Drivetrain MT Cooper S Does Time Attack
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3rd Gear
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 160
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From: Clovis, CA
MT Cooper S Does Time Attack
Saturday 10th October 2009
After a day of testing with help from our resident racing driver Adam Foster, the Power Ranger and it's fully FIA suited and booted driver Jove had a fantastic day learning all the lines and getting the R888's nicely scrubbed in for their performance the next day for the official Time Attack Event.
By the end of Saturday, we left the car at the circuit having started the day running lap times of 1:29 on Parada's and reducing it down to laps of 1:25's on R888's. So we went back to the hotel confident about the power, handling, tyres and Dave's ability to wring the most out of the little blue MINI thanks to Adam's expert tuition.
Still, with Dave realising he was on his own the next day we all took a reasonably early night and got to the track the following morning by 7am to make sure we were prepared for everything, both physically with the car and mentally with racing lines burned deep within Dave's brain.
--------------------
Highs of day:
Hood scoop flying off down the start/finish straight and being found behind the armco. It never went back on the car and it looked all the better for it without affecting performance.
Adam using Dave's full beam to flash a 997 GT3 out of the way that was holding them up during the tuition period
Lows of the day:
The car cutting out during a hot lap and having to be towed in leading to much investigation under the bonnet and some strange error codes. Turned out the snoot boot had been blown out it's clamp and deformed leading to a massive boost leak! One brand new set later and we were straight back out there (thanks go to Paul for bringing an extra set)
--------------------
Sunday 11th October
Sunday started overcast and slightly damp but thankfully by the time the event kicked off the track was dry and the air cool with a nice strong wind pushing the cars down the back straight.
For us in Club Class, Group B, the order of the day was simple:
Warm Up: 09:15-09:30
Practice: 10:30-10:45
Qualifying: 15.05-15:20
Club SuperBattle Final: 17:10-17:25
Having given the car a good clean first thing, Dave got into the zone whilst we did final checks to ensure fluids and tyre pressures were perfect and the Racelogic equipment and the TA timing equipment was strapped into the car. Ruskins took the lead as Head Mechanic with Paul looking on and the rest of us ensuring the car and driver was where it needed to be, when it needed to be meaning that Dave could just concentrate on getting the job done.
Warm Up/Practice (Cloudy/Dry)
With 22 cars in our group we were one of only four FWD cars, the others ranging from 4WD Impreza's, Skylines, RWD BMW M3's and even an MG Metro 6R4 and all with serious power and great support in terms of trailers full of tyres/tools and mechanics at the ready, whereas we just drove four MINI's to the track full of parts and the tools to get the job done then drove home again.
During the warm up/practice session it became apparent that the car to beat was the Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo with 400bhp and weighing in at around 1,000kg with a very experienced driver by the name of Marco Haig who set a benchmark time of 1:20.374. Marco had shared a pit garage with us the previous day and was always one hand to give us advice about how the event would work. But now we were very much on our own as it was every man/car for itself.
Dave went out strong and came back in having run a personal best in the warm up/practice sessions of 1:22.918 and ended up finishing 5th out of 22 drivers. A fantastic result and all of a sudden throughout the pit lane came talk of a very quick little blue MINI. So much so that by the practice session, a number of the Club class teams were on the wall timing our laps. We had them worried at least.
But then as Dave went out to try and improve his time again, disaster struck as the car suddenly died mid way round a hot lap and all we had were some random fault codes that gave no real clue to what was going on as we faced the embarrasment of having to be towed back to the pits.
No time later we found our fault; a completely shredded superchager belt which we presumed had picked up a stone and just let go.
Paul and Russell quickly got to work to replace the belt which is no mean feat when you haven't got a garage full of equipment to hand but thankfully the guys from MINICRAFT were also on hand to help us and our thanks go to them for enabling us to get the new belt back on in record time ensuring we'd be back out ready for qualifying. There was no way were were going home early after putting in such a strong first performance.
Qualifying (Cloudy/Dry)
So with a fresh belt and a once again healthy engine we were ready to do battle.
As we were called to the pitlane for some reason we were sent out with the big boys in Group A by mistake. Cars that we're lapping in a group best of 1:15.392 headed by Duncan Graham in his very heavily modified Subaru Impreza.
However, being surrounded by cars pushing out up to 600 bhp only spurred on both Dave and the Power Ranger to hold their own. The result, another personal best of 1:22.700 averaging 84.97mph putting him 27th out of 46 in combined qualifying!
