after two years with no rallies, we caught up with Team Mini Sport's Jack Hartley following his return from Mull Rally 2021...
"After two years away, we returned to Mull in the Mini, seeded car 101.
James Campbell, from Craignure, offered to navigate for me on this year’s event so I took him up on the offer. Although James has driven the event & has plenty of local knowledge, this would be his first time ever navigating! He soon got used to the other side of the car & did a great job keeping us on the road.
At the end of stage one on Friday night the spotlights on the Mini went out! Luckily they still worked if I held the stalk back on flash with my hand... Which meant driving stage two with one hand, which was rather interesting, having to let go of the stalk when I changed gear! We then got back to service where a new light switch was fitted & we were good to go again. The car ran without fault for the rest of the event & we kept it in one piece.
The weather was very changeable from one part of a stage to the next, making tyre choices quite difficult. We cut some Yokahama tyres into wets, which we used all weekend & they worked very well, getting plenty of heat into them.
We had a good run on leg two on Saturday afternoon and were 3rd in class at the end of it, noticing that 2nd was within reach - only 20 seconds ahead. This is what we were aiming for going into the last leg on Saturday night, as well as trying to get to get a finish now we’d got this far. We're delighted to have finished 2nd in Class A & 53rd Overall, with a very strong entry this year.
Thanks to the service crew & to everyone who supported us over the weekend.
Well done to Daniel and Chris on the win, about time!"