It is well known that the mighty Mini Cooper won a hat-trick of victories in the Monte Carlo rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967. This was one each to Paddy Hopkirk, and the two Flying Finns, Timo Makinen and Rauno Aaltonen who were the star drivers of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) Works Team. But did you know that the Mini Cooper actually won the Monte Carlo rally four years in succession? In 1966, the missing year, the Mini was robbed of its best ever result, a 1-2-3 for Timo Makinen, Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk in that order.
1908
The Monte Carlo rally was a gruelling circuit including a 900 mile mountain circuit including six special timed stages, to be completed within 24 hours. The third and final stage was an 11 hour night run covering 380 miles through some of the worst weather conditions in recent memory. Makinen drove GRX 555D brilliantly through the snow, ice and gales to lead his team-mates across the finish line in the sunshine of Monte Carlo harbour. But when the official results were posted, the Minis together with the Ford and Rootes entrants were not listed. Instead, the Citroën of Pauli Toivonen was declared to be the winner. The explanation given was that the lighting arrangements of the Minis and other British cars did not comply with FIA's Appendix J for Group 1 cars. Protests were lodged to the rally organisers and subsequently to the FIA as the governing body of the sport but to no avail. The Citroën remained the declared winner, and the Mini Coopers were disqualified. Toivonen, accepted his prize from Prince Rainier unenthusiastically, talking of ‘a hollow victory’.
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