This meant only one thing... we'd made it into the Club SuperBattle Final, and this is how it happened:
Club SuperBattle Final (Cloudy/Dry)
Getting to this stage meant once again Dave would be mixing it with the bog boys. With bad weather closing in fast, we knew Dave would have to be on it from the get go and he didn't disappoint by putting in another personal best of 1:22.531 on lap 3. With all of us on the pit wall pushing him to go faster as he stormed down the start finish straight at upwards of 100mph he finally found a gap in the traffic and let rip.
With his lights on full beam to signal he was on a flying lap, he came into distance and you could tell straight away it was fast. Down the back straight he reached a best of the day top speed of 124mph and by the time he crossed the line he'd gone faster still producing a final best of 1:22.405 at an average of 85.27mph.
He made it, finishing the 3rd fastest FWD in the Club Class getting him a podium position in his very first Time Attack event and having only driven the track for the first time the day before.
The car, the driver, the team we're just unstoppable and the smiles on all our faces would remain there for some time to come, with even congratulations coming from other teams just happy to see a first timer in a MINI showing what could be achieved.
There is so much more to tell... the bonnet sccop flying off down the start/finish straight on the track day... a punctured R888 a day before the event and many a late nights last week ensuring we were as prepared as we could be.
This was a true team event and our thanks go out to everyone who mucked in and made an MT dream of entering Time Attack come true.
Thank-you also to those of you that came down to watch the event, especially the guys from MINICRAFT who made a nightmare situation that bit easier with their calm experience.
I'll leave you with the final video of the SuperBattle and that you can rest assured MT will be back in Time Attack next year... bigger, better, stonger and with at least another three MINI's. It's simply one of the best forms of motorsport we've yet been involved in and we can't wait for next year.
Highs of the day:
Simply surprising so many people in the pit lane with our lap times with a number of teams coming over to look at the car after seeing the times it produced.
Seeing the Snetterton crowds being drawn to the MT stand to view the MINI's rather than the *** cars. One particular turbo MINI was more popular than most
Lows of the day:
None as such - but not actually getting on the podium in our class. Due to the fact that we hadn't been competing for the entire season, we weren't allowed to take home a third place trophy in our class even though we came third but that's just spurred us on to do the full season next year and bring home the silverwear! Rules is rules.
SuperBattle Final Part 1 - Warm Up
SuperBattle Final Part 2 - Flying Laps
-------------------------------------------
Final Timing Results can be found here:
http://www.tsl-timing.com/attack/2009/94170.pdf
Car 54, Club Class, Group B
-------------------------------------------
The Car:
http://www.minitorque.com/forum/vbga...p?do=view&id=3
-------------------------------------------
Big thanks have to go out to the following:
Rare Rims - for supplying the awesomely light yet uber strong Rota Boost Wheels in 17x7.5. The really did deliver on track so if you're after some new rims, make sure you see these boys first, they know their wheels!
Rare Rims | Rota Wheels UK
Opie Oils - for sending us enough engine and gearbox oil to last us an entire season. The best oilmen in the business!
engine oil, motor oil, gear oil, car oil, motorbike oil, transmission fluid from oilman at Opie Oils
Racelogic - for lending us the Video VBOX, one of the sexiest pieces of timing/video equipment we've ever seen. Just wait till you see the video results.
Video VBOX - State of the art in-car video
1320MINI - for constantly supporting us and working late into the wee small hours to help us get the car ready in time and performing better than ever. Paul, Thomas, Rob and Chris, thanks for doing everything you have for us over the last few months! We couldn't have done it without you and there has been some epic banter along the way which just made the whole process so much fun!
1320MINI - Mini Torque
Time Attack Team - huge thanks go out to the Time Attack People for making us feel so welcome and for ensuring we always knew what we were doing and when we were supposed to be doing it! Special thanks to Glen, Rob, Marc & Wendy... thanks for giving a little blue MINI a chance at playing with the big boys. Look forward to seeing you all again next year
Time Attack Series
MiniTorque.com Petrol Heads - for always encouraging us to charge harder and faster whether it be on track or strip and for never letting us forget why MT is here in the first place.... to inspire everyone to constantly push the envelope and show the rest of the motoring world what a MINI can really do! Thanks to Sef also for managing the ticket situation this morning.... Long live the Torque!
