Miniology Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 1

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 Published by Tree Free Publishing a Division of Webtronic Enterprises All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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Miniology By

P u b l i s h e d B y Tr e eF r e e P u b l i s h i n g a Division of Webtronic Enterprises

Ed i t or - i n - Chi e f / Pub l i s h e r Ian Rae EDI T ORIA L

As Tina Turner says

‘Simply The Best’

Norman Nelson

Edi t o r

En r i q u e M c L e g g o n

C o n t r ib u t o r

B r a dl ey G r ave t t

C o n t r ib u t o r

Ian Rae

C o n t r ib u t o r

C hr i s t o p h e r C a lh o u n

C o n t r ib u t o r

PHO T O GR A PH Y Photography as noted on the individual ar ticles HO W T O RE ACH US P h o n e:(905) 467-5148 i a n r a e @m o t o r w e r k s m a g.c o m

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Miniology reboots mid-year 2021 The Miniology podcast used to be a favorite of Miniacs World-Wide. But as life got in the way as well as the Covid epidemic the two major players behind the production stopped creating any new content and the website and Social Media pages had lain dormant for the past few years.

Early in 2021 Christopher Calhoun one of the original founders got in touch with Norman and Jesse Nelson, Eric Newland, Kat Hsueh and Ian Rae the Editor of MotorWerks Magazine to discuss a re-vamp of the podcast and for the past couple of months they have been holding Zoom meetings to discuss how the new core group could bring Miniology back online.

Some new content has been finding its way online and the targeted date for full operation was mid to late September. It was around this time that Nelson and Rae were discussing where MotorWerks Magazine was going. They had announced a new publication called Profiles by MotorWerks Magazine that is being produced in conjunction with Enrique McLeggon of Kountersteer Media.

Profiles is not tied down to a schedule of four issues a year like MWM but will add content that may not have been seen in the pages of MWM on a weekly basis. Some MWM content will also be used in Profiles issues. Rae explained, There is no harm in duplicating coverage, in fact it is good for the racer being showcased in the article. It was this decision that had Norm and I discussing creating another publication, one that goes back to our roots, the Mini/MINI community”.

During one of our Zoom meetings Rae offered Miniology the chance to get onboard and that is how the decision to bring a new digital Mini/MINI magazine to the Internet was born.

New issues of the magazine will be created once the page count reaches one hundred pages approximately.

CONTENTS 6 Playing The Name Game - Bradley Gravett 16 Monster Mini - Aric Streeter 22 Kissing The Blarney Stone with Paddy Hopkirk 26 Klassik Mini - Norman Nelson 34 Rule Britannia - Mari Miller’s Diary 40 Twin Vortice Fun with a MINI - The TVS900

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44 Matteo Gualandi - Time Attack MINI

84 Behind the Scenes - Tonine McGarvie Rocks

46 Ben Marouski - Gridlife Touring Cup

87 Cooper RSR gets new suspension

48 Michel Sallenbach - CTCC Touring Champion

88 New Parts, New Look for Cooper RSR

52 One of a kind - A winning R58 MINI Coupe

96 MotorWerks Magazine Fan Groups

69 Racepak Vantage Cloud based datalogger

98 Chris Knox up for the Challenge

70 Racing Breeds Inovation

110 A MINI With An EDGE

74 Minis At The Glen

116 California Towing - Tiny Tows All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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Words by Bradley Gravett, Images by Jakob Ebery / Gary Hawkins

BRADLEY GRAVETT 6

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Playing The Name Game?

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Being the son of a multiple British Touring Car champion definitely comes with its perks, but...

Well, unfortunately, there’s no ‘but’... apart from the ‘but’ I hope the title grabbed your attention, so you’ll now read my first ever article for MotorWerks Magazine, how exciting!

Hello, my name is Bradley Gravett; I’m a 27-year-old British born, racing driver based just outside of London, England.

And, as you already know from my introduction, I’m the son of the multiple British Touring Car Champion, Robb Gravett.

My father was fortunate enough to win the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) two times, once in 1990 in a Ford Serria RS500 and again in 1997 in a Honda Accord, during the famous Super Touring years. Among the two wins, the 1990 win is by far the most well-known and was for sure the ‘thing’ that put the Gravett name on the map. At that time, the British Touring Car scene was very much being dominated by Andy Rouse, who was, up until recently, the most decorated and successful

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Touring Car driver of all time with 60 wins. Andy who had worked with Ford tuning colossus Broadspeed had access to the best equipment, skill, engineers, financial support and the car to dominate, or so he thought until Robb Gravett and Trakstar Motorsport came along to beat him in 1990.

Fueled by a whole host of monotonous motorsport politics, that I’m not going to delve into in this article, Robb and his then teammate, BBC TV personality Mike Smith, decided in 1989 to form Trakstar, the team that in 1990, against all odds, and I mean all of them, beat Andy Rouse fair and square.

Trakstar in 1989 lost to Andy by just a tiny fraction in their Dick Johnson built, Australian imported, tired RS500s. In 1990, Robb and Mike both decided that if they were going to beat Andy, they’d need a new car.

So in 1990, Mike decided to step away from a driving position into a team manager position to allow the underfunded Trakstar team the ability to find the budget to build and focus their attention on one brand new, in-house built Ford Sierra RS500.

The famous, white, unsponsored RS500 that became one of the most iconic RS500s of all time,

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and the only ever RS500 to get an outright BTC championship win and beat Andy at his own game, it was a very special moment for Gravett and Smith.

Built from a new chassis it retained the running gear from the previous year’s Dick Johnson car, together with all the ‘trick bits’ including Eggenberger suspension, a Getrag 5-speed dog box and a topspec Mountune RS500 engine, producing 500bhp.

The result was a record-breaking season with nine wins, eight pole positions and eight fastest laps.

25 years later, Robb and his son, me, Bradley, decided it would be a great idea it have a go at what dad did so well! Having spent a lifetime growing Gravett and Smith up around motorsport, I don’t really remember too much of my childhood away from the track.

I mean, it was pretty cool; my dad was a racing driver, but for me, that was just the norm.

Born in 1993, I never got to see the big 1990 win, but I was there for the 1997 win, and I remember it well, albeit just 5 years of age.

That time in the BTCC was extraordinary; the TV viewings were huge, the fans flocked in the 10s of thousands, and the money was massive. This was the Super Touring years, and we’re talking colossal manufacture support; it was the biggest the British Touring Cars had ever been, and most likely will ever be, and that’s how I remember it. One of my most prominent memories is just rows of people all trying to get an autograph from Dad during the pitlane walkabout, with some even asking me to sign. I mean, I was only just learning to write my name at school at the time, let alone sign an autograph; I have to say, it was awesome!

So in 2007, at 13 years of age, I decided it would be a good idea to start racing in karts, which 10

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I did; I kept nagging dad to have a test in one.

Eventually, he caved in and called an old pal, the late, great super kart world champion, Martin Hines.

Martin at that time owned and ran the Zip Kart Young Guns team. And, after a relatively short meeting in their Essex-based workshop, I was signed up as a Zip Young Gun factory driver, whatever that meant?

2007 was a challenging year for me, as I was very much thrown right into the deep end. I ended up doing two back-to-back British championships, Super 1 and Stars of Tomorrow, driving in the Junior Rotax class on Zips premier chassis, which I believe they called the Evo; I wonder where they got the inspiration for that name from! It was tough; I was

racing against some very fast drivers, albeit many of them younger than me; most had been racing from around 6 or 7 years of age, so at that time, half their life.

My first year of kart racing was definitely my learning year, spending the vast majority of it getting to grips with the racing lines, racecraft and just generally what I should and shouldn’t be doing on the track. Then, towards the end of 2007, I actually started to go quite quickly, which looking back, was a fabulous achievement, considering many of my competitors from back then have gone on to do some quite exciting things with their racing careers; Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E and even the BTCC to name a few.

At the beginning of 2008, we decided it was prudent to follow the natural progression of the sport and take a step up in class, and to be fair, it was quite the step; we went from Junior Rotax into

the KF3 class. KF basically was another ‘type’ of kart engine to Rotax, but it had a clearer stepping stone system at that time into the Global Karting scene and was the replacement to the highly popular JICA engine that already had its roots very much embedded into global karting.

In 2008 we moved away from Zip Kart

into an independent kart team called Millennium Motorsport, owned and run by another ex British karting champion. We also switched away from the Zip Evo chassis and onto the hugely popular Tony Kart equivalent, which in comparison to the Zip, was just so much more compliant and faster. With my learning year of 2007 out the way, our focus for 2008 was to start to go quickly and consistently, which towards the second half of the season is exactly what we did.

The final race weekend of the year was definitely the one I remember best; I remembered mainly because of my qualifying pace as I managed to qualify 3rd on the grid in very tricky drying conditions. Unfortunately, the race following qualifying didn’t go so well as we had to retire the kart with engine issues, but it put us in good stead for the following year, 2009, or so we thought.

Us Gravett’s very much like to work with long term 3-year plans, and we had one of those in karts. Our plan looked a little like this; year 1 learn, year 2 go quickly, and year 3 start getting some serious results so we can begin to raise budgets for car racing. However, unfortunately, with the falling over of the global financial system in late 2008, our budget for 2009 was quite seriously hindered, sorry did I say ‘hindered’, I meant pulled entirely, and that was the end of that; no more serious racing until 2019!

The only positive to the premature end of my karting career in 2008 was that I was young, and I had time on my side to sort it out; it took me 10 years, but eventually, I managed to get myself back out racing and wow was it a journey. To cut an incredibly long story short, in the 10 years I wasn’t racing, I went off to study business and started businesses so I’d fully understand what’s required to make a sponsorship deal commercially viable to a company or person who gets involved with my racing. At the end of the day, any form of investment into motorsport is ultimately marketing, and it’s up to the driver to make that investment All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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work for that individual; that’s the challenge.

During my 10 year hiatus, having an ex BTCC champion as a father did mean that I was generally pretty close to the sport, and yeah, various opportunities did arise from time to time. The most significant being an opportunity to race in the BARC Formula Renault 2.0 single-seater championship. I got to test the car with the full intention to race it in the 2012 season, but we just couldn’t complete on budget as our sponsorship deal at that time fell through. I then dabbled in a bit of historic racing in 2015, but nothing serious came from that.

Spooling forward to 2019, Dad had a call from the EnduroKA series’s event organisers asking if he’d like to drive in a 4 driver 8-hour endurance race in a Ford KA at Brands Hatch for charity, and of course, he answered yes on the proviso that I could be one of the 3 other drivers. So we went down to Brands Hatch a couple of weeks before the race to test the car; Dad drove it in the morning, and I drove it in the afternoon. Of course, being an ex BTCC champion, his lap time was very much the benchmark time for me to beat. So after lunch, the team did a seat fit for me, and I jumped in. Yeah, was I proper in the deep end here, I’d never driven Brands Hatch, and I hadn’t driven a racing car for a very long time, but within three laps, I went two and a half tenths of a second faster than his time; I even impressed myself.

The rest really is history; after that KA race, Graves Motorsport, the team who ran the KA, invested in a MINI Challenge UK Cooper class car, and a few months later, I found myself sitting on the grid at the first round of the series at Oulton Park. The championship of 2020 in the Cooper Class MINI went very well, albeit I didn’t manage to get myself on the podium; I did manage to run and race right at the sharp end of the series all year.

