A piece of motorsport history will be created at Lydden on Easter Saturday (10 April) with the first competitive motorsport event for the exciting new 140mph Works MINI Cooper S

This is the third year of the John Cooper Challenge, which was created to honour the memory of the man who developed the original Mini Cooper back in the 1960s. But for the first time in 2004, the superb Works Cooper S will compete alongside the existing MINI Clubsport cars in a two-class championship.

A capacity entry of 30 MINIS has registered for the 12-round John Cooper Challenge, which starts with the Golden Jubilee Sprint at Lydden. After the sprint at Lydden and a hillclimb at Wiscombe Park the JCC switches to racing for the remaining 10 rounds.

Leading the entry is defending champion Mark Speller, who was one of the first drivers to sign up for a Cooper S. However, he can expect tough opposition in the S Class from 2003 front-runners Arthur Forster, Rob Holgate, Nick Smith, Darren Needham and Tony Skelton. However, the progress of several drivers new to the JCC will also be watched with great interest, notably former single-seater racers Martin Wallbank and Andy Sayle.

The competition will be just as fierce in the Clubsport class, with a series of established frontrunners being joined by some new faces likely to make an impression. Teenager Stephen Campbell, Nigel Armitage and Barney Craggs all have at least a year's experience in the series, but 2004 newcomers Gary Robertshaw, Paddy Murray, James Whelan and Rob Austin are all expected to be strong contenders.