Last November Guy and Daniel came over from Switzerland to Scotland to compete in the 2006 Autoecosse Historic Rally. When they were here they invited me to come over to compete in their club’s premier event, the Mini Winter Rally in January 2007. I had been hoping to take part in the 07 Monte Carlo Historique, but unfortunately my 1963 Triumph Spitfire wasn’t ready, so I thought that this ice and snow rally would be a good substitute as well as good preparation for the 2008 Monte. Guy and Daniel were really friendly and got on well with everyone over here, so I took up their generous offer of a car, navigator and accommodation.

Setting off from Dundee in late January, I travelled to London by train and took the Eurostar to Paris, then the TGV to Geneva and then on to Lausanne. It was very cold when I arrived, but it was a pleasant crisp coldness. The plan had been to phone Guy when I got into Lausanne station. It was a big station with several entrances, but as luck would have it, I turned round and there he was. He took me back to his home where I was treated to a wonderful meal cooked by his charming wife. After dinner I helped with the usual last minute rush to get the rally packs together, returning the favour that Guy and Daniel did for us when they helped put together the Autoecosse packs.

 

The next day I was introduced to the car, a rare Mini Countryman complete with roof-rack and spiked tyres. I couldn’t wait to drive it. Guy was a bit nervous as I practised driving on the wrong side of the road, but when he saw that I was such a ‘superb driver’ he soon relaxed. The car was in great condition for its year, with an 1100cc engine and drum brakes. I was a bit worried that the brakes might prove to be a problem on the mountain roads. They fade easily when going down mountain roads at speed. Of course the trick is not to use them! Unusually for that time of the year there was little snow on the low ground. Higher up there was ample snow, with beautiful sunshine during the day – ideal conditions for a winter rally.

On the morning of the rally, I felt quite at home. They did all the things we do before the start of our events. I met my navigator, Gaetan Morabito, who fortunately spoke very good English. We collected our pack, had a coffee and croissant, and chatted to the other competitors. We had a bit of a wait for some late comers but they eventually arrived and we were ready to go. I had brought ‘Hey you Jimmy’ hats for Guy and Daniel and they put them on and kept them on for most of the event. You can check out how well the hats suited them.......

As I said before, the weather conditions were perfect. The further away from Lausanne the deeper the snow. It was very cold but with beautiful blue skies, sunshine and gorgeous scenery. The rally route was meticulously put together and illustrated in an excellent Tulip road book. Essentially, it was a regularity type rally, so Gaetan had to time our progress between controls very accurately following the instructions in the roadbook. I just had to drive. It would have been fairly easy to keep to the time if you did not get lost, but unfortunately we got lost a few times, so I had to drive a bit faster to make up time. It was great fun. Once or twice I had to execute a handbrake turn to get back on route. Fortunately my navigator was not a nervous passenger.

The first special test was headed up as a ‘Specialite Ecossaise’. It was a slalom and would not have been out of place in a Scottish Historic rally. Apparently I did a good time on that one. The roads on the rally itself, were narrow, snow covered with lots of hairpin bends and steep drops. Good practice for the Monte! The organisers had planned to do an evening section, but some teams finished a bit late, so it was cancelled. I was disappointed although by the end of the first day I was a ‘wee bit tired’, but happy. We finished the day with a lovely meal at the hotel and a comfortable bed for the night. I was too tired to do much socialising, but some of the competitors ‘socialised’ on into the early hours.

The next day there was even more snow, but still blue skies and sunshine. Had it been Scotland the roads would probably have been closed, but they don’t close the roads in Switzerland, unless they are impassable – when the snow is above the roof of the car! Guy and Daniel had picked up on another of our ideas from the Autoecosse by running the route backwards on one of the sections on the second day, so this was another familiar twist. It was quite tight for time, but great fun. I could feel the car getting out of line on a few occasions and I had to use all my skill and limited experience to keep us out of trouble.

The rally finished too soon for me. But the car was in one piece, the navigator was happy and I was delighted. It was a great little car and it was quite a mini adventure driving it on snow packed roads up in the Swiss mountains.

While the results team were busy calculating the final results we had a curry – unusual food for Switzerland- and just like at home the competitors re-ran the rally at the tables. It was a really friendly atmosphere and it did not seem to matter that I didn’t speak any French. Daniel did a very funny speech (at least I think it was funny, everyone was laughing) and presented the prizes. I got a prize – I think it was for coming such a long way.

Guy and Daniel are to be congratulated for putting on a fantastic event. It used to be called the Mini Monte Carlo, because it had all the features of the Monte. I think it should still be called the Mini Monte because that’s what it is. It had a truly international flavour with teams from Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany and even Scotland. It was very well organised, friendly and hospitable with lots of people only too willing to practice their English on me. I would highly recommend this event to anyone interested in competing abroad and a warm welcome would be assured to any Mini owners wanting a winter break in Switzerland after the festive season. I’ll certainly be back for more and I’m sure a few other Scots will join me.

Details of the event can be found on the club website www.mini-club-romand.ch