Harry Hunt

Harry Hunt (born 3 September 1988[1]) is a British endurance and rally driver, and son of billionaire Jon Hunt. In 2016 he became the youngest British driver to take part in the Dakar Rally, finishing in 10th place out of 110 cars. He has participated in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), winning the IRC 2WD class championship in 2010 and 2012. Also (Theorized to be) online sensation Tax the rich.

Harry Hunt
Harry after finishing the 2016 Dakar
NationalityBritish
Born (1988-09-03) September 3, 1988
London
Dakar Series career
Debut season2007
Current teamMini
Co-driverAndy Schulz, Xavier Pansieri
Starts54
Championships2 (2010 and 2012)
Championship titles
2010, 2012Intercontinental Rally Challenge - 2WD Champion
Awards
2010Rookie of the Year

Early career

Hunt was first exposed to motorsports when his parents bought him a 50cc motorbike at the age of five, but because his feet could not reach the ground, he used a quad bike instead.[2] He progressed to racing motocross bikes on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, which in turn led to "the natural progression to cars, driving off-road, then rally driving."[3][4]

Rally career

In 2007, aged 19, Hunt bought a pre-owned two-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta ST rally car and began to compete in junior and national competitions.[2]

2009-2010

In 2009 Hunt took part in the Malcolm Wilson Rally, as well as his first international rally, the Rallye San Remo in Italy. In 2010 Hunt won the JWRC Rookie Cup and won 1st place in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge two wheel drive (IRC 2WD) Championship.[5]

2011–2012

Hunt won the 2011 Production Rally Championship in a Citroen DS3 R3T.[2] In 2012 he became the IRC 2WD Champion for a second time, and then won the European Rally Championship in the Citroen, before taking a break from rallying.[6]

2015

In April 2015, Hunt participated in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, finishing third and beating several more experienced drivers, despite completing less than 40 kilometres of testing in the desert beforehand.[7]

In May, Hunt was appointed as the brand Ambassador for MINI in preparation for Dakar 2016. In June, he debuted the Mini ALL4 racing car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.[8]

In July, Hunt placed 13th at the Baja Aragon rally in Spain. The event was round six of the FIA (Federation International De L’automobile) World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and provided similar terrain to his ultimate goal in 2016, the Dakar Rally.[9]

In October, Hunt finished in 7th place at the Rallye Oilibya du Maroc, in Morocco. A total of 84 cars took part, with only two Dakar rookies in the final top 10, both of whom were driving a MINI - one being Hunt and the other Hunt’s team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, winner of 15 world championship rallies. Hunt finished two places behind Hirvonen. During the event Hunt stopped to help fellow cross country rookie Sebastien Loeb, whose car had caught fire. Hunt later said of the incident: "I don’t think he’d actually noticed, but luckily we were able to use the sentinel warning system to let him know that something was wrong."[10]

Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally 2016

At the age of 27, Hunt was the youngest British rally driver to complete the Dakar Rally in 2016, finishing in 10th place at his first attempt, out of a field of 110 cars. He also became the youngest British rally driver to complete the Dakar.[11]

Hunt competed as part of the X Raid Mini ALL4 Racing Team, running against more experienced drivers and finishing one place behind Sebastien Loeb, the most successful WRC driver in history.[12] Hunt said: "We drove at a good pace in all of the stages - not too quick, not too slow - and we managed to steer clear of any major problems...[the car] was amazing and withstood endless difficult terrain and my co-driver, Andy Schulz, was fantastic." (Schulz is the German driver who won the Dakar twice, with Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001 and Hiroshi Masuoka in 2003).[13]

Hunt calculated that he burnt over 66,000 calories while taking part. The two-week rally is considered to be one of motorsports toughest events, taking place over 10,000 km across sand dunes, salt flats, gravel roads, deep mud and rocks, in temperatures as high as 50 °C and at altitudes of up to 4,750 metres.[14] As part of his race preparation Hunt trained in the Heat Chamber at St Mary's University, Twickenham.

Talking about the psychological impact of the event, Hunt said: "You're completely alone. You get a real sense [of that] when you come over some of the sand dunes and you look out and there's just no one for hundreds of miles. It's an adventure."[3]

Dakar 2017 plans

Hunt now plans to focus on the Dakar Series, including another attempt at the Dakar in 2017. He is due to take part in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Rallye Oilibya du Maroc again and "potentially in the summer the Silk Way Rally, which is Moscow to Beijing."[15]

After taking part in the Dakar in the Mini All4 Racing team X-Raid, Hunt will be switching to the Peugeot 2008 DKR that took victory in 2016.[16]

Relationship with manufacturers

Mini

Hunt’s Dakar Mini ALL4 X-Raid is based on the Mini Countryman, but with four wheel drive and a 320 brake horsepower, three litre diesel engine delivering 700Nm of torque. Hunt describes it as "the best car to do Dakar in."[17] The car cost £1 million and was built by the X-Raid factory in Germany.[2] X-Raid is owned by the Quandt family, shareholders in Mini parent company BMW.[18][19]

The car’s livery is a Union Flag design.[20] Hunt was filmed driving the car on public roads in London in the build-up to his appearance at Goodwood. Hunt’s road car is also a MINI Countryman.[20]