Once again, following the natural progression of the sport, this year in 2021, I’ve taken another step up forward, and I’m now racing in the premier MINI Challenge series, the JCW class supporting the British Touring Car Championship in my Liqui Moly liveried F56 MINI JCW. I am incredibly fortunate to be where I am today, it has and will continue to be an exciting journey for my team, my partners and myself, and we’re now only just one step away from the BTCC. Keep your eyes peeled for the Liqui Moly MINI; we’re coming for it!

And best of all I get to tell you all about it in my new MotorWerks Magazine column ‘Playing The Name Game’ Stay up to date with all the cool stuff @bradleygravett / @bradleygravettracing

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Bradley Gravett Age: 27 Lives: Berkshire, UK Occupation: Racing driver,

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M

Words and Images by Aric Streeter 86 16

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Experience!

Monster MINI part 1

Editors Note: I wanted to cover this car whenever I saw it on the Internet. It reminded me of the Maguire spaceframe Minis that were so common on the circuits during my time in the UK. Only, Aric’s version was on steroids.

Monster Mini Part 1, a History and Future Plans I have always been infatuated with both British cars and motorcycle-engined cars. That infatuation came to a head in the mid-2000s, when I started working on plans for a “silhouette” hill climb and circuit racer which became what today is Monster Mini.

Finding a mutually interested party in the form of Z-Cars UK founder Chris Allanson, work began on a bespoke design comprising a ground up chassis in 2003/4, loosely based on the shape of a classic Mini, but upgraded in almost every way imaginable, with the current car only keeping the steering rack and the door hinges and latching mechanisms from the original classic.

Upon completing the prototype build in the UK, Chris built the core of my chassis, and molded the body panels in GRP, after which time it was sent to me for finishing.

Literally 13+ years later, the design has gone through many design improvements, from a redesign and rebuild of the front suspension and geometry to fix some issues with the original design, to a change to a turbocharged and intercooled Hayabusa engine (car was originally built around a normally aspirated mill), strengthening of the axles and rear suspension arms to support the turbo drivetrain, addition of cockpit adjustable anti-roll bars, a paddle shift system, a DBW ECU system, and a substantial “Pikes Peak-inspired” aero package.

All the changes were made to hone the car’s ultimate capabilities as a hill climb and circuit racer, with final weight to power numbers coming in at better than 4:1 (>550BHP/metric ton) with driver, putting it in the same league as top spec Time Attack and hyper/super cars, all while targeting greater downforce than vehicle weight at 100MPH. It’s expected that the car will be able to closed circuit lap times approaching Formula Atlantic and SCCA sports racer classes, and be competitive for overall FTD in All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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Time Attack events where non-production-based chassis are allowed.

The build is now in the final stretch, with aluminum panel work and electronics integration being done now, and the final bodywork planned for this spring, in preparation for shakedown this summer, and the first targeted event being the 2020 Empire, MI Revival Hill Climb, where, on paper at least, it would be easily capable of taking the overall victory, and perhaps set an overall course record. Pending success with the shakedown and Empire hill climb, it’s likely the car will find its way to a GridLife event or two over the 2020 season as well.

Without going into basic layout and configuration of the car too much (we will leave that for Part 2) the spec is as follows

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Electro-mechanically controlled flat shift and blip downshift system, integrated with DBW ECU Motorsports traction control, anti-lag, launch control, and switchable engine maps

Photos Left: You can see the flat floor under the car, constructed out of 2mm carbon fiber built by Z-Cars in the UK. The floor leads into the carbon diffuser Aric built himself.

Right: Inside the car you can see the carbon floor and it looks great. Aric has built a 0.120” heel plate that is not fitted in this picture.

About Aric Streeter •

•

Mid-engine space frame chassis (1200lbs full up weight) Fiberglass / composite multi-piece body Carbon composite underfloor, front wing / splitter, rear diffuser, rear wing Double A-Arm front, semi-trailing arm rear suspension Garrett-turbocharged, intercooled, and dry-sumped, 1.3L Hayabusa engine (360 to 380BHP) Genesis cockpit-adjustable anti-roll bars

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Experience!

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Aric knew at a young age he was destined to be an engineer, gearhead, and speed freak. Erector sets at seven, breaking an arm practicing ill-advised two wheel gravity sports at eight, disassembling and rebuilding lawnmower engines at ten, gearing changes to Honda minibikes for measured top speed runs on frozen lakes at twelve, self-teaching mechanical drawing and CAD at fourteen, and many other similar stories naturally led to a Mechanical Engineering degree.

With a busy professional career spanning over twenty-

five years of engineering ranging from automotive exhaust system design, mechanical and control system design, loudspeaker and audio amplifier design, and telecommunications system design and testing, Aric has always held on to his passion for speed - finding time to go fast, and figuring out how to make things go faster!

Aric has been doing engineering design and consulting work for some well-known projects and names in the industry for the last five years, but began with autocross in his teens, and dabbling in hill-climb racing in his twenties. He started rebuilding and reengineering race-centric vehicles in his thirties after starting a family, regularly fielding the cars he builds in time trial and HPDE events as well as in hill climb racing.

Aric can be contacted at https://speedstreetllc.com, Aric@speedstreetllc.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpeedStreetLLC

Above: The floor is carbon fiber Below: Aric (right) talks to Cole Powelson at the PRI show.

The rear mounted turbo Hayabusa motor is surrounded by all the paraphaelia required for a dry sump and Aric put a lot of thought into the packaging and ability to service the car.

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Experience!

1:The Genesis roll bar adjuster sits easily at hand enabling Aric to make changes on the go 2: A Vibrant intercooler core is the basis for the custom intercooler welded up by Cody Loveland.

3: An AIM MXL digital dash provides all the info Aric requires on track.

4: A Griffin 500 whp radiator with twin fans takes care of the cooling.

5: A Sparco wheel provides directional control with four buttons easily at hand.

6: Tuning the Link ECU

Below: Another of Aric’s toys! Watch for it in a future issue!

Originally it was a 1996 Caterham Supersport 1.4L Rover, Series 3 chassis. it had been tracked extensively by the previous / original owner. It was purchased in 2013 and rebuilt to a higher spec in 2014 and again in 2015.

The engine rebuild included a capacity increase to 1.8L, with a dry sump, Jenvey ITBs, Aric then had Cody Loveland tune the new combination using an Emerald ECU, resulting in approximately 190BHP at the crank.

The chassic weighs in at sub 1100lbs minus the new wings.

It is the class record holder at Empire Hillclimb in Michigan (set in 2019) Aric is targeting the overall Empire record in 2020 with new aero package installed(0.3sec to be gained!)

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e h T g n i s Y s i E K N R A L B e n o t S With

Paddy Hopkirk I think the word legend tends to get overused these days, it may be because of social media and how easy it is for people all round the world to acknowledge even mediocre accomplishments. But one gentleman who deservedly can claim the title of ‘living legend’ or a ‘legend in his own time’ is Belfast born rally icon Patrick Barron Hopkirk or as he is known Worldwide, Paddy Hopkirk. I recently joked with him, that it really should have been Baron at the front of his name as I considered him rallying royalty. Typical of the man he played it down and told me to quit talking rubbish. It was typical Scots, Irish ribbing between two people who had a just had a great weekend at Watkins Glen International reminiscing of days gone past, of great drivers and great cars.

The main focus of the weekend was the Watkins Glen International Mini Festival VIP Experience presented by Towne MINI and our Grand Marshal was none other than

Paddy Hopkirk. The VIP Experience idea emerged when Mini race event supremo Rachel Nelson told us about Mini being chosen as the featured Marque for the Hilliard United States Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International in NY. She thought it would be a great event to have a Mini/MINI get together and with MotorWerks Magazine’s experience in organizing the MINI USA Corrals it made sense for us to get involved. So, in late 2017 we started negotiating with WGI to come up with a VIP Experience that would be one to remember.

Those that know me have probably heard this a million times, but MotorWerks Magazine is only what it is because of our West Coast Editor, Norman Nelson and his wife Jesse. They are two dedicated MINIacs who have known Paddy for many years, having first met him and Rauno Aultenon at a MINI United event in Europe. It created a friendship that continues to this day and when Norman asked Paddy if he was All Action, Motorsport All The News Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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interested in coming over for the MINI Festival and be the Grand Marshal of the VIP Experience all it took was a check into his diary and a resounding, “Hell yes.”

Growing up in the UK in the 60s, the name Paddy Hopkirk was well known to me, not only as a rally driver to other motorsport enthusiasts but to the general public when his accomplishments on the 1964 Monte and 1968 London to Sydney rallies not only had him on the evening TV news but at the London Palladium in front of 20 million viewers on live television. You were always reading in the motorsport press about Paddy and coupled with name recognition of his business enterprises, he was truly a household name. Imagine asking the British public to name a British rally driver in this day and age. Chances are it would still be Paddy Hopkirk’s name that would come out.

It is interesting that Paddy made a comment similar to Grand Prix Champion Jackie Stewart in that when he won, he was British and when he lost he was Scottish. In Paddy’s case he believed being Irish was always used to communicate something negative and his most famous remembrance of one of those occasions was when HM Customs came after him and decided that charging him with smuggling would be a good way to tell the British public they don’t care who you are, they will come after you for not telling them about that extra little something you bought on vacation. So that nice little camera that Paddy had procured while abroad turned into some negative press but he laughs about it now.

Laughing is something you see Paddy doing often, he could actually have a second job as a stand up comedian, his delivery is perfect, with a dead pan face and then the audience erupts at the punch line.

Over the five days we spent with him at the track, at dinner and over a few aperitifs at Patti Ely’s fabulous B&B, Dragonfly Dreams we heard many stories and typical of his age group he had no problem with any that made fun of himself or the Irish. It was refreshing not having to be politically correct like 24 80© © MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

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many of the lefties want us to be now. We were all quite surprised when he said, “You know I’ve seen these American Victorian styled houses on TV and I am really glad I’ve stayed in one before I die” Then he laughed his head off.

For a guy in his mid 80’s Paddy is super fit, he would wander off on his own at the racetrack to get his exercise, in fact a couple of times we had to put out a search party. But it was no big deal, some people had recognized him and he simply chatted away to them. The title of this piece says Kissing the Blarney Stone with Paddy Hopkirk; according to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab, and Mr. Hopkirk has it in spades.

Throughout his career he has talked with royalty like Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco, dealt with CEOs of multinational companies and the fans lining up to get an autographic. He treats them all the same.

Currently he is President of the British Racing Drivers Club, a job he says he took because nobody else would. His primary focus is to get the new owners of Formula 1 to understand the BDRC is not joking when they say they will walk away from hosting a Grand Prix if it means that have to go into debt to do it. It is sad indeed that Grand Prix the likes of Germany and France have been missing from the calendar in recent years but unlike all these new locations who have their governments fund their events those two and Silverstone has something way more important, history. And let me tell you this Liberty Media, history equates to fanbase and if Silverstone is lost so will a myriad of fans too.

So why is Paddy so passionate about racing when he was a rally driver? Well like many of the motorsport greats back in the sixties many racers competed in many disciplines. Scottish F1 World Champion was one, rallying on the 1966 RAC Rally, winning the Indy 500, sports car racing and so on. Paddy is in good company and I really feel honoured to have made his acquaintance.

