It takes a lot of caffeine to get through those. Not saying he has a dry writing style, but if these were a race, slicks would be the tire to use...

 

If I could make it through the epidemiology textbook at vet school, I can make it through anything! 😁

 

Albert and I had a grand time at WGI. We even got to see Cloud to ground lightning strikes...
The JCW did really well. It is nice to have a car that I don’t HAVE to monkey with to make it track worthy.

I did a writeup in my Albert thread (link)

I am thinking of doing the NYST day later this month if anyone is interested. Then back to WGI in late Sept.

Enjoy and motor on...

 

Glad to hear WGI was trouble-free! I am thinking about NYST next Tuesday depending on the forecast, but I just signed up for Lime Rock Saturday morning. Should be a perfect day weather-wise, and the car is coming off the two day event at Club Motorsports, which essentially is like Palmer on steroids, without being contrived. Much safer, and the views on the cool down laps are phenomenal! The elevation changes are definitely exhilarating, but is is a hike and a half to get there. I was able to review my sessions with Ross, who is extremely insightful, to say the least. I trialed a Garmin unit on the second day so he had some data to interpret, and he was very down to earth both days, sharing his expertise with many of the drivers.

 

Wow - that is fantastic to get Ross to do that.

As for NYST - it looks like I have a conflict. I had hoped to make it, but that’s life. GVC is doing a 2 day event there that I might do. We’ll see.

When I was at WGI I heard good things about Club Motorsports. In the past I had heard the same thing. Nice to get a first hand report. I would like to go, but it is almost another hour for me to go. If someone was to do a 2 or 3 day event there, I might consider it as it would be worth the trip. But to have to do 2 nights in a motel for a one day event, plus the 2 days of travel, I can’t see that happening.

The MINI is a great car and the Gen 3 JCW has some added features, such as the suspension, additional cooler and the brakes, that make it track worthy. All of this makes it a much better option for the track than trying to fix up a Cooper S.

Subarus took a beating, though. It seems that their engines struggle to stay together when pushed. During last week I know of 3 that let go and at least 2 were replacement engines for ones that had let go prior to that ...

 

I would think based on the turnout and feedback, SCDA will schedule at least a couple of two-day events @ Club Motorsports for the 2023 season. I would definitely not make the trip for a one day event, that's for sure! But staying at a place 5 minutes away for three nights gave me the ability to arrive well rested on day 1, and drive home well rested on day 3. Sorry to hear you can't make it to NYST next Tuesday; forecast looks iffy at this point, anyway.

 

Now I really want to get up there. Let me know where you stayed. My next track day will be in September. I'm leaving for CA today to visit my son. Among other things, will be seeing some vintage racing at Laguna Seca.

 

@gkp I'll fill you in on all the details when I see you. In the meantime, enjoy Laguna Seca! Take plenty of pics if you have the time...

 

Good camera is packed. All I want is to see cars of any kind navigate the corkscrew.

 

How bad can it be???

Pictures... Pictures... If you have time.

And enjoy!

 

Just signed up for 2 days, 9/7 & 8, at NYST with GVC. Not exactly open track but lot of track time for solo drivers, if anyone is interested.

I know... No one likes the BMW events, but, hey, they can be good.

Well at any rate, I’ll be there. It is only an hour drive for me, so I’ll be home each evening.

 

Enjoy! NYST is an overnighter for me and, given the choice, I'd rather do Palmer. My only gripe with BMW events is that I had to get signed off at every event. If I get an instructor who doesn't want to sign off, as was the case last time, I'm stuck with a passenger the entire event. The events are well run and the t-shirts are great!

I spent a day at the Laguna Seca vintage week. Will post more pics soon.

 

That is a great picture....

Are the Red and Blue Minis mini Minis? They look smaller than the rest. Or is it a camera lens thing?

When I was at WGI with GVC a woman driver parked next to me. We struck up a conversation and as the day progressed we were telling each other how our sessions were going or some other thing. As the day went on her conversation morphed into complaints about her instructor (she was intermediate 2). Part of it was about his treatment as if she was a novice. The other was how he told her that she would never be signed off for solo even for the day. In frustration she left early, saying she would never again sign up with GVC. GVC lost that one. I suggest that she needed to get a different instructor. But I think she wanted to work things out with this instructor, that that didn’t work. She said that she had been signed off 2 days before by the Audi group and that she as bunch of days at WGI, so she didn’t understand about why she couldn’t be signed off. And I found out that the instructor was wrong about he was telling her. I guess this issue of getting signed off is an inconsistent issue. It is a shame. Not sure how to change that. And I understand people not wanting to deal with that.