--------------------
Photo's
After a day of testing with help from our resident racing driver Adam Foster, the Power Ranger and it's fully FIA suited and booted driver Jove had a fantastic day learning all the lines and getting the R888's nicely scrubbed in for their performance the next day for the official Time Attack Event.
By the end of Saturday, we left the car at the circuit having started the day running lap times of 1:29 on Parada's and reducing it down to laps of 1:25's on R888's. So we went back to the hotel confident about the power, handling, tyres and Dave's ability to wring the most out of the little blue MINI thanks to Adam's expert tuition.
Still, with Dave realising he was on his own the next day we all took a reasonably early night and got to the track the following morning by 7am to make sure we were prepared for everything, both physically with the car and mentally with racing lines burned deep within Dave's brain.
--------------------
Highs of day:
Hood scoop flying off down the start/finish straight and being found behind the armco. It never went back on the car and it looked all the better for it without affecting performance.
Adam using Dave's full beam to flash a 997 GT3 out of the way that was holding them up during the tuition period
Lows of the day:
The car cutting out during a hot lap and having to be towed in leading to much investigation under the bonnet and some strange error codes. Turned out the snoot boot had been blown out it's clamp and deformed leading to a massive boost leak! One brand new set later and we were straight back out there (thanks go to Paul for bringing an extra set)
--------------------
Sunday 11th October
Sunday started overcast and slightly damp but thankfully by the time the event kicked off the track was dry and the air cool with a nice strong wind pushing the cars down the back straight.
For us in Club Class, Group B, the order of the day was simple:
Warm Up: 09:15-09:30
Practice: 10:30-10:45
Qualifying: 15.05-15:20
Club SuperBattle Final: 17:10-17:25
Having given the car a good clean first thing, Dave got into the zone whilst we did final checks to ensure fluids and tyre pressures were perfect and the Racelogic equipment and the TA timing equipment was strapped into the car. Ruskins took the lead as Head Mechanic with Paul looking on and the rest of us ensuring the car and driver was where it needed to be, when it needed to be meaning that Dave could just concentrate on getting the job done.
Warm Up/Practice (Cloudy/Dry)
With 22 cars in our group we were one of only four FWD cars, the others ranging from 4WD Impreza's, Skylines, RWD BMW M3's and even an MG Metro 6R4 and all with serious power and great support in terms of trailers full of tyres/tools and mechanics at the ready, whereas we just drove four MINI's to the track full of parts and the tools to get the job done then drove home again.
During the warm up/practice session it became apparent that the car to beat was the Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo with 400bhp and weighing in at around 1,000kg with a very experienced driver by the name of Marco Haig who set a benchmark time of 1:20.374. Marco had shared a pit garage with us the previous day and was always one hand to give us advice about how the event would work. But now we were very much on our own as it was every man/car for itself.
Dave went out strong and came back in having run a personal best in the warm up/practice sessions of 1:22.918 and ended up finishing 5th out of 22 drivers. A fantastic result and all of a sudden throughout the pit lane came talk of a very quick little blue MINI. So much so that by the practice session, a number of the Club class teams were on the wall timing our laps. We had them worried at least.
But then as Dave went out to try and improve his time again, disaster struck as the car suddenly died mid way round a hot lap and all we had were some random fault codes that gave no real clue to what was going on as we faced the embarrasment of having to be towed back to the pits.
No time later we found our fault; a completely shredded superchager belt which we presumed had picked up a stone and just let go.
Paul and Russell quickly got to work to replace the belt which is no mean feat when you haven't got a garage full of equipment to hand but thankfully the guys from MINICRAFT were also on hand to help us and our thanks go to them for enabling us to get the new belt back on in record time ensuring we'd be back out ready for qualifying. There was no way were were going home early after putting in such a strong first performance.
Qualifying (Cloudy/Dry)
So with a fresh belt and a once again healthy engine we were ready to do battle.
As we were called to the pitlane for some reason we were sent out with the big boys in Group A by mistake. Cars that we're lapping in a group best of 1:15.392 headed by Duncan Graham in his very heavily modified Subaru Impreza.
However, being surrounded by cars pushing out up to 600 bhp only spurred on both Dave and the Power Ranger to hold their own. The result, another personal best of 1:22.700 averaging 84.97mph putting him 27th out of 46 in combined qualifying!