Till the next time Patrick Baron Hopkirk.

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Words and Images by Ian Rae 26

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Klassik Mini

The Mini you see here is one that our West Coast Editor, Norman Nelson never thought he would own, he first saw this 1963 Cooper S owned by

nowhere to put another Mini even though I loved the look of the car Shawn called Fireball. It was super low and with those Fortech arches looked as if it should have

Shawn Duntelly at the Mini Meet West at Columbia Gorge. Shawn thought his flamed Mini would be a great addition to the Nelson’s collection especially considering they had two other flamed cars. Norm explained, “I told him I had

been on the racetrack.”

Roll on to 2018 and the devestating fires that hit California. The Carr fire devasted 229,651 acres and unfortunately the Nelson household was amongst those to lose their home. As well as their home All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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two of their one of a kind Minis were totally destroyed with nothing salvagable.

Nelson went on, “We lost our salute to the Veterans, Mini Eagle and our short wheelbase Mini Chiquita that had just came back from being updated. It was a crazy time for us at Old Shasta, the positive for us was even though we lost the house, our garage where our other cars were stored survived without a scratch.

I don’t know if it was me feeling sorry for myself and

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needing to cheer myself up but I got on the phone to Shawn and after a bit of haggling I bought Fireball and Shawn threw in the enclosed trailer that is painted similar to the car itself.”

So what is the story behind Fireball?

Engine Spec 1310cc A-Series engine 1275 .040 Performance Piston Set Fortech center main caps strap Nitrided Performance Crankshaft for hot street or competition use.

Vandervell main, rod and cam bearings Elgin 268/278 Hot Street cam ARP racing rod bolts ARP racing head bolts 123 electronic billet distributor Pertronic coil Billet Golan’s billet fuel filter 11 LBS steel racing flywheel AP Racing clutch Mini Sport aluminum radiator Gearbox Spec 4 speed syncro box Straight cut drop gears Rod change kit fitted Quick Shift kit

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Fireball really gets its distinctive look from the Fortech GT Mini flares which are normally just seen on racetracks. Made famous by the Fortech Minis of Mike Kearney and driven by Doug Peterson these wide arches can accommodate large width wheels in many diameters. In Fireball’s case the wheels are 13” x 7” Sierra Pacific three-piece racing wheels 30

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currently fitted with 175/50-R13 Yokohama A048 tires. Fortech also provided one of their GT air dams to finish off the front end of Fireball perfectly for an aesthetic and aerodynamic solution.

A MOMO Nero steering wheel points the wheels in the proper direction as well as looking good. A

Maintaining the disc front end, drum rear set up, 8.4 inch rotors along with red four pot alloy calipers from Kent Auto Developments were fitted to the front end, while Superfin alloy drums are fitted to the rear. Braided brake hoses, pads and shoes along with upgraded brake fluid complete the brake package.

pair of Recaro seats matched with Sparco full harness belts locate both the driver and passenger.

The chassis was upgraded with Spax lowered suspension, a poly bush kit and brake updates.

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’s e f i L e s u a Bec to o Short l! o o C t i y to Pla

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While Fireball is set up to look like a race car it has some nice touches, a classic dash equipped with the typical gauges required for a Mini. The interior is finished with door panels that have flamed inserts and billet window winders as seen in the photo to the right.

For those of you for those of you who know Norm and I, you understand that while we work hard on the magazine, we also like to play hard. So, during the part of our trip we decided to build a faux advert using Norm’s new Mini, Fireball and the Louisiana produced cinnamon whisky of the same name.

The label on a bottle of Fireball whisky includes a fire breathing dragon and what better match for a product like that then a fire breathing and flamed Mini Cooper. Norm just happened to have at hand many miniatures and a few bottles of that amber coloured nectar lying around which helped us set up the shot. So where we imbibing while we were doing this, we’re not seeing anything on the grounds we may incriminate ourselves. But we had fun setting up the shoot.

Norm and Jesse’s new workshop lent itself

to a garage setting photos shoot especially with a British sports car on the lift behind Fireball. Because of the work setting we wanted to remind everybody about drinking responsibly and to that end Jesse just happen to have a black board that we could set up at the side of the shot to remind everybody how important that fact is.

And the image you see at the left is what we came up with. The speech baloon on the floor was edited to look like we had written in chalk on the floor. And how about the discrete things like the minatures on the table and Fireball Whisky flag hanging off the car lift. And yes we had fun, hic!

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Words by Mari Miller, Images by Ian Rae, Craig Nelson and Harry Gerwien

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Mari Miller’s Diary I’ve raced or taught on road tracks throughout the Eastern USA, but this would be my first experience on the track at Watkins Glen. I didn’t give it much thought until we pulled up to the main gate, and the awe and grandeur of the track became real. I now understood why it was known as the Mecca of North American road racing. Watkins Glen track has banking, and substantial elevation changes along it’s 3.4 mile course. I’ve raced courses that are the same size, but banking and the 57 foot elevation going up the Esses would be a challenge.

I race a 1966 Mark 1 Mini Cooper S, “Bridget” as we call her is an all original Mini with the exception of the safety equipment added per the Vintage Racing regulations with a 1293 cc BMC engine (we are allowed to bore 20 over per regulations). She weighs in at her original weight of 1300 lbs, and can red-line at 9300 rpm.

Bridget is definitely a beast on the track, and Watkins Glen would test her and my abilities.

Thursday would be our first scheduled practice session, and I will admit I was a little nervous getting out on the track. First couple laps around I was learning braking points, apexes and the flow of the track. I was the newbie on the track, and had lots to learn. Fortunately All Action, All The News Time from MotorWerks Magazine Motorsport

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I was on the track with some of the ‘best Mini racers’ in the United States and Canada. I used

One thing about Vintage Racing especially in the Mini family…. Everyone helps everyone! There were

their experience to learn the braking points, which was only two turns where I just tapped my brakes.

The hardest was not touching my brakes through the ‘bus stop’… it’s full throttle all the way through!

engine heads borrowed, tools shared and even our truck was borrowed to move a trailer. We are all friends except between the green and checkered flag- we are competitors then!

When I came into the paddock I was literally on cloud nine. It’s hard to even express the thrill that I felt on the track… it was definitely challenging, but WOW the thrill would continue to carry me through the weekend.

We had two qualifiers on Friday. The first was an early one at eight o’clock in the morning… good thing I’m a morning person. It was another great session to continue to get comfortable with the track, but I was having a few mechanical issues.

My tach decided to flash red lights during the whole session and was definitely a distraction, but I listened to the engine and watched my pressures until the checkered flag. In between our qualifiers we were honored with a special guest, none other than rally legend, Paddy Hopkirk. The time he spent with me and my fellow drivers was more than a Meet and Greet, Paddy wanted to know about you and your race car - literally he wanted to see the engine. He shared his own stories and the tweaks he had done with his own Mini, followed by autographing the official poster. Bridget and Paddy share a special connection… she has a Paddy

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Hopkirk gas pedal! Our second qualifier was more beneficial than the previous as I now had the track down in my memory. I could see the next turn and

I have a great Crew Chief who just happens to be my husband Craig, he is doing a great job learning how to keep me and Bridget running strong. He

anticipate where I should be going, driving ahead as you are supposed to. The tach was now working until I hit the first turn, and poof - it stopped. I was

knows muscle cars, but this little British engine is all new to him. Fortunately the other racers enjoy mentoring and jumped in with suggestions and even

also having some issues at high rpm’s… she was running really rich and flat through the back side of the track. This is a fast track so I was staying in

parts to help Bridget run her best. We changed out the fuel and air jets and had her running better than ever for her historic re-enactment run to downtown

third and fourth gear and really noticing power loss through some of the elevations, but I managed to get to the checkered flag finish without any further issues.

Watkins Glen, which follows the ‘Old Course’ around the village. Watching the excitement of over thirty thousand people lining the streets as Bridget and her fellow racers raced through the streets of

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Watkins Glen was a rewarding experience. I’ve never had her on public streets, and was a little hesitant to participate especially since she is a wild beast, but the fans loved her and we had a

remind myself that I am only racing myself…. This is only my second race, and although I and Bridget are capable of so much more, I have to force to myself into believing being consistent is more important especially to the other racers on the track. They have the experience I don’t and most have larger engine displacements than I do so them knowing what they can expect from me as a driver is important. We are doing speeds in excess of eighty-ninety miles per hour or faster down the straights and almost as fast through the turns there’s no room for errors. One of my mentors had given me the advice “you won’t always get your line so be prepared to race outside the line next to others”. Not that I wouldn’t have figured that out, but having it in my head during racing has been a huge benefit in my consistency. I’ve gone through the turns

great time.

Race Day… the feeling should be the same as the qualifiers, but race day brings on a whole new level of pressure. I now know the track, and it feels great. The ‘bus stop’ and the ‘boot’ are the two most challenging sections, but they have become my favorite. I can anticipate every turn ahead of me, and the track that seemed like it would never end in the beginning is now fun and exciting. I have to

three wide, and kept my line around with no issues.

There’s no monetary gain to be had in Vintage Racing, it’s about bragging rights and getting to the checkered flag. I may not have placed first, but my win is getting through to the checkered flag, and the big bonus was I improved my times by 14 seconds Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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from practice to the first race. I have my own goals that I am reaching, and every race they get higher.

As a car chick I have always loved the smell, sounds

what Winner’s Circle is like, and the feeling of being there with so many great Mini racers was a check off my bucket list.

and power of cars, and I’m fulfilling a dream of racing I’ve had since I was young.

I also have to give a big shout out to all the Bridget

I was one of only two women racers at Watkins Glen out of three hundreds racers, and was the only women in a Mini. I go into a race with only

fans. I had no idea how big her fan base is - she is one loved race car! We were consistently busy with fans stopping by for photos, autographs and words of encouragement… each of you gave us the extra support to get the checkered flag five times!

thoughts of racing, and doing what I teach others to do- hitting apexes, keeping my lines and stretching my abilities. What I didn’t expect was the way that my fellow racers treated me in the paddock, and on the track. I was a race car driver… it didn’t matter to

This is a first for us to finish every race to the checkered flag. Other races there were track issues or mechanical issues that caused us not to complete

them if I was a woman. We talked racing, cars and were true sportsman on the track. My experience at Watkins Glen will be hard to top… from the

the race. Bridget and I started a tradition at VIR before we go on the track… I tell her every time ‘I won’t hurt her if she gets me to the checkered flag!’

It works, and we have a new appreciation for each

many Bridget fans that came by to wish us well to my fellow racers welcoming us into the racing community and let’s not forget the track itself! I will always treasure the memories made at Watkins Glen

other. I am finally getting comfortable racing in a classic- it’s much different than the BMW MINI so many of us drive. The Classic Mini apexes very late, and braking is not as aggressive- at least on this

and will have a beautiful memento of the handmade shift knob made by Robert Beauchemin and medal presented to each driver as well as photos to relive the moments as I raced around Watkins Glen.

track, and driving on the right side of the car has never been an issue, in fact I’m so concentrated on the track I don’t even realize I’m on the right side.