 

It's a camera angle thing.

 

A few more pix from Laguna Seca.

 

The John Player Special - IMHO the best looking F1 car EVvvvERrrrr!

That license plate is the best...

Great pictures!

 

Today I started taking apart the suspension on my R56, Smokey. A while back I bought a set of the Red JCW springs for it and a set of new Bilstein B8 shocks for the front. Right side front came off this afternoon...



The IE fixed camber plates have seen better days. The bearing is definitely not in factory shape any more...

I have a set of caster/camber plates for it, but had not planned to put them in at this point... I guess that plan has changed...

 

Has there ever been a car project where the plan did not change mid-stream?

 

No...

 

More changes...
The HF spring compressors worked fine on the stock spring with IE fixed camberplates, but would not fit with the K-Mac caster/camber plates. So I had to take the front shocks, springs and camberplates to have a shop do the assembly. $$ - let’s just say It was more than I expected. But, hey, I couldn’t do it and my plan had been to build something that might have damaged the camberplates... so I guess it was worth the price.

While that was being done, I took out one of the rear shocks. It came apart easily enough. I should have know something was amiss with how easy things were going.... After 7 or 8 years of track use and few yeas prior to that of pro-level autocross use, I guess the rear shocks also need to be replaced, along with the fronts. The shaft is loose in the housing; it rocks back and forth... And no I didn’t buy new rear shocks when I bought the fronts. You hear all the time how the rear wheels of a MINI are only there to hold the exhaust off the ground. Well, I guess rear of the MINI and suspension do more than that. They wears out Bilstein shocks, that is what they do... Because of that conventional wisdom I never got new rear shocks. They don’t do anything so how could they wear out. Once again conventional wisdom about FWD cars is wrong and it, once again, bit me. And, oh, the shocks are now back ordered....

Time for a beer and pout ...

 

I feel your pain, friend, and raise you one beer. I finally completed the classic Mini 'winter' project last week. Or so I thought. I've been driving it a bit over the past few weeks, and it was running great, but I still had a few electronic gremlins to sort out and a few cosmetic fixes. I got through all that and was looking forward to driving it again with the new interior and cleaned-up engine bay. Maybe even take it to a local Saturday night car show and park beside a muscle car. I pulled the car into the driveway and left it running while I swept out the garage. After a few minutes, saw steam coming from the hood. S**t! Not overheating. It appears a small bypass hose may have sprung a leak. If not that, the water pump(?) Access to the area is possible only with the hands of a leprechaun. Stupid of me to not replace the bypass hose and water pump when I had the engine out. Wasn't thinking.

Not sure I want to deal with it right now. Would rather focus on upcoming track days. Anybody else in for LRP on 9/12 or 10/22? Palmer on 10/17?

 

I fold... you win.
At least it was in the driveway and not doing laps somewhere... Hope your AAA is up to date...

I could say this is all “a British car thing”... But my shocks are German I ordered new rear shocks, but they are back ordered. So the car will sit for a while on the jack stands.

It seems that the summer has gone quickly and we are running out of time to wear out tires and whatnot... Next week I am at NYST for 2 days and the end of the month I will be at WGI for 2 or 3 days. I haven’t decided on how many days for that one yet, but have the room booked. Right now I think I am booked for Sept. Not sure about Oct, but that is birthday month for my family, so likely the WGI days will be my last for this season.

 

Wow, I hope the adage that 'bad things happen in threes' isn't true, otherwise I'm in for some frustration

My main task with the Classic is to keep an eye on all the fluid levels, as they have a tendency to 'evaporate' over time. So now, oil, brake fluid and coolant are all topped off. Anything more complex is beyond my mechanical skill set anyway!😁

The track MINI is a different story, though. Check engine light has been throwing numerous codes: PO171, 1237, 1688 and 420. I'd be OK spending the bucks on a new cat if I could be assured that the new one won't be fouled by continued misfires. Or perhaps I should replace the O2 sensors first, or the harmonic balancer, or maybe just realize the car is 20+ years old and needs to be retired from the track. I did note a bunch of charging stations last time I was at Lime Rock, so if the Classic does get converted, I could recharge it between sessions.

LRP on September 12th is on the radar at this point. It might be a good showing for the lower hp cars, since all Mazdas get 10% off...

 

The classic on the track? Not without 1000 lbs of roll cage added...

I think your track MINI just needs its “wear parts” replaced. Things wear out over time. With the car being otherwise good, it might be worth a few $$. Think of it as being part of the brake pad, rotors, tires, engine oil, etc expense... or in my case... shocks, tires, brake pads.... etc....

 

I'm signed up. Haven't been on track since early July.