November 14, 2004:
MINI Open Rally
I spent today at MINI Peabody, “slightly helping” with the running of the “MINI Open Rally”; Ivan & Richard planned a timed rally starting & finishing at the dealership, and heading north as far as Newburyport with three checkpoints. Ivan ran the route a number of times and computed a “roboMINI” perfect time - the goal for the rally was to match that perfect time.
I arrived at MINI Peabody early (but not as early as Ivan) and assisted with loading the customised MINI clipboards with directions, etc; also helped shift vehicles from the dealership lot to allow space for returning rally MINIs later in the day.
Between 9 and 10am about 50 MINIs arrived with drivers & navigators, warming up on coffee & donuts:
After an introductory speech by Martin, the customary “driver ed” speech was given by Richard, then everyone prepared to head off:
A time clock was used to mark the start time (and later the end time) of every MINI, and even in the cool weather it was great to see a couple of top-down convertibles on the rally.
Once all the MINIs had headed off, we prepared for their return at the dealership; a few other MINIs turned up, and the caterers prepared lunch. The bouncy castle was inflated, and Martin relieved some stress by shifting snow. Also, a classic Mini Moke arrived from Burnetts Garage, to join the fun.
Eventually, cars started to arrive back from the rally:
And the parking lot began to fill:
(click for bigger pic)
Long queues for food - but worth the wait!
And eventually, the last car came back:
The day ended with a thank-you speech from Martin and prize-giving to the best five finishers (except for all the moving back of cars which MINI Peabody had to do after everyone had left - well done Dan for staying around and helping, and bad me for heading off with the keys to one car!)
A neat MINI Convertible poster on display:
Link to my gallery and links to other peoples galleries:
Jareds Gallery
Dougs Gallery
Josh’s (few) pics
Jester’s Moms pics (Sony registration required)
Harveys pics
Paul Mello (2004/11/15 @ 7:23 am)
What a lot of fun. I enjoyed the TSD part a lot (with the help of Steve from MOP). He pointed ot where the best pic’s could be had for Christmas cards. That sure was a great route. The MOP crew really helped make the event extra fun. Thanks again Steve!
Harvey (2004/11/17 @ 7:28 am)
It was a great day for all. I want th thank all of the people that made this event happen. Terry and I had a great tour of the countryside.