A few more races and we will be up there with the

I was glad I chose to come to the Mini Festival, running one that iconic Grand Prix track and meeting Paddy Hopkirk are memories that will be hard to forget.

big guys- it’s about seat time! I have the taste of

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We’d like to express our thanks to all the sponsors who’ve supported the 2021 Fastest Mini in the World Race – they have been instrumental in bringing you today’s special race. In recognition to our sponsors: Castrol Classic Oils – an outstanding supplier of quality classic oils www.classicoils.co.uk

Mini Spares – world’s leading supplier & manufacturer of classic Mini parts www.minispares.com

Force Racing Wheels – leading manufacturer of specailist light weight 10” to 18” Mini wheels www.force-racing.co.uk

Swiftune – most successful A-series racing engine builder in the world www.swiftune.com Vmaxscart – global provider of the best performing A-series Supercharging kits www.vmaxscart.com

Mini Magazine – written by Mini enthusiasts for Mini enthusiasts

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE Visit the website to buy our great merchandise or join our Facebook Group

www.fmitw.com www.fmitw.com our Facebook Group great merchandise or join Visit the website to buy our

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE Mini enthusiasts enthusiasts for – written by Mini Mini Magazine

www.vmaxscart.com Supercharging kits performing A-series provider of the best

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N U F E C I I T N R I O M V A H T TWIN WI

T

hey say the best things in life are worth waiting for! That is the case for the TVS 900

supercharger using Eaton’s Twin Vortices technology.

Australian company Harrop Engineering brought their TVS 900 kit out in the second half of 2017. It was designed and manufactured by Harrop to OE standards as a direct replacement for the Eaton M45 Supercharger installed as standard in the R53 Mini Cooper S. The Harrop TVS900 utilises the latest generation Eaton TVS supercharger technology including four lobe rotors (160 degree helix) and revised inlet and outlet port geometry to achieve greater thermal and volumetric efficiency.

Although designed as a direct replacement there is 40

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a performance advantage as the TVS supercharger is larger. The original M45 is 45 cubic inches or 737.4cc, the TVS is 900cc or 54.9 cubic inches. With a standard Harrop 70mm pulley the TVS will work well on standard motor with an OEM DME. Reduced diameter pulleys or modified engines will require a tune and maybe larger injectors dependant on the motor spec.

My TVS arrived in a sturdy shipping box and was well packed. Harrop did a good job of coming up with a good shipping solution for that long trip from Australia, I like a company that thinks through the whole solution to getting their product safely to the customer.

When Harrop calls this a TVS 900 supercharger kit, they are not kidding. Everything you need to change out your M45 to a TVS is here

than compensate for it.

Because of the design of the TVS supercharger the water pump can no longer be attached to the inboard side of the supercharger via a Power Take Off (PTO). Harrop’s solution to this is an electric water pump. As the original car’s pump is mechanical, Harrop had to come up with a solution to feed 12V power to the new electrical pump. To that end they include a small wiring harness with fuseholder in the kit.

including the electric water pump conversion that is required. So no more issues with that troublesome PTO that drives the mechanical water pump on the M45.

Harrop made full use of their access to the Adrad Group foundry to make their cast components.

Harrop GM Heath Moore said, “Harrop makes use of their Harrop Casting Technologies foundry to manufacture their cast components “Being able to leverage our vertical integration allows us to have more control over our products and the

You will notice from the photo below that there will no cursing and swearing and damaged knuckles if

quality control. Aluminum cast parts allow us to offer an OEM level of fit and function to the kit and importantly the durability demanded by our

you decide to change a pulley on a Harrop TVS. It comes with a 70mm pulley as standard and can be reduced to as small as a 55mm. The pulley is held

customers”

on by six bolts and is positioned to use the standard OEM belt path and tensioner.

The kit also comes with all the hoses and fasteners required to install the TVS in the factory position in the R53. In fact if you were did not know there was a TVS on the car it would be hard tell what supercharger was installed it fits so well. When running only an expert ear can tell a TVS is fitted as it is actually quieter than the M45 originally installed.

Some purists, myself included were supporters of the ‘Got Whine’ team and will lament the reduced whine but the trade off of more power will more

So using a statement commonly used on the Internet, what are the numbers? Well that is like asking how long is a piece of string. MINI owners are well known for have their Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine 29 All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine 41

engined, Harrop TVS 900 equiped R53 and give my butt dyno some experieince of the TVS. Right after Global Time Attacks Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow last November I headed South to Fontana where a SCCA Autocross was running in a parking lot beside the kart track.

The other racers were great, very welcoming and hoped I would enjoy my time with them. Did I say I soon had a grin on my face? Mike’s MINI for sure hauls the mail and I had a great time own car personalized and that personalizing will make for various results as will the various dynos over the country. What I can say is those who have already fitted a Harrop TVS to their cars are having trouble stopping smiling.

Californian Jim Ahl is one such soul, Ahl has a RMW 1800 stroker motor that he had Jan Brueggemann fit a Harrop TVS 900 kit to. You can see from the dyno graph below Jim’s motor made 301.7 whp and 228.6 lb/ft of torque. On Facebook Jim commented “I don’t

driving a car that was super responsive and really ripped on the straights. I have to thank Mike for the opportunity and would love to say I let the car owner win but those out West know Mike is a tough guy to beat when he is on form. His mother Sharon Malmen normally runs the car along with Mike and graciously gave up some seat time to allow me to experience the TVS 900 first hand. Thanks guys.

Portugal’s Jony Bernardo loved the changes after he added his TVS, “I’m doing about 12 seconds 100 to 200km/h, before the TVS it was taking 14 seconds with the M45. Also something iIve noticed is that beyond 200km/h it’s still pushing instead of dragging with the M45.”

Randy Smalley, the team principal of RSR Motorsport has lots of MINI experience considering he ran the last MINI team in the halcyon days of Grand Am racing. Randy and friends still have some of the cars and when he was looking for more power he fitted a RMW stroker motor and after a period of unsatisfaction with another supercharger he switched to a Harrop TVS. He told us, “Makes better

have any videos but putting the TVS on Jan’s 1800 block along with BVH, cam and header made a big difference. It pulls hard all the way to 7600. Lights it the tires in 1st 2nd. Love it.”

I was lucky enough to have Mike Bradley in California offer me a competitive ride in his RMW 42

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boost... especially at hi RPMs. +/- 265 WHP. I think the quality of the cooling pump is much better too compared to the opposition. Money well spent for sure!”

So what’s next? Cooper RSR is going in for a baseline dyno session soon and then we will be fitting the TVS. Looking forward to ‘Less Whine’

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Matteo Gualandi - MINI

Italian Time Attack Series M

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y involvement started in 2013 with the first Time Attack event in Italy, our MINI Cooper

me why we do not run in the Mini Challenge series, I reply by saying that we could not showcase our

GP was a road car prepared for the track but from year to year it has continued to evolve until 2017 where we hit the track with 500hp, a sequential gearbox and carbon fiber body panels. Time Attack is a good advertisement for my company GP garage as it brings us work from customers who race in the series and also allows us to experiment with new solutions to bring to the market for that clientele.

products by running in a one-make series; therefore we limit ourselves to being only their suppliers.

My history in the world of motorsport began in 1989 with the first races in the Italian minicross championship which I ran until 2006 with the European supermotard championship. From 2007 I moved over to cars and ran in rallies and hillclimbs.

Since 2009, however, with the opening of GP Garage

This kind of competition allows us to show what we do as tuners as there are no constraints to create new evolutions on the cars. Quite often they ask

I started to go to tracks for track days with my MINI. But it was 2013 before I started to compete properly with the MINI.

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2018 sees us begin a new adventure in the Italian Time Attack series, competing with a entirely new MINI and a new platform to us, the R56 Turbo car.

After many years our development of the R53 Rotrex platform had come to an end and we wanted to experiment with new things on this turbo-charged platform and develop new parts for the many R56 owners over the World.

Matteo Gualandi is the owner of GPgarage in Verona, Italy. He will continue to compete in the 2018 Italian Time Attack series. His sponsors for 2018 will be Competition clutch, ecumaster, FRW, ACME, NTP Bilstein, Team Dynamics.

He can be reached at info@gpgarage.it

www.timeattackitalia.com Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine 51 All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine 45

Ben Marouski - MIN Gridlife Time Attack Series

B

eing someone who has always been super competitive with myself (whether it be sports,

attempt to find that one perfect lap to take home the win, had me from the get go.

hobbies, career etc), Time Attack felt like the perfect fit for me. Coming from running HPDE’s/Track days for just four years prior, I was always pushing myself

There is something so motivating about not only racing your fellow competitors for the best possible time on the weekend, but instead more so racing

and my lap times from session to session, month to month. That chase to find a faster lap time became

yourself and pushing you and your car to the absolute limit in an attempt to find tenths of seconds

an addictive goal throughout the years. That’s why the moment I found out about Time Attack and how approachable it was, I became all about it.

anywhere on the track you can. With such attention being put on the lap time, it truly makes you try to perfect every adjustment on your car possible,

Something about the big aero, over the top builds,

nothing overlooked. Whether it’s an aero change,

and seeing cars pushed to their absolute limit in the

suspension adjustment, tweak of your tune, tire

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Experience!

46

my class, I love making up for that lack of power,

NI Cooper S pressure drop, everything adds up when it comes to finding the perfect balance when “Attacking Time” out there. It’s then up to you, the driver to utilize every ounce of time, money, and mechanical perfection to its fullest potential to put down the most lethal lap possible. One of the most effective ways to find extra time out on track is to invest heavily in yourself as a driver, and finding ways you can improve out there to set you and your car up for success. It’s one of the reason’s I absolutely love running my MINI out there, I feel like a bit of an underdog in what is often times the lowest HP car in

by making the most time up in the corners and by trying to be the best driver possible. You begin to feel as one with your car when you’re constantly trying to find the limit, where the most minute changes are felt in the steering wheel or gas pedal, where every sound the car makes is that of an orchestra you are conducting from the driver’s seat.

As a whole I also think in this format of racing allows you to step back a bit and appreciate fellow competitors builds. There is such a variance in car type, and what people have done with them that you learn to not feel threatened necessarily but instead really appreciate why or how they are able to squeeze out more or less time out there than you. From my experience it’s also a very friendly race type atmosphere, without the aspect of someone trading paint or blocking you in the corners it allows for a sense of community with everyone having the same exact goal out there of achieving that perfectly fast lap at the limit.

Any way people can lend a hand or some advice, it is almost always offered with the genuine goal to help out a fellow competitor better themselves, and make things even more competitive. The back and forth battle throughout a weekend of competitors dropping tenths to swap position’s within their classes is addicting when in the thick of it. The feeling you get in your stomach between heats running up to the lap time boards to see if things shuffled, in the hope that the perfect lap you think you just ran holds up is a feeling I can’t get enough of. Yes it’s a different type of racing, but it’s one that I have learned to love.

Ben has been competing with the Gridlife series as it is the closest to his Royal Oak, Michigan home.

This will continue in 2018, and he plans to travel further afield and take in some Canadian Sport Compact Series events at Toronto Motorsport Park.

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MOTORSPORT ENGINE OILS, GEARBOX OILS, FUEL TREATMENTS

Ultraray Motorsports Oakville, ON www.ultraraymotorsports.com Tel: 1 866-720-9866 Comat Motorsports www.comatmotorsports.com Tel: 905-635-9477

Nanodrive Competition Fully Synthetic engine oils have been designed to offer racers, engine builders and team managers a whole range of valuable benefits.

