64 June 2019 MiniWorld
[ Rocker cover r cing ]
Rocker cover racing is a big deal at a number of Mini events,
including the annual International Mini Meeting. We asked
competitive rocker cover racer, Mike Guido, of Florida, USA to give us
the low-down on this type of Mini racing without most of the Mini!
Words and photos: Mike Guido.
GOT IT COVERED?
M
iniWorld first witnessed Mini
rocker cover racing at a Mini
show in Australia around
15 years ago but perhaps it
began some time before. Certainly in the
last 10 years it has become popular in the
UK and Europe. I was first introduced to
it when my wife Rhonnie and I went to
the 2009 IMM/Mini 50 in Birmingham,
England. Living in the USA, it was our
first trip to England and our first IMM.
We didn’t know what to expect other
than seeing a huge amount of Minis.
Everything was new to us. One day we
saw some people with rocker covers
that had wheels on them; what? We
found the race track in the main trader
area and watched in amazement as
both kids and adults had so much fun
racing people of all ages from around
the world. Many of the rocker covers
had creative themes and decorations.
There were also many ideas to make
them faster, after all, racing is racing.
With my background of racing everything
from beds to BMWs I wanted to build
and race one. I took a lot of pictures
to bring back home for inspiration.
As we were then hooked on making
it to every possible IMM, I waited until
I heard the announcement of the next
rocker cover race. It came five years
later at the Mini 55 in Kent, England.
With some planning and design, I built
my first racer. I did a theme of Paddy
Hopkirk’s rally winning 33 EJB. I designed
it with adjustable alignment and
corner weighting but my downfall was
creating my own wheels and bearings.
Left to right: Ronan O’Carroll and Mike Guido
racing with the judges David Woodbridge and
Neil KilBane looking on. Photo: Gregor Ebbers.