This meant only one thing... we'd made it into the Club SuperBattle Final, and this is how it happened:
Club SuperBattle Final (Cloudy/Dry)
Getting to this stage meant once again Dave would be mixing it with the bog boys. With bad weather closing in fast, we knew Dave would have to be on it from the get go and he didn't disappoint by putting in another personal best of 1:22.531 on lap 3. With all of us on the pit wall pushing him to go faster as he stormed down the start finish straight at upwards of 100mph he finally found a gap in the traffic and let rip.
With his lights on full beam to signal he was on a flying lap, he came into distance and you could tell straight away it was fast. Down the back straight he reached a best of the day top speed of 124mph and by the time he crossed the line he'd gone faster still producing a final best of 1:22.405 at an average of 85.27mph.
He made it, finishing the 3rd fastest FWD in the Club Class getting him a podium position in his very first Time Attack event and having only driven the track for the first time the day before.
The car, the driver, the team we're just unstoppable and the smiles on all our faces would remain there for some time to come, with even congratulations coming from other teams just happy to see a first timer in a MINI showing what could be achieved.
There is so much more to tell... the bonnet sccop flying off down the start/finish straight on the track day... a punctured R888 a day before the event and many a late nights last week ensuring we were as prepared as we could be.
This was a true team event and our thanks go out to everyone who mucked in and made an MT dream of entering Time Attack come true.
Thank-you also to those of you that came down to watch the event, especially the guys from MINICRAFT who made a nightmare situation that bit easier with their calm experience.
I'll leave you with the final video of the SuperBattle and that you can rest assured MT will be back in Time Attack next year... bigger, better, stonger and with at least another three MINI's. It's simply one of the best forms of motorsport we've yet been involved in and we can't wait for next year.
Highs of the day:
Simply surprising so many people in the pit lane with our lap times with a number of teams coming over to look at the car after seeing the times it produced.
Seeing the Snetterton crowds being drawn to the MT stand to view the MINI's rather than the *** cars. One particular turbo MINI was more popular than most
Lows of the day:
None as such - but not actually getting on the podium in our class. Due to the fact that we hadn't been competing for the entire season, we weren't allowed to take home a third place trophy in our class even though we came third but that's just spurred us on to do the full season next year and bring home the silverwear! Rules is rules.
SuperBattle Final Part 1 - Warm Up
SuperBattle Final Part 2 - Flying Laps
-------------------------------------------
Final Timing Results can be found here:
http://www.tsl-timing.com/attack/2009/94170.pdf
Car 54, Club Class, Group B
-------------------------------------------
The Car:
http://www.minitorque.com/forum/vbga...p?do=view&id=3
-------------------------------------------
Big thanks have to go out to the following:
Rare Rims - for supplying the awesomely light yet uber strong Rota Boost Wheels in 17x7.5. The really did deliver on track so if you're after some new rims, make sure you see these boys first, they know their wheels!
Rare Rims | Rota Wheels UK
Opie Oils - for sending us enough engine and gearbox oil to last us an entire season. The best oilmen in the business!
engine oil, motor oil, gear oil, car oil, motorbike oil, transmission fluid from oilman at Opie Oils
Racelogic - for lending us the Video VBOX, one of the sexiest pieces of timing/video equipment we've ever seen. Just wait till you see the video results.
Video VBOX - State of the art in-car video
1320MINI - for constantly supporting us and working late into the wee small hours to help us get the car ready in time and performing better than ever. Paul, Thomas, Rob and Chris, thanks for doing everything you have for us over the last few months! We couldn't have done it without you and there has been some epic banter along the way which just made the whole process so much fun!
1320MINI - Mini Torque
Time Attack Team - huge thanks go out to the Time Attack People for making us feel so welcome and for ensuring we always knew what we were doing and when we were supposed to be doing it! Special thanks to Glen, Rob, Marc & Wendy... thanks for giving a little blue MINI a chance at playing with the big boys. Look forward to seeing you all again next year
Time Attack Series
MiniTorque.com Petrol Heads - for always encouraging us to charge harder and faster whether it be on track or strip and for never letting us forget why MT is here in the first place.... to inspire everyone to constantly push the envelope and show the rest of the motoring world what a MINI can really do! Thanks to Sef also for managing the ticket situation this morning.... Long live the Torque!
--------------------
Photo's
Last edited by BigShow; Oct 12, 2009 at 04:54 PM.
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