• Lower friction means increased power ouput.

• Reduced wear for improved durability.

• Reduced frequency of engine builds.

• Reduced overall costs All Action, All The Time from MotorWerks Magazine

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MINISpecialist

MINI Service

PERFORMANCE Brake Upgrades

Phone | 647-986-5855 jesus@miniachaus.com 350 Woodbridge Ave, Unit 16, Vaughan 4L4 3K8

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CUSTOMER SERVICE Our HAÜS is your HAÜS

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Racepak Vantage CL1 a winner out of the gate.

F

or two years Racepak Data Systems has been working on a new system radiacally different that anything they currently produced. The Vantage CL1 uses one base ‘black box’ and with different cable packages racers in Karting, Jr Dragster and Track Day/Autocross are all be able to use the cloud based system.

The Vantage CL1 data kit merges the power of Racepak’s exclusive D3 App mobile technology with a vehicle mounted CL1 data box for the most advanced, yet intuitive track day data system available. Sensor data is transmitted via Bluetooth from the CL1 data box to a vehicle wheel-mounted, D3 app-equipped mobile device, displaying sensor and lap timing data to the driver, while automatically uploading all data to Racepak’s secure cloud service

via the phone’s cellular connection. Data is stored locally on the mobile device for immediate analysis upon return to the pit area.

In addition, the use of mobile technology also provides the exclusive ability to remotely view live on-track and recorded data from any worldwide location through the use of Racepak’s D3 app installed from the internet-connected Android or iOS device, utilizing Racepak’s subscription based cloud service ($99.95 US a year) Powered by 4 AA rechargeable batteries (included) installation is easy.

The Vantage CL1 won SEMA’s Best New Performance Racing Product and Best Engineered New Product at SEMA 2017.

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n o i t a v o n n I s d e e Racing Br ase!

NOT in This C

O

ne of the things car manufacturers have preached over the years was the fact that they used racing to develop parts and systems for their road cars. The title of this article, ‘Racing Breeds Innovation is true in most cases just NOT this one.

The OEM car manufacturers have been using a high strength steel called Docol R8 for X years and it has only lately that its advantages have become apparent to the motorsport industry and builders have started to use it in chassis and rollcage building.

For many years building roll cages or tube chassis race cars you had the choice of two materials, mild steel or 4130 Chrome Moly. In the last six years or so Indianapolis based A.E.D. Motorsport Products have been showcasing a new option, Docol R8.

Produced in Scandinavia, Docol is not really a new material in the auto industry. It is an advanced high strength steel (AHSS) that has been used in road cars for almost thirty years. It is used in things like door crash bars, roof bows, A&B pillars, bumpers, foot boxes and seats. In motorsport fabrication, it is not restricted to use in chassis and roll cages, but can be used for suspension parts, wheelie bars, driveshafts and bumpers; there is even an aero tube option where streamlined tube is required.

The main reason I saw for it not being used in motorsports previously was the cost; traditionally it was more expensive than the similar 4130 products. That all changed at this year’s PRI show in Indianapolis. During a Docol R8 seminar put on by 42 70

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A.E.D. Motorsports and the manufacturer SSAB, Al Lowe of A.E.D. announced the lowering of prices by 10 to 12%. This brings Docol R8 pricing right into the ballpark especially with its many benefits!

So, what other reasons are there for the Docol R8 not being used in mainstream motorsports? Part of it is sanctioning bodies, NASCAR has never favored Chrome Moly whereas SCCA and NASA always had that 4130 option. Why you may ask; well, you really need a skilled welder for 4130. A 4130-weld junction tends to leave the heat affected zone with a crystalline structure and in an accident that is

Docol R8 on left, 4130 CrMo on right; it is the 4130 that cracks and deforms even with the Docol weld seam rotated to align with the crush zone.

where the problem lies. The welds may pull apart with little or no bending or stretching. With R8 that does not happen. Another bonus of the Docol R8 is fatigue life, it responds better to the abuse that a high-powered race car gives the tubing. While that is good for the owner it may not be what the chassis builder is looking for. A longer life chassis that can give you the same performance from start to finish to you during its life span is not good for the chassis building industry. While there are chassis builders who have embraced the product, and explained the benefits to their customers, there are still some who will not change from 4130. Now if you are in the need for a new chassis, I believe you as the customer can insist on Docol R8 as the material you want to be used. As well as being a safer build I believe Docol R8 cars will retain their value better as Docol becomes more accepted.

If we look at the pros and cons of Docol, what makes it better? The Pros!

• Docol R8 is not made using any scrap material.

• It has passed all metallurgical tests and has surpassed 4130 in all areas.

• The heat affected zone after welding is much smaller in area, making it less bristle and able to retain better elongation than 4130.

• Docol is much cleaner and does not have a scale like 4130, making preparation time much quicker.

This also leads to a reduction in costs.

• Docol can be welded using both MIG and TIG processes.

• Yield strengths are 25,000 psi better than 4130 • Wall thickness tolerances are +/- .005” rather than +/- 10% of the wall.

• Docol sheet materials show similar performance improvements over 4130 and tend to be less expensive as well.

• It has greater resistance to fatigue.

• Docol absorbs energy which has a more controlled failure mode. In other words, it is much SAFER!

The Cons?

• It is a welded tube which may scare off some people, but tests have shown that the weld seam is actually stronger than the parent material.

• Because of the seam weld, it is recommended that for best bending results you locate the seam in the neutral position, but again this has been proven not to be a big issue.

• As the Docol does not have any scale it is very important that the tube is properly secured in the bender and cannot slide through the clamp as bending is processing. This is probably the most important difference between Docol and 4130 when you are using it in a build.

As I mentioned earlier, sanctioning bodies have a big say in what material can be used in their series. Docol R8 is currently accepted by NHRA in all classes, IHRA, SFI, BMW CCA Racing, Pike’s Peak Hillclimb, USAC, World Figure 8, POWRi, World of Outlaws (both late-model and sprints), the Lucas Oil late-model series, SCCA, NASA, Can-Am Midget series and many more. Now both the Global Time Attack and Canadian Sport Compact Series have amended their rules to include Docol R8 by name as an acceptable alternative material.

Do you want to find out more about how Docol performs in an actual application? We are going to give you the chance to find out as in the next few weeks our project MINI CooperRSR is going to receive a full roll cage built with the Docol R8 product. Our local Time attack sanctioning body, the Motorsport MotorWerks Magazine Magazine All Action, All The News Time from from MotorWerks

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Canadian Sport Compact Series accepts any cages that meets the specifications of SCCA, NASA or the Canadian CASC regulations. Both SCCA and NASA have Docol included in their rulebooks. The cage will be built using 1.5” x .095” wall tubing. Floor plates will be fabricated from 3mm Domex 700 flat plate.

Our good friend Randy Jewell of RJ ProFab in Greece, NY will be building the cage. Randy and I have lots of experience working together on my two previous Top Sportsman S 10 Pickup drag trucks.

He is an exceptional craftsman and I’m excited to be able to be part of his first full-road race fabrication.

The cage will future some styling cues from the WRC MINI that Prodrive in the UK built for MINI. These will entail braces that do not feature the standard X brace that is seen on most roll cages. The design is all about moving and dissipating stresses through the cage in a manner when it is distributed all over,

not just in one point. The door bars are going to allow for easier in ingress and egress as well as making the door bars stronger and therefore safer.

To make our life easier we will be removing the roof for two reasons, one to remove all that up high weight and replace it with a carbon roof skin and the other is to allow ease of welding the new cage. It is going to be a bunch of work but it is what is needed to take the chassis to the next level both in safety and performance.

We will be keeping you up to date with posts on our CooperRSR Facebook page and in an article in MotorWerks Magazine. For more info on Docol R8 tube and plate contact AED Motorsport Products at Phone: (317) 334-0569 U.S. & Canada Toll Free: (888) 413-0233 on the Internet at www.aedmotorsport.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AEDMotorsport/

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April 17th 2016 was a great day for many reasons, the weather was great, not a cloud in the sky. It was Opening Day 2016 at Watkins Glen International Raceway and the track was freshly paved; MINIs at The Glen 2016 was revving up ready to take laps on the new billiard table smooth surface.

The MINI Clubs in Buffalo, Rochester 74

and Carlisle brought together last year under the Mini Mafia name, had what we thought was a great turnout in 2015. 103 Coopers turned out for Opening Day and as 2015 went on, the Mini Mafia added more clubs to the family. Clubs in Canada, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland,

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West Virginia and others stretching as far south as Alabama came on board to get the word out about the event. The Mini Mafia had gone from being a local family to controlling much of the Eastern Seaboard. Not unlike the real Mafia, the bosses of all the clubs communicate behind the scenes to make sure the word gets out on events, both to pump

Above: In the paddock ready to take to the track Left: The meetup at Torrey Ridge Below: Wrapping up the day at Seneca Lodge

up attendance and to make the participating Motorers happy. Often, as in the case with Opening Day at the Glen they give back to the community through charitable contributions.

WGI doesn’t make a dime out of the entrance fees for Opening Day. The fee of $25 per carload for three laps is very affordable and if you

want more laps, you can pay $50 for 9. You really can’t refuse the deal, especially with all the proceeds going to local charities; it’s a winner all around. The track gets publicity about the upcoming events, the clubs get a lot of exposure and the Motorers all have a blast. It’s a great thing to do on a Sunday afternoon and most of all it helps families

throughout the area. This year the contributions were tied in with Feeding America, the same charity that was associated with MINI USA’s ‘Track to Track’ event MINI Takes The States.

Torrey Ridge Winery, home of Redneck Red, accidentally chosen last year, but officially chosen this year as the rendezvous for the clubs before cruising their way to the © MotorWerks Magazine - 29

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former Formula 1 track nestled in the rolling hills above Watkins Glen Village. From North, South, East and West MINI after MINI poured in and spilled out over the lawn. Row after row formed until the front lawn and parking lots were full of the iconic British brand. The grand total of cars topped out at 206. Exactly double

worries. The staff at WGI were truly professional in every sense of the word, a big thank you goes out to Robbie Roessel and Jeff Nelson for helping to pull this job off.

After laps, the Motorers headed over to the Seneca Lodge for a great after party. Again, everything went off flawlessly. You’d think that it would

Andretti or even Paul Newman. It was a good choice, made possible by help from Towne MINI and MINI of Rochester, Mike Monteith and Jon Mariotti, respectively and MINI USA. Everything went off without a hitch.

So, what’s in store for next year?

The Mini Mafia doubled the attendees from last year, so who

A huge part of MATG is enticing MINIacs to come support the MINI JCW team when they come to town with IMSA

the number of the previous year.

Happy Motorers climbed out of their cars and began checking out other MINIs and talking to those already arrived. Once again, the Mini Mafia had got the job done.

After about a half an hour of pleasantries, engines were fired up and the Motorers headed to a 1:00 p.m. appointment at WGI, escorted by local Sheriffs, Police Departments and even a couple New York State Troopers. These guys did a great job of getting everybody there, not only in one piece, but with plenty of time left for staging. The guys in blue really came through for us, and they can’t be thanked enough.

Once at WGI, staging began.

