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Delayed Championship for Team Octane

The Covid pandemic is to blame for many things and we were reminded of that this past weekend, Oct 23 when the Super Production Challenge out of Quebec held their delayed Awards banquet.

Long-time MINI racer Alain Lauzière and Team /Equipe Octane won the 2019 Production Class Championship but it was not until this years award banquet that he actually recieved the winning trophy. The winningest MINI team in North America proved why they were so successful by putting a competitive MINI under Nelson Chan after his return from TCR racing. Chan picked up the second place trophy in the Production Class at the banquet. Sean Woodard joins Miniology Magazine

We had some good news recently coming out of the UK and are pleased to announce that Sean Woodard is joining us to write a column about his 2022 motorsport season. Sean has a varied background in motorsport, his first memory was aged seven and smelling Castrol R at Brands Hatch, his first ever first race meeting. He started a mechanical apprenticeship after leaving school but when he was just eighteen landed a role in Formula 3000 as a mechanic. This also included stints at March Engineering and even one not so productive trip to Le Mans with the March/Nissan group C car. It was not long after that he started to

mix work with racing, his first ever drive was in a V8 Rover SDi group N/production saloons, no testing, no new tyres as no budget but the team did did OK and had fun. Since then, he switched to racing 125cc gearbox short circuit karts and before focusing on cars with his family Team where they have run such cars as an Alfa Romeo 33, Fiats Uno’s and more recently our current JCW R56 Mini. This year he has teamed up with Mini specialist Sussex Road and Race, sharing a JCW R56 Mini with Josh Fulbrook, one of the partners in the business. They will be competing in the Classic Sports Car Club, Turbo Tin Tops Series. Expectations are high but it is very competitive at the front end. The team is looking forward to testing before the season starts and Sean is looking forward to relating all the season’s stories to the readers of Miniology Magazine. Fulbrook himself is excited for the new season and told us, “I am looking forward to 2022 and racing with Sean, Sussex Road and Race has worked hard over the winter and we fully expect to be competitive after our initial testing. Congrats to Sean on joining Miniology and we look forward to telling everyone about our racing season.”

March of the Minis is no More: Long live Mini Madness

Last March at during a lull in the Covid crisis the city of Colusa in California got together with a few Mini Clubs to put on an event called March of the Minis. Such was the success that they invited the clubs back for more in 2022. With the date moved to Saturday April 16th, this years event is expanding to include a ‘Drive over the Levee’ as last year, a drive through Downtown and cuminating in a ‘Show and Shine’ where the assembled Miniacs can show off and talk to the crowds about their pride and joy in three city blocks dedicated to the show. The Clubs involved will be coming from all over California and include Shasta Minis, Chico Minis, MOASF (Mini of America - San Francisco), Capital City Minis and MINIs & Minis International. The event is being put on by Colusa City Council as a way to showcase their beautiful city. Miniology will be covering the event live on YouTube as well as producing other Social Media

updates. Miniology Magazine will carry the same Social Media updates and will be featuring an event roundup in an upcoming issue of the magazine. 80100 cars are expected to attend the year two event which the city of Colusa intends to make an annual must do event for California’s Mini/Mini lovers.

Schedule: Saturday April 16 2022 Levy drive: start: 10:00am - 11:00am Downtown drive start: 11:00am - 12 noon Show & Shine Main Street: 12 noon - 3:00pm

At the conclusion of the event at 3:00pm the clubs are looking at organizing a tour of local attractions and are looking for a facility to host a happy hour where participants can unwind.

Watch for updates on the Miniology and Miniology Magazine Facebook pages.

Bradley Gravett will continue to race for Graves Motorsport in the 2022 MINI CHALLENGE JCW Class, his second in the championship and third with the Colchester based team.

Having finished 3rd in the Rookie Cup class in 2021, Gravett, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, retains title sponsorship with Liqui Moly for the 2022 season. With a best finish of 11th he is targeting a campaign of top 10 finishes and, now in the Graduate Cup, a class for drivers in their second MINI CHALLENGE season, is aiming for that title too. Son of 1990 British Touring Car Champion, Robb Gravett, Bradley started by racing karts at a national level in 2007 & 2008. He then took a sabbatical from motorsport competition until competing in the MINI CHALLENGE Cooper Trophy in 2020 with Graves Motorsport. Despite qualifying on the front two rows at times, his best finish was 6th. Crucially he’d learnt his craft in preparation for a debut JCW MINI season in 2021. An exuberant Bradley Gravett said, “Having completed my maiden season in the JCW class with Graves Motorsport in 2021, I’m thrilled to once again be returning to the team for 2022. The support received from the team last year was of huge importance to my development as a driver. With the exciting progression Graves has made over the winter months, I’m delighted to be part of what I believe is a winning package. With a strong focus for results in 2022; when an opportunity arises, I’ll Gravett with both hands!” In addition, team manager David Graves said, “Bradley has been a key element in our progression to the JCW class of the MINI CHALLENGE UK, so we are naturally delighted to continue helping him develop throughout our third season working together. We’ve made significant improvements over the winter that we feel will help Bradley to become a regular inside the top-10 which he showed promise of in 2021. He is also an asset off-track, doing fantastic work with his partners and engaging with race weekend fans at the BTCC events. This is important in our team and Bradley exudes what we stand for in abundance.” Gravett will complete a testing programme ahead of the opening round of the MINI CHALLENGE UK JCW Championship at Donington Park on the 23rd and 24th April, supporting the British Touring Car Championship. For further team news be sure to follow Bradley and the team on social media.

Bradley also announced his very exciting new partnership with Thinking it Better; a company dedicated to helping people unlock their ultimate potential through coaching and mentoring by changing the way we think, one thought at a time. He will tell us more about it in his next column but in the meantime check out the link to the video above.