Mad Dogs and Englishmen, playing in the mid-day snow.

Oddly, I received a Press Release from a friend the other day. Not something that happens very often! 😉 It included the photo above. That smirking brit on the left trying to look like a Rock Star is our very own John “Mad Dog” Morrow and his PR states the following:

Seattle Mini Owner to Compete in 2009 Monte Carlo Historic Rally Race

Seattle-based Mini Cooper owner, John Morrow will join forces with renowned
British circuit racer, Bill Richards, in the 2009 Monte Carlo Historique rally race.
The team will campaign Morrow’s 1965 1293cc Morris Cooper S. The car is a very
close replica of the fabulously successful vehicles built by BMC Competitions
Department in the 1960s and which won the Monte Carlo outright on three
separate occasions. Richards, who runs a well-known engineering and A-series
engine tuning business in Kent, UK, prepared the car.

The team, comprising driver Bill Richards, co-driver John Morrow and service
crew members John Griffin (also Team Manager) and Adam Cooke, will set off for
the start of the event at Reims, France, on January, 29, 2009.

This Monte Carlo Historique is one of the most gruelling rallies in the world and
the team will have to cover 2500 Km including a number of special stages over
narrow, snow and ice-covered, mountain roads before they reach the sunshine of
the Mediterranean. Richards and Morrow will be competing against 350 other
classic cars including several Minis. This will be third time the duo has competed
in the event; on the 2008 event they were leading their class when a broken
steering rack put them out of the running. Co-driver Morrow says, “2009 is the
50th anniversary of the Mini and there will be a lot of interest in how the car can
perform against its rivals half a century after it was first produced; the Monte is
an extremely competitive event but we are very well prepared and are hoping for
at least a class win”.

So I did what I usually do when John sends me an email… invite him out for a beer!

We’ll have that beer in a week or so, but let’s all wish John & Bill (and the Mini!) the best of luck in their coming Le Grande Aventure!

6 thoughts on “Mad Dogs and Englishmen, playing in the mid-day snow.”

  1. Wow, this will be a great experience ! Best wishes to John & Bill !
    If I can get free on the 30th, I will try to go to Reims to see them
    and watch the start. Philippe

  2. Now THAT would be cool Philippe… Imagine two people meeting face to face from places 8000+kms apart… all because of my website!

    BTW John has an E-type too, though I’ve never actually seen it. It is rumored to be a 66 FHC in BRG, and theoretically is located in California. I won’t believe it until I see it though. 😉

  3. hope it goes well John …

    so are the straps on the front of the Cooper to hold the headlights in??

    Jerome – my first car was a 1962 850cc Mini… good fun…

  5. Goodness, I know that car! Deja vu all over again. For once I thought you were going to give us an easy pass on in a “Guess the Automobile” competition. Anyway thanks for the plug, Chuck – now let me make a few comments.

    1) Thanks for the kind wishes everybody, we’ll do our best. We’re about as well prepared as it’s possible to be living 10,000Km from the rally route

    2) Phillipe: Please try to get to the Reims start on the 30th. There is always a fantastic atmosphere there. We are car number 328. The start is 7.00pm and 127 cars will leave from Reims. We’ll probably be parked in the square from about 6.00pm I imagine we’ll get off before around 9.00pm. Please come and say hello. I won’t promise but there might even be time for cup of coffee.

    3) Gondwana: Heh! The straps are attached to plexiglass headlamp covers on one end and Lift-The-Dot fastners on the other. But that’s an old photo. The covers have temporarily been removed because Bill keeps using the circuit racer technique downhill braking technique -scrub speed off by grinding the wings off the car. So both covers have gone for the time being. See here for an example and an account of our adventures last year (it’s better than taking valium): http://self-preservationsociety.blogspot.com/2008/04/monte-carlo-historique-rallye-2008.html

    4) The E type really does exist: Mel Muzio tells me that March is now when it will be finished. It just needs XJ6 brake calipers fitted to the rear axle, a light (!?) rebuild of the rear suspension and new torsion bars and solid steering rack mounts fitted at the front. It would have probably been completed in 2005 if I didn’t keep going on these rally jaunts.

    5) Chuck: “Smirking Brit trying to look like a rock star”. Well I did meet Keith Moon once…! Actually the look is one of hysteria because at the moment the photo was taken Bill and I were so tired we were hallucinating and we were about to face the brutal and infamous 200Km night loop section from Monaco over the dreaded Col de Turini.

  6. John,

    so far so good, I should be able to be there on Friday 30th. If weather allows, I migth come with the E
    and make a short visit to the Reims Circuit this day. Do you know where the scrutineering will take place?

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