Normally with such a huge number of cars, that could be a problem, but it wasn’t for the crew and volunteers at WGI, they performed their jobs flawlessly and our lapping went off without a hitch. No problems, no

be a problem with 206 cars and somewhere north of 320 people, but Jack...a fellow Motorer...and Brett and Gloria and the staff at the Lodge also performed flawlessly. the food was great, music was great, staff were great and the Lodge itself was such a perfect place for an event like this. The Seneca Lodge has a such a great history with racing, it’s really the best place to gather after any event at The Glen. You never know when you sit on a barstool there, if one of its prior occupants might have Stirling Moss, Andy Granatelli, Mario

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knows? Will it be 300? 350? 400?

We’d like to see MATG grow into a national level event, not unlike MTTS, MOT and MOTD but the Mini Mafia would like to have MATG right up there with the rest of them.

We’d like to see it grow until those in power at WGI say we have too many MINIs coming. Join us there next year for WGI Opening Day and MINIs at The Glen.

For more information friend us on Facebook...MINIS at The Glen...

@KW_Suspensions

facebook.com/KWsuspensionsUSA

© 2016 KW automotive North America, Inc. All rights reserved.

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A ROAD TRIP Plus What to do when you have to drive 1,533 km just to get to the starting line of an epic road trip like MINI Takes the States? And what if your route takes you through Kentucky and the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee? The answer is obvious, take your time and enjoy what those places have to offer. So my wife and I booked some extra time off before the start of MTTS 2016 so that we could meander around Bourbon country and the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap. I’m a young guy, but I’ve been tasting and collecting whiskey’s since I graduated college and landed a job that paid well enough to support the habit. So to make the most of our time in Kentucky we got up early and blitzed the 1000 km drive from Toronto to

Lexington in time to enjoy some southern cooking and cocktails at Chatham’s on High in downtown Lexington. My wife and I had agreed before we left that we would take turns during the trip being each other’s designated driver, tomorrow would be her day to drive.

We set out the next morning with our tummies full of ‘Hot Brown’ (official breakfast of Kentucky) and rolled down the drive into Buffalo Trace Distillery for a tour. If you can make it there for 10 AM, Freddie Johnson is a third generation Buffalo Trace man and the best tour guide I have had for anything ever. Freddie has his script down, “When my grandfather came here,

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this warehouse was full of whiskey.

When he left, it was still full of whiskey. When my father came here, this warehouse was full of whiskey. When he left, it was still full of whiskey. When I came here, this warehouse was full of whiskey. And when I leave, this warehouse will still be full of whiskey.” It’s a compelling story for something as time intensive as whiskey making, especially when you’re standing in a barrel

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warehouse surrounded by whiskies that would be old enough to vote if they were people.

The tour, like most, ended with a tasting. The expressions on offer were the softer, sweeter and younger Buffalo Trace, Blanton’s Original with it’s refined vanilla, sweet toffee and spicy rye, and the more complex Eagle Rare 10 Year Old. Of the three I have to say I’d take the Eagle Rare because I’m a sucker for any product that manifests flavours of cherries, chocolate, vanilla and spice. For dessert, Freddie poured us a float of craft root beer topped with Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream. Before he sent us on our way, I asked him if I

could take some pictures of the car around the distillery grounds and he said “Sure, just stay on the service roads and if anyone asks, tell em Freddie Johnson sent you.” Great guy that Freddie.

From here, my wife took the wheel and motored over to the oftoverlooked Wild Turkey Distillery where literally everything they make is on offer, but you’re restricted to three samples,, so choose wisely. I chose the Russell’s Reserve Small Batch, Rare Breed, and after the tour bus crowd had gone, I coaxed the girl behind the bar into letting me sample the Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary.

Rich vanilla and buttery popcorn greet the nose alongside peanut brittle, pipe tobacco and flares of rye spice. Dry oaky vanilla leaps out at first taste before being joined by clove, cinnamon, dried orange

peel and wood char. The finish is dry, but doesn’t fade as abruptly as other dry whiskies, instead the spice notes fade away leaving vanilla and caramel while the char mellows into pipe smoke and leather. This is not a sweet bourbon; instead, the corn takes a backseat to the rye grain and the barrel.

It’s pretty well established from the interviews that he’s given that Jimmy Russell doesn’t like old bourbon. This is made pretty obvious by a lineup of where the oldest spirits have spent 12 years in single use oak and the majority are 7-9 years old and proofs ranging from 101 to cask strength.

So I’m not sure why Eddie Russell would hand pick thirteen and sixteen year casks to honour his father’s

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60th year making bourbon, but it sure is a classy spirit. So I left with a bottle.

Despite its Spanish mission-style architecture dating to 1910, I found the Four Roses distillery to be the most modern facility of the three.

At the distillery, Four Roses sell a limited run barrel proof release which lets you try a hand selected example of one of the ten Four Roses whiskey recipes before it is blended. It is called, perhaps

unsurprisingly, Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection and the bottle I wound up with uses recipe OBSK (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley), aged for 8 years and 6 months. This rye heavy whiskey is dominated by oak, spice and rye bread; it’s sweetness manifests more akin to maple than caramel or molasses. Also, when they heard that my wife was my designated driver, they gave her four red roses.

It was our plan to be on US-129 well

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before dark, but a storm had rolled in and it took us so long to get to Maryville that night had fallen and I had long since sobered up. We decided over dinner that I would be the one facing the prospect of slaying The Dragon in the dark during a thunderstorm. What followed was one of the most epic drives of my entire life. The road was empty, and the radio was off, the only soundtrack I needed was the one provided by the rain, the

thunder, the engine, and my copilot calling out the direction and the difficulty of the turns ahead.

The twists and turns prevented any standing water from gathering but, but the JCW just clung to the road in a way that gave me the confidence to attack the bends. In any other car it would have been a white knuckle drive, but the MINI got us to our lodge safely.

The next morning was perfect, the rain had given way to the sun and

the smoky mountains lived up to their name. We cruised the national forests on the Great Smoky Mountain Loop and the Cherohala Loop, driving the The Tail of the Dragon twice more before finally heading to the MTTS starting line in Atlanta, Georgia. It was an epic road trip, but that stormy night in Deal’s Gap was the drive of a lifetime.

Photos Page 75 Main: Below The Buffalo Trace Water Tower Left: Barrels peeking out of Warehouse C Middle:A gorgeous drive down to the Trace Right: Surrounded by 17-19 year old whiskey Above Main: Bonded warehouse H Top Left: Four Roses, literally Bottom Left: Barrel Crossing

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Behind The Scenes Tonine McGarvie Rocks Words and photos by Ian Rae

The first time I crossed paths with MINI USA’s Tonine McGarvie was in Indianapolis at the Miles Ahead MINI Driving school, only I did not realize it at the time. However during the lead up to MotorWerks Magazine working with MINI USA on the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge Car Corrals I realized she was the young lady from MINI who loved the event but was pipped that her name on the MINI Cooper S was spelled McGarvey instead of McGarvie.

The laugh we had about that continues to this day. And not just about that incident. Tonine is a people person, she is perfectly suited

for her job; one that has her interact with many MINI owners at the various events she co-ordinates.

During the many miles travelled Norm Nelson and myself traded knowledge with Tonine. She taught us how MINI works and in return we taught her about racing and some of it’s ins and outs. Having never been to a racetrack Tonine was literally thrown in the deep end when she took on the post of being liason between Luis Perocarpi’s LAP Motorsport team and MINI USA. It was a task she was up to and I would like to think that Norm and I did our little bit to help her.

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In 2016 we relinquished our primary involvment with the Corrals but Tonine did what she always does and stepped up again. With minor help from us this year’s Corrals have been bigger and better than before.

West Coast Editor Norm Nelson agrees, “Tonine is tireless, a dynamo, she never rests, she is contantly working either on the phone, texting, talking or reading emails. Plus she is hands on and OCD when it comes to setting up the Corrals to perfection. I love working with her and always get a big smile and a hug on my arrival. It was great seeing her on MTTS where she

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was doing just as good a job as she does with the motorsport program.”

Jeff Wallace who is a MINI Area Manager agreed, “Tonine provides

a one of a kind experience for the MINI family and auto enthusiast.

Her support of the raceteam and dedication to keep the dealer body informed have continued to keep us pumped and engaged with the JCW Team. She is a one of a kind asset to our brand and her uplifting attitude is infectious.

MOTOR ON!”

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ALWAYS smiling!

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Welcome to the MotorWerks/Miniology Magazines project MINI, Cooper RSR

Another change coming for Cooper RSR is the move to KW suspensions. When I originally started talking to KW about a solution we agreed the original shock package they built for the MINI Challenge would be perfect. Then they came back and offered it with an inverted monotube solution and I just could not say no! Look at the size of that outer shaft in the photo above, it is humoungous! I love how the external canister hose comes out through the top of the strut and I don’t have to remove the gas pressure to install it.

Sixteen position bump settings are selected by the dial on the remote gas reservoir.

The MINI Challenge struts come complete with camber plates with adjustment markings on the top plate so the strut can be acurately placed if moved. The strut tower required clearancing to see all the adjustments available, but I have done that already.

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NEW PARTS, NEW LOOK

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There is nothing quite like fitting new parts to your car to make you feel good! In my case it was just in time for taking a short trip to two stops on MINI Takes The States.

We got CooperRSR all gussied up and ready to unveil its new look at the Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh and it was in the trailer and heading south. So what was new? It was three things and all of them revolved around unsprung weight.

During our trip to the Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis last year one of our stops was to see the guys from Powerbrake. This long established company out of South Africa was setting up shop in the USA and they walked me through a selection of their products and I was impressed with what I saw and the fact that they are a racing brake manufacturer first who also do fast street/track day brakes rather than the other way round. In fact, they were working on a new

caliper, the X4ES and that would be perfect for Cooper RSR, so I got even more intrigued. Plus, if I wanted to continue running on the street I could as the X-Line calipers all feature internal wiper seals, making them suitable for long term street use as well as a daily driver or weekend track day car.

In fact, after doing a bit of research over the Christmas holiday I found out that Powerbrake had replaced a well-known European brand of brakes on the BMW Super Production Car team cars competing in the premier A-Class of the Bridgestone Production Car National Championship race series in South Africa a few years back. After fitting the Powerbrake system to the first factory car, the team reported significant gains in brake performance and durability.

They immediately ordered the same Powerbrake system for the second car in the team. The team

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remained Powerbrake customers for the six years that they ran in the race series. Many race wins and a National Championship in 2014 proved that they had made the right choice.

MINI would then join the Bridgestone Super Production Car series and they also chose Powerbrake as their brake system supplier based on the success that the BMW team had. Other teams in South Africa’s premier sedan race series using Powerbrake systems included: Nissan, Opel, Renault and VW. Many of these teams chose to run Powerbrake because they are a bespoke brake system manufacturer working closely with teams to improve the overall brake package. Powerbrake has brought all of its race experience into designing the products they manufacture for street and track day use; during the caliper design process the designs are optimized for maximum strength and rigidity using finite element analysis (FEA), they are machined from solid billet aerospace-grade aluminum and then the calipers, hats & brackets are mil-spec type-3 hard anodized for max durability and wear resistance.

