Yesterday, PDA hosted an open track session for red and black groups. I showed up hoping there would be a few last minute cancelations...and thankfully there was. Greg - phone service was horrid - I could not get thru to you.

Open track - passing anywhere any time - requires a sort of pre session rundown of who and what, for me anyway. I take a little stock of the other faster vehicles so that I have a mental picutre of the colors and potential speed capability. A yellow 350 hp Radical, for example, - a new model - is quite fast anywhere and deserves a little room.

Passing and being passed anywhere certainly turn up one's sensory mechanisms. What I found thru this expereince is the actual limits of my Mini and me; somehow thru this heightened competitive environment, pushing the car faster everywhere becomes necessary - if just to keep up appearences

I met a very nice fellow driving another Mini. Marco is an instructor with a fair amount of experence. His driving talent aside, his setup was very interesting to look at, as well, to see in motion. 3.5 degree neg camber up front, 3 degrees neg camber in the rear - he didn't know the toe settings as the car was setup by others. His car was curiously very low for a street/track car - the fenders covered half the well worn RA1's profile. Marco also told me that the setup folks installed 400lb H&Rs with KW dampers up front but did not know what the rear spring rate or make was. Marco also installed 15mm spacers on the front wheels only; dunno what the stock Kosie K1 offset is. His brakes are stock with Ferrod 2500 pads up front.

Marco simply had his way thru all the corners. Everyone remarked about how well that car stuck in the corners. One instructor said that he has been around Minis on the track since 2002 and he has never witnessed one cornering like that. He went by me and three other cars on the inside while I was at 100mph +/-entering the uphill and never lost a beat. My times were in the mid to high 106s and Marco was in the high 103s - a huge margin.


I'm not sure I would want to drive Marco's car for my daily highway drive, but he and his car made an impression on everyone...he's a damn good driver. If you see him around, introduce yourself. His car is pepper white with a black top. Marco is quite a character; confident, funny and competative.

If you do happen to catch up with him, I still have his 5mm spacers he suggested I try for my last two sessions. I installed these up front...the difference was a little noticable.

Michael