Mini Cooper driver Mike Barratt and his co-driver Jody Watson were awarded the inaugural 'Shekhar Mehta Spirit of Rallying' award during the HRCR annual awards event on Saturday [February 3].
The special award was presented to the Oxford based driver and his High Wycombe-based co-driver in recognition of their determination and good humour during a torrid season in last year's MSA British Historic Rally Championship.
The special 'spirit of the championship' award is a cast bronze Cheetah on a plinth and was given to the championship by Yvonne Mehta in memory of her late husband, one of the legends of rallying and a true ambassador for the sport. It will now be presented annually to a BHRC crew, selected by a panel of judges at the end of each season.
Having failed to finish six of the nine championship rounds in 2006, Barratt was thrilled to collect the award. "I'm absolutely delighted," said Barratt. "It's an honour to win this award for the first time. It's such a prestigious award. Not to finish six out of nine rounds was pretty heart breaking, especially when some of the reasons have been so silly."
Barratt also paid tribute to his co-driver, who accepted the disappointments with good humour and retained her enthusiasm for the campaign.
Although Barratt and Watson won their class on the first (Robin Hood) and last (Somerset) rounds of the season in their 1966 Cooper S, they retired on all but one of the six rallies in between.
"It started on a high and finished on a high. Everything else was rubbish! The engine's been in and out more than a violinist's elbow. We thought about putting it on tie-wraps to make it quicker," joked Barratt.
Particular low points were the Astra Stages in April when the clutch broke on the track leading to the start of the first stage and the Trackrod Rally in October when Barratt inadvertently filled the fuel tank with diesel mid-rally! Barratt will have to miss three rounds in 2007 due to family commitments, but will do the remaining six BHRC events and they will start their season on the Robin Hood Historic Forest Stages in March.
