Miniology Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 1

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

Words by Erfan Modir, stock photos from MINI Thunder VI and EDGE Motorworks

“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 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 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.

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.