But before I gave them the nod to get started on production there was one important thing I had to take care of. Would the brakes fit under the new custom GS1R wheels Forgeline Motorsports was going to build for me? I forwarded a copy of the brake dimension drawing and the brake kit wheel fitment template to Forgeline’s Steve Schardt and he got with their CAD/FEA whiz Todd La Rue who with a few key strokes gave us the big thumbs up. Considering

that these two sets were to be the world’s first four lug GS1R wheels it ended a little bit more complex than that but the good news was the brakes and wheels would have no clearance issues.

The Big Brake Kit that had been specified for Cooper RSR uses the newest addition to the X-Line caliper range the X4ES as mentioned above. What impressed me was being included in the process of selecting the right kit for the use intended. They never said, “This is the R53 BBK” and that was it. “What is the car going to be used for? Is it track only? Will it see any road time?” These are all things that go with them selecting the proper pad to go with the system.

The correct race, track day or fast road brake pad selection to go with the Big Brake Kit is vital to make sure that it meets the needs of the drivers intended use. Considering their extensive experience from the brake dyno and on car testing program they run, the Powerbrake guys go into a lot of detail to make sure that the correct pads/compounds are specified for the customer’s brake kit. The calipers are also designed that brake pads are standard backing plate profiles and available from most reputable high performance brake pad manufacturers around the world.

For the Mini application the Powerbrake big brake kit comes with 325mm (12.78”) x 25mm rotors, another plus to Powerbrake systems is they come with heat paint on the rotors so you can get accurate & direct data as to how hot the rotors are getting.

The calipers also come with a brake temperature indicating labels installed as another check on the temperatures the brake kit is seeing. The brake kit has all the components needed for fitment, so fitting it to the car is easy but we will have an article covering the installation in a future issue, let’s move on to the next ‘New Part’ the wheels.

Forgeline Motorsports have been around for quite a few years, started by Steve Schardt and run by his twin brother David while he toiled in the hydraulic industry. The duo now work side by side building America’s finest custom forged wheels. And as if they needed backup their father Jim who himself owned Dayton Wire Wheel is always around or available at the end of a phone line.

I have to admit I knew there were various ways to build a wheel but never really understood the

The kit comes with the caliper, caliper bracker, pads, braided brake line, pad pins and clips and some spare pins and clips.

A two-piece 325 mm rotor comes with temperature paint to help make sure the brakes are not getting overheated

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difference other than costs. Steve has educated me to say the least and I try to do the same to others.

Too many times have I heard, “I can buy three or four wheels for the cost one forged wheel” and I probably subscribed to that thought process pre Steve Schardt. The important thing that I see people missing when thinking along these lines is that replacing a damaged wheel when it cracks is okay when you catch it before anything catastrophic happens. What if you launch the car off a curb and the barrel of the wheel decides to separate from the center? You may get lucky or you may end up being pitched into a series of rolls or head on into a guardrail. Your car is now history and no amount of affordable cast wheels is going to bring it back.

Originally I had looked at the GA3R wheel which is a three-piece wheel but that was a no go as the MINI wheels are only attached by four lugs, not the more common five.

The center could not be machined to accommodate the four lug pitch circle diameter. So the next choice was the GA1R similar to what I run on my road-going BMW 335i. But then along came the new GS1R wheel that is now so popular in IMSA and Pirelli World Challenge. Our GS1R actually look a bit different due to the machining required to suit the four lugs and I love the look.

We chose one set to be Super Wet White to contrast with the Chili Red of Cooper RSR and another set in Transparent Red to showcase one of the really cool finishes that Forgeline offer to make your custom wheels stand out from the rest.

Once I had the okay on the brake 92

package I started discussing the spec of the wheels with Steve. In a 17” diameter the narrowest width available is 8.5” so I chose that to work with the slicks we were getting from NA Tires. Next the offset had to be finalized and this is where things can get interesting if you do not pay enough close attention. Back when I installed the Hot Bits Sports Suspension coilovers I had to add a 10mm spacer for the standard MINI S-Spokes to clear the spring perch. People tend to forget the spring perch is lower on a coilover where on a standard strut it tends to project above the tire. So I

gave Steve all the measurements, wheel ET, spacer width and the clearance I wanted and Forgeline came up with an offset of ET18 for the wheels. Remember, there is no point getting custom wheels built and then having to add spacers to make them fit, that defeats one of the purposes. Another reason for the custom wheels is making them light, which is not a big deal when you compare them to the S-Spokes but as we all know unsprung weight is king in racing. Schardt was actually a little disappointed as he wanted the wheels to come in a bit lighter

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but the unique design of the four lug center prevented that. So what did they weigh? Well I was over the moon as I set them on the scales and they came in at 18.5 pounds; not bad for a 8.5”x17” forged wheel; they got a big thumbs up from me.

Part three of the puzzle were the tires and like when we selected Powerbrake we went for a foreign manufacturer who was now coming into North America with their product line. My good friend Eric Nummelin had run the tires last year in a 3-hour enduro and the tires had performed impeccably and he won the race with his ex-World Challenge Ford Cougar. I met the principals at the PRI show and they were a great bunch of guys. We talked and the decision was made to put Cooper RSR on their NA Carrera slicks as well. I chose the 8x24.5-17 size. As the side walls would be perfectly shaped for the 8.5” wide GS1R rims.

At the time of writing they have only seen a slow lap around the new M1 Concourse in Pontiac, MI. during MTTS. My number one reason for choosing these tires is because they require no suspension adjustment to get the maximum out of the tire. That is right, drive it off the street and bolt on the slicks and they work. So no more driving with a compromised suspension setup. This is great for track day junkie that make up the majority of our readers. Make sure you check the following article from Eric that explains this a bit more in detail.

In the next issue we will have an on-track update with the results of these changes.

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Keep up with all sorts of motorsport by joining one of our Fan Groups. Both Fans and Racers alike frequent these groups and they are rapidly becoming a great resource if you are building a car

or needing some advice. Tell your friends about it and invite them to join us.

Time Attack Fans www.facebook.com/groups/TimeAttackFans/

Competition MINI Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CompMINIFans/

Competition BMW Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CompBMWFans/

Autocross Fans www.facebook.com/groups/AutocrossFans/

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Ingliston Circuit Fans https://www.facebook.com/groups/InglistonFans

Canadian GT4/TCR Fans https://www.facebook.com/groups/gt4tcr.fans/

Michelin Pilot Challenge Fans https://www.facebook.com/groups/IMPC.Fans/

TVS 900 MINI Owners www.facebook.com/groups/TVS900.MINI.Owners/

Racing Imps and Variants https://www.facebook.com/groups/racingimps/

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Words by Chris Knox, phot os by Dave Young Photos Another season has finished and it has been a quite a rollercoaster year! We end ed up taking the Power Maxed MINI Challenge overal l title by eighty points and becoming the first ever rep eat winner in the series. So lets go back and recap the 2014 season!

It wasn’t looking like I was going to be competing this year until a few days before the season started. My manager and the SL Group owner had struck a last minute deal to get me on the grid, wit h initial backing from shopplay .co.uk. We again ran with 34 © MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

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Excelr8 Motorsport who did

such a great job when I too k the title back in 2011. Arrivin g at the first round it still wasn’t known in the paddo ck that I was competing, so I think I took a few people by surprise! With little testing I put the car was on pole by a big margin! I hadn’t lost my touch! However thi ngs didn’t stay on a high for long! Races one and two at Donington Park were amon g the most frustrating I have ever encountered in all my years of racing. Three laps into the race while leading comfortably, the engine powe r dropped off slightly and I

up for the

CHALLENGE

‘First ever repeat MINI Cha lle

nge Champion’

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was forced to drop back to third as I was became a sitting duck on the straights. To cap it all, not far from the end of the race I suddenly found myself in the gravel as the result of a late lunge gone wrong by a fellow competitor who hit me pretty hard.

Race two was equally frustrating.

I started way down the grid and used my fast starting advantage to climb up the order but was again

when the rain comes down!

The next round of the Power Maxed MINI Challenge at Brands Hatch had us welcoming a new backer, Rivervale Leasing, thanks for coming on board guys! The weekend may have started off as another event from hell but it sure finished in euphoric fashion.

In qualifying the gear linkage broke and caused me to miss a shift

was re-passed on any straight. I came home to a disappointing but hard fought fourth! Another engine change overnight was the only option! With engine number three in the car we took three wins on the Sunday including a reverse grid win at the end of the day!

Satisfying? Heck yes!

On to weekend three at Snetterton, we had tested a few

hampered by the lack of straightline speed! Finally in race three my prayers were answered! The rain was torrential as we left the starting grid. Having just put on wets, I was in my element, I grabbed the lead at the end of lap one and didn’t look back, the power issue made no difference in the wet conditions and I sprinted away to my first win of the year. This Scotsman still had it

which resulted in an over-revved engine. Luckily the track was wet so it masked the problem slightly, I was still able to retain my second spot on the grid. The team changed the engine as it wasn’t sounding right in the garage. Unfortunately engine number two of the weekend was not up to snuff! The straightline speed was embarrassing and everytime I made an overtake I

weekends prior to the event to make sure everything was ok, however the water pump belt detached and it cooked the engine, was a fourth engine on the cards? Luckily the team managed to get away with putting on a fresh cylinder head on so I’m now on engine 3.5 haha!

Qualifying was close between my main rival, Luke Caudle and I with Luke just pipping me to pole by a

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tenth of a second. Race one was pretty straight forward, Luke took the win and I just followed him home, there was nothing between us. The reverse grid was my opportunity to get in front of Luke and I held the advantage over him on the opening lap as I started to

one. I shadowed race leader Neil Newstead for 75% of the race, just waiting to seize any opportunity that would come along. This came with a few laps to go when we went side by side into the famous Shell hairpin, I was on the outside and got the undercut on the exit and

catch the two guys in front. After dropping the first driver, I set out after Lawrence Davey, I got a great draft on the back straight and went around the outside under braking, unfortunately Lawrence couldn’t get his MINI stopped in time and made contact with me spinning me off onto the dirt. I rejoined with a damaged car but still salvaged a points finish. Points make championships, remember!

Weekend four had us heading north to Oulton Park where I was able to stretch my points lead in the series. I ran minimum laps in qualifying to preserve tyres and lined up third on the grid for race

never looked back. My title rival Luke had some bad luck and failed to finish. Race two was very straight forward, lights to flag victory, I just love those! Race three was the reverse grid which took me a few laps to fight my way through the field. On the last lap I was behind Neil and he made contact with a back marker, fluid was leaking from his car and it was making it difficult for me to get near him, a yellow flag saved him on the next corner and I thought I would get a better run out the last corner so took a wide line, Lawrence made a massive lunge and got alongside but I had to think of the championship, so took to the

grass to avoid contact and salvaged third! Another great points haul at what is I suppose the closest thing to racing at home for me in the Power Maxed MINI Challenge.

From the North we headed to the West Country for weekend five at Castle Combe.

Another new sponsor came onboard, my local bike firm Thomsons Cycles. It was another perfect weekend with pole by a big margin in the wet conditions. Race one was damp but drying so we opted for slick fronts and wet rears. This combo worked perfect for me, I romped to victory number seven on the year and bagged the fastest lap also.