Dakar Rally results
Year Class Vehicle Position Stages won
2016 Cars Mini 10th -

Complete rally results

WRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
2010 Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2 SWE
43		 MEX
-		 JOR
-		 TUR
18		 NZL
-		 POR
51		 BUL
Ret		 FIN
Ret		 GER
Ret		 JPN
-		 FRA
39		 ESP
27		 GBR
34		 - -
2011 Harry Hunt Motorsport Citroën DS3 R3T SWE
-		 MEX
-		 POR
35		 JOR
-		 ITA
19		 ARG
21		 GRE
-		 FIN
Ret		 GER
Ret		 AUS
20		 FRA
-		 ESP
Ret		 GBR
24		 - -
2015 Harry Hunt Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 MON
-		 SWE
-		 MEX
-		 ARG
-		 POR
-		 ITA
19		 POL
-		 FIN
-		 GER
-		 AUS
-		 FRA
-		 ESP
-		 GBR
-		 - -

IRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points
2010 Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2 MON
34		 CUR
-		 ARG
-		 CAN
-		 SAR
12		 YPR
Ret		 AZO
-		 MAD
-		 ZLI
49		 SAN
48		 SCO
9		 CYP
19		 48th 1
2011 Harry Hunt Motorsport Citroën DS3 R3T MON
43		 CAN
29		 COR
20		 YAL
-		 YPR
Ret		 AZO
Ret		 ZLI
-		 MEC
-		 SAN
22		 SCO
Ret		 CYP
Ret		 23rd
2wd Cup		 18
2012 Harry Hunt Motorsport
I-Cars Motorsport
YZD 207
Kronos Racing		 Citroën DS3 R3T
Peugeot 207 S2000		 AZO
Ret		 CAN
18		 IRL
-		 COR
20		 ITA
-		 YPR
Ret		 SMR
-		 ROM
8		 ZLI
-		 YAL
-		 SLI
Ret		 SAN
14		 CYP
10		 1st
2wd Cup		 -

ERC results
Year Car Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ERC Points
2012 Harry Hunt Motorsport Citroën DS3 R3T JÄN
-		 MIL
12		 CRO
-		 BUL
-		 YPR
Ret		 BOS
-		 MAD
-		 CZE
-		 AST
-		 POL
-		 VAL
-		 - -

PWRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PWRC Points
2011 Harry Hunt Motorsport Citroën DS3 R3T SWE
-		 POR
13		 ARG
11		 FIN
Ret		 AUS
9		 ESP
Ret		 GBR
7		 16th 8

JWRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos. Points
2010 Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2 TUR
5		 POR
6		 BUL
Ret		 GER
-		 FRA
7		 ESP
5		 8th 34

Early career

Germany DRM
EVENT Entrant Car Co-driver Overall position Class position
2009 ADAC Eifel Rallye Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST Peter Loth 35 22. Germany (DRM)

9. Class DIV3

Ireland Tarmac
EVENT Entrant Car Co-driver Overall position
2009 Ulster International Rally Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST Kris Killip Retired

GB Rallies
EVENT Entrant Car Co-driver Overall position Class position
2009 Isle of Man International Rally Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST Kris Killip 15th 4. Class R3
2010 Bulldog International Rally of North Wales Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST Sebastian Marshall Retired -

BTRDA Forest Rally
Event Entrant Car Co-driver Position
2011 Wyedean Forest Rally Harry Hunt Motorsport Ford Fiesta S2000 Robbie Durant OTL
2012 Wyedean Forest Rally Harry Hunt Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Steve McPhee 10th
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References
  1. "Harry Hunt". X-Raid.de. X-Raid. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  2. "Q&A: Dakar Rally driver Harry Hunt". sunmotors.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  3. "The ultimate challenge". Sport Magazine. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  4. MINI UK (2015-06-19). The Road to Dakar with Harry Hunt. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  5. "Harry Hunt: the man behind the mutant Mini". The Gentlemans Journal. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  6. "Nick Watkins - Car News & Reviews | Sun Motors". www.sunmotors.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  7. Peacock, Anthony. "What A Way to Start!". MaxRally.com. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  8. "Mini partners with Harry Hunt for Dakar 2016". www.mini.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  9. Parries, Maggy. "Harry Hunt back in the driving seat for Baja Aragon, Spain - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  10. Parries, Maggy. "Harry Hunt puts in best-ever performance on Rallye Oilibya du Maroc - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  11. "Harry Hunt's Dakar Rally diary - we made in home in tenth place | Autocar". www.autocar.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  12. Parries, Maggy. "MINI driver, Harry Hunt, finishes top 10 in Dakar Rally - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  13. Organisation, A.S.O. - Amaury Sport. "Rider sheet HARRY HUNT :Dakar". dakar. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  14. "Dakar Rally 2016 blog - part 4". Evo. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  15. "Londoner comes 10th in Dakar Rally". London Live. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  16. Hassan, Umar. "Harry Hunt to contest 2017 Dakar Rally in Peugeot 2008DKR". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  17. MINI UK (2015-06-19), The Road to Dakar with Harry Hunt, retrieved 2016-03-02
  18. "British driver Harry Hunt to tackle Dakar Rally - Only Motors". Only Motors. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  19. Sturtridge, Tim. "They're racing the world's biggest rally in a MINI". www.redbull.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  20. "Harry Hunt claims top 10 Dakar finish on stunning debut | John Clark MINI". www.john-clark.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
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