A MOTORSPORT 'first' by an East Lancashire rally crew is set to be aired on television.
For a BMW Mini Cooper S, piloted by Mark Nuttall and his co-driver Chris Campbell, is set to make its bow on gravel tracks and make history in the Malcolm Wilson Stages in March.
And Granada's Men and motors cameras have been following the Barrowford driver and his Nelson-based partner every mile of the way.
The pair have joined forces with motorsport specialists Mini Sport of Padiham to build the car, which will make its first appearance at the Autosport Show tomorrow.
The Mini, which has taken two months to prepare from a bare shell, has a host of special features, including a Minisport-tuned, supercharged 200bhp engine, up-rated suspension and full safety equipment.
"It will be the first time that a BMW Mini has ever competed on gravel and it has proved a very exciting project which has captured the imagination of everyone involved," said Mark, who competed in the Volkswagen Polo Challenge and the Ford Ka Championship before retiring from the sport three years ago.
"I wanted to get back into rallying last year and was coincidentally approached by Granada Television, where I work as a graphic designer, for some programme ideas for their Men and Motors satellite channel.
"When I first saw the BMW Mini I realised it was a fantastic car and had all the right ingredients to turn it into a winner.
"I suggested doing a documentary on building a rally Mini and they jumped at the idea.
"Getting the idea off the ground didn't take long thanks to the interest of many local businesses who all wanted to be involved from the very start."
Under the guidance of Mini Sport's engineering director Daniel Harper, who is also one of the country's best-known club rally drivers, the project got under way in November.
Suspension specialists Proflex, based in Clitheroe, has built and supplied the suspension dampers, a brand-new differential has been designed and manufactured by PDS Engineering at Nelson, with brake specialists Hope of Barnoldswick supplying the brake calipers.
Other contributors include Rallytech (underbody guards), Blueflame (exhausts) and Racewear of Nelson (race suits).
Filming of the project has taken place over several months, covering conversion of a road car into a full-blown rally machine. A crew from Granada will be at the NEC to film its first appearance in public.
The documentary will be shown after their competition debut.
"Part of the attraction of doing this is that we are all doing something that hasn't been tried before," added Mark.
"For Mini Sport, it represents a genuine engineering development exercise which will help them develop their business in the New Mini arena.
"After the Autosport Show, we are planning to take the car for its first gravel test in Gisburn Forest, along with a World Rally Championship driver for his evaluation of it.
"After that our target is March 6 and the Malcolm Wilson Rally where, hopefully, we will drive into the record books."
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