The reverse grid was a little chaotic, a red flag on the first start brought a small break before the restart. I was a little cautious on the second restart as I had to keep the championship in mind. I took a little longer than usual to fight my way through the field but was soon on Luke’s bumper challenging for the lead, a brave move on the outside into Quarry, one of the most challenging braking zones in the UK, gave me the lead on exit! I went on to take victory number eight and set another fastest lap. Pretty good considering there was no racing in my future when 2014 started.

The Silverstone GP circuit was the venue for weekend six.

Qualifying was perfect, I took the pole by 1.8 seconds and backed up my initial pace by taking my ninth race win by a huge margin. Race two got off to a great start and

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again had a huge lead until my earlier season issues returned, the power dropped off massively and my lead was being eroded by twoseconds a lap. I managed to hold on and bag victory number ten for the year. The reverse grid was going to be very difficult as there was hardly anytime to diagnose the problem. I knew I was going to struggle, but got a great start. As soon as we got on the first straight I was a sitting duck. I had great corner speed but nothing where it counted on the straights. I got on the brakes for an overtake but made contact with Neil which damaged my car, I pitted to make sure there was nothing dragging or cutting into the tyre and continued trying to salvage any points. Post race there was an investigation into the incident with resulted in me keeping my finishing position in race three but would take a grid penalty at the next race at Brands Hatch, This gave me the championship in the office rather than on the track which was a bit frustrating.

At the final weekend at Brands Hatch GP we welcomed more new marketing partners, Blackwood Plant Hire, Sweet Buzzards, CCC Events and Projector Lifting Services Ltd. Blackwood Plant Hire owner Tom joined us for the weekend and had a great time at his first MINI Challenge weekend.

Qualifying wasn’t too important as I had an eight place grid penalty.

I lined up second on the road but that meant tenth on the grid for the race. I was a determined man with a point to prove! I had a great start and jumped a couple of rows of cars into turn one. Luke made

contact with the car in front causing him to leak fluid, I lost 7.5 secs to the leaders as the track was like driving on ice! Luke pulled off and it gave me the chance to go after the leaders. Fastest lap after fastest lap followed and I passed Lawrence into third, then disposed of Neil for second but ran out of time to catch Jono Brown. Race two put me on the front row with Jono on fresh rubber, I knew I had to get by on the first lap to have a chance. I did just that with an amazing move around the outside at Stirlings, I built on the lead to win in front of all my sponsors watching from the hospitality suite! Race three was

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over before it started. I got a great start from sixth and was up to third in the first lap, until a huge accident caused a red flag and with no daylight to resume, the doors were closed on the 2014 Power Maxed MINI Challenge season.

Special thanks go out to all my sponsors for making this season happen, I could not have done it without you. Thanks to my team and to all the MINI fans worldwide that continue to support me! Finally, thanks to Motorwerks Magazine for having faith in the lanky Scot they met at Daytona in 2012 and allowing me to retell my 2014 story on their pages. Till next season!

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Chris Knox

2014 Power Maxed MINI Challenge Champion 44 108 © MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

Photo by Marc Pantony

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“But VIRginia International Raceway is a horsepower track, the Mini shouldn’t be competitive there”.

Words by E photos from rfan Modir, stock MINI Thund er and EDGE M otorworks VI

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“But VIRginia International Raceway is a horsepower track, the Mini shouldn’t be competitive there”.

They were not really the words the team at EDGE Motorworks needed to hear before embarking on a 6,000 mile round trip from California to Virginia towing that exact MINI but we had a belief in what we were doing and wanted to show the world what a properly prepared and setup Justa could do.

The team at EDGE Motorworks has been racing their 2005 Mini Cooper (Justa) the past two seasons with the intention of making one of the first competitive Mini Coopers in multiple classes. It may look like an ‘S’ but it is a plain jane Cooper with no huff or puff. The team consists of driver and head technician Anthony Zwain and fellow EDGE employees Timothy Taylor, Angelo Todoran and myself Erfan Modir.

When I look back at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in July, we felt we had a home field advantage at the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) West Coast Nationals. The Mini had a freshly built engine from Jan Brueggemann of Revolution Motor Works in Southern California who had previous experience in building normally aspirated Coopers with rally Champion Markus Saarinen. Now with the ability to rev up to 8000 RPM and with a very flat torque curve our Justa really moved like it was an S. And that got confusing for a few people when they saw the

scoop on the bonnet. But after lifting the bonnet and showing them, there was much muttering and shaking of heads. Especially by those who could not catch us.

Throughout the weekend we had our hearts set on taking home the TTF trophy. For those of you not too sure what TTF is, it is Time Trial where just one fast lap is all

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that is needed over the weekend to take home the coveted number one spot and a National title.

The Mini, piloted by EDGE shop foreman, Anthony Zwain threw down that quick lap, a 1:47.620 (beating the competition by more than two full seconds) during the Saturday session to take home first place in TTF that we really

wanted. This win at Laguna Seca encouraged us enough to venture cross-country to the East Coast Nationals. Unanimously, the team at EDGE agreed that the Mini is not only competitive but downright dominating the competition and the East Coast needed to see it.

Fast forward one month and

EDGE technician Angelo Todoran volunteered to tow the MINI and two other cars (Spec Miatas to offset fuel costs) to VIRginia International Raceway for the East Coast Nationals. The ECN would start on September 3 a week after NASA Norcal held an event at Thunderhill Raceway.

This meant Angelo had to haul

30,000 pounds from Thunderhill Raceway directly to Virginia and make it in time for Anthony to get in some testing.

Going into East Coast Nationals at VIR, we wanted to capitalize on the 6,000 mile roundtrip journey from coast to coast by getting as much track time as we could.

We signed up for PTF, TTE (there © MotorWerks Magazine - 133

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were not enough entries for TTF) and GTS1. The TTE rules still meant fastest lap of the weekend would take the championship but GTS1 and PTF were competitive side by side racing, meaning fastest laptime was for bragging rights only. It was first past the chequer who would hoist the trophy and spray the champagne.

Anthony had never physically driven VIR, only practicing on iRacing and watching YouTube clips. During Friday’s practice he threw down fastest lap in PTF which was a 2:22.756, nearly four seconds faster than the second placed runner so that made us happy.

Saturday’s races were qualifying races in which Anthony finished in first for PTF and fourth for GTS1. Sunday was to be the big day, the whole reason why EDGE Motorworks had traveled so far. The GTS1 and PTF races were unfortunately run back to back, meaning the EDGE team had twenty minutes between GTS1 and PTF races. This usually does not pose an issue, but since rules are different between the classes, there was weight that needed to be removed/added as well as remapping the ViPec ECU for the different power/weights associated with the different classes.

With the Cooper all set up to run GTS1, Anthony would start fourth, ready for 45 minutes of wide open throttle racing in a class where nobody ever really expected a MINI to do well. Obviously nobody had told Anthony that and he climbed all

the way to first place for several laps before dropping to second and holding that position for more than half the race. Due to the extremely long straights at VIR, our little MINI just did not have enough grunt to keep up with the BWW E30s and their torque. He dropped to third to finish the race, becoming one of the first to podium with a Mini Cooper in a GTS race. Since the Mini is low on power, Anthony used a tactic called drafting; meaning you drive bumper to bumper on the straights to be more aerodynamic. The downside to this, the car can get extremely hot due to the lack of airflow.

Between the GTS1 race and the PTF race, we literally had to throw ice-cold water on the engine and radiator to bring the temperature down.

Up next was PTF, the bread and butter class for this MINI; it was built for this class so we were expecting great things. Starting first, Anthony kept this position for the duration of the race.

Not letting anyone behind him catch up or even come close, totally dominating the opposition, finishing the race nearly twenty seconds ahead of P2.

Naturally, the team was ecstatic.

Taking home some hardware, a third and a first. It was time

for the champagne showers and trophy celebration. NASA promotes good sportsmanship, and EDGE Motorworks decided to hang around and cheer on the other classes as were receiving their trophies. When the TTE trophies were being handed out, we knew that they had placed fourth fastest time and were not receiving anything. But little did we know, the third placed car had been disqualified and Anthony was bumped up a spot meaning we had another trophy to cart bart to California.

We left VIRginia International Raceway with three trophies, one in each class we had signed up for. A third place in TTE, a third place in GTS1, and a first place in PTF. Taking home a National Championship in both TTF/ PTF classes was worth the long cross-country trip. In addition to this sweet victory, the EDGE Motorworks Mini Cooper now holds the VIR track record in PTF with a 2:22.067.

The team wants to thank the NASA officials and the awesome staff at VIR who provided a great racetrack for the event.

EDGE Motorwerks is indebted all our sponsors, TC Design, TFB, Hoosier Racing Tire, TC Kline Racing and Revolution Motor Works.

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a i n r o f

i l a

G N I W O T

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Anyone who has come across members of the Shasta Mini Club will no doubt know they are totally into Theme cars. With Minis like Norman Nelson’s MNE Eagle to Steve and Stacey Lowery’s XS Woody, the northern Californian club tends to hog the limelight at many of the events they attend.

The newest addition to the club is Jesse Nelson’s Tiny Tows, a 1962 Mini pickup she had built as a Mini tow truck. Jesse had been after Eric Gunderson of Auburn, CA. to sell the truck to her for seven years and he finally gave in to her persistence in early 2014 and Tiny Tows is the result.

The British Motor Corporation produced a total of 58,179 Mini pick-up trucks over the years but we are not sure how many made it across the Atlantic. Built on the longer Mini van platform the the pick-up and van shared a front facia that did without a separate grill, instead they had slots in the stamped metal panel allowing air to flow in and cool the engine as well as supply air to the carburettor.

This added to the utility look of the pick-up and that was enforced with the fact that in early cases a heater was an optional extra.

Norm and Jesse purchased the truck in March 2014. She wanted a plain truck, but then we decided to “theme” it. We thought about an ice cream truck, a cement truck, and others but we decided that we should honor the all the tow truck drivers who risk a lot for motorists every time they go out on a job.

Mods that we did: Interior: New seats, harnesses, 118

custom dash, custom center console, custom door panels, carpet, and door pocket covers.

LED Lighting, stereo, with speakers and sub-woofer, Momo steering wheel, battery, Engine bay: Steel braded fuel hoses, oil cooler with steel braided hoses, chrome crankcase breather, custom starter, tandem brake master cylinder, electric fuel pump, exhaust header and custom exhaust, silicone coolant hoses, stainless steel fuel tank, Tow Truck Conversion: Aluminum frame and diamond

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plate bed cover, tow truck boom, with 2500# electric winch, compressor, jumper cables with extra battery, fuel can, fire extinguisher, J-Hooks, tool box with tools, gloves, vest, custom LED warning lights and flashers, tow truck road markers, powder coated finish on boom & railing.

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Spec Sheet: Overall length: 130.2” Overall width: 53.5” Wheel base: 84.2” Bed size: 54.75” L X 39.2” W Weight: Front Axle: 855 Lbs. Rear Axle: 514 Lbs. Total Weight: 1369 Lbs. Right Hand Drive Wheels: Wolfrace 4-lig, 10” dia, X 5J wide VIN: AAU7198729 Original engine: 850 cc 4 cyl.

HP+ 56.1 @ 5316 RPM

Torque: 62.4 Ft Lb. @ 3670 Rpm Current engine: 1380cc A+ engine 4 Speed manual transmission - special wide ratio with 2.98 final drive

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