The VW is a Golf GTI TCR. I'm not sure what happened to them but they did finish the race in 5th in class, 8 laps down. The Golf and Audi RS3 LMS TCR will be what the Clubman will be competing against next year in the TCR class.

Regulations definitely plays into it. The Clubman and 4-door hardtop were the only eligible cars.

Eligible cars: 4/5-door vehicles
Body shell: Reinforced production body shell; wheel arch modifications allowed to accommodate tyres
Minimum weight: 1250 kg for cars with production gearbox, 1285 kg for cars with racing gearbox (both including the driver)
Minimum overall length: 4.20 metres
Maximum overall width: 1.95 metres
Engine: Turbo-charged petrol or diesel up to 2.0-litre
Torque: 420 Nm
Power: 350 PS
Lubrication: Wet sump
Exhaust: Homologated catalytic converter using production parts
Traction: On two wheels
Gearbox: Production or TCR International Series sequential; production paddle shift accepted
Front Suspension: Production lay-out; parts free design
Rear Suspension: Original design of production car with reinforced components
Brakes:
-Front: max 6 piston calipers, brake discs max diameter 380mm
-Rear: max 2 piston callipers; production ABS accepted
Wheels: Maximum dimensions of rim: 10″ x 18″

 

Thanks for the info. I found part of that but it was an older article so I didn’t know if it had changed.

It is interesting that it says “traction: two wheels” not which 2. The article I found said front wheel drive.

And look at that wheel size! No wonder that Golf had those flares. I wonder how the Clubman will look with flares?

 

I didn’t see anything about homologation requirenents, so why can’t the F55 be fitted with JCW components? To me that would be a much better setup & better looking than a Clubman for racing.

 

They started development on the F55 last year, I believe that was LAP Motorsports first choice. But I'm guessing MINI USA wanted it to be the Clubman.




F55 Development

And hear is a render that was released last year. They never specified what it was based on but it looks more like a Clubman to me.



TCR Render released last year.

 

 

Hmmmm, looks like a bit of a chopped roof in the rendering...
Nice look but I would doubt that would be allowed.

I do wonder how open the requirements are. The front brakes are 6 piston max. Does that mean a MINI brand like the Gen II GP brakes (the current JCW still uses the Gen II JCW 4 pot brembos) or can they go with anyone's 6 piston, like a Stop Tech, or AP? Brakes were a real issue early on in the race car development and with more HP and higher speeds in these cars I wonder if the GP brakes are up for the task.

 

Why not, its out since 2015 !
and everybody can test drive it in his children's room

https://www.gran-turismo.com/us/vgt/mini/

The GP3 concept is quite close to it, but with regards to availability i would rather back my planning on that super sexy F55

 

Aaaagh...
I was half way to the bank looking to get a new car loan for this great looking 400hp, 4WD hyper MINI Cooper before I realized what this was...

 

Oh wow, I had no idea that's where they got their base image from. I though it was something they fully created on their own. Thanks for sharing!

 

I still think you cant open the hood on that, I asked once the designer ....... he never answered :-)

Dear MINI TEAM USA

please don't choose that F55 Van, you have proven the hatch can perform, rather invest into a "Rain Doctor" !

 

I see that the LAP rendering has the requisite 4 doors whereas the Gran Turismo version has only 2.

It does make one curious as to what 2019 is going to look like.

Well, they have only just started with the 2018 season and Sebring is a month and a half away...Hopefully MINI can get the bugs worked out an put on a good showing.

 

That makes me sad as an F55 owner. They are awesome cars.

 

well the MINI Team USA will certainly use whatever is quicker.

 

Bad Luck

"Our race weekend outcome stings. Our MINIs are extremely reliable, so to fall out of this race with mechanical issues is extremely disappointing. After the race, we discovered both right side CV joint axle failures were caused by torn CV boots allowing the grease to escape causing the CV joint to overheat and ultimately fail. We’re not sure what caused the boot to tear since we’ve never had this issue before. What’s interesting is after performing 21 laps for the IMSA VIP hotlaps in our MINI hotlap car it also tore a CV boot but on the left axle. – Team Owner Luis Perocarpi

the boots gets overstressed, had that on my daily after short time, the driveshafts are to short in certain situations.

 

 

They started for sure with new shaft your right

 

That was my thought, exactly. What is different? The cars aren't any lower than last year. So it must be in the drive shaft assemblies that were replaced. It wouldn't be the first time that a manufacturer went to a different supplier for some sub-part of an assembly. I wonder if the boots came from a different source and they are not as good in the flexing that occurs.

Sebring is always a hard test of cars. They'll find out there if they fixed the problem or not.

 

The F56 Challenge UK solved that problem that as well

 

Well, how did the MINI JCW Team fair today in Sebring? I watched a little....enough to see the #37 ram into the BMW & wreck & get penalized! Ugh! The #73 was also fast though and was leading when I stopped watching.

 

1st, 2nd, 4th. Pambo's do it again. Congrats.

 

 

 

 

I watched the Sebring race on YouTube. Boy, that track is hard on cars and drivers. The MINIs did well and the announcers did well at acknowledging that the ST class exists, at least for now. They seem to get a kick of how the MINIs run around the track. As for next year, the announcers said there will be no MINIs in the TCR class as BMW won't sanction them (or however they said it). There might be a 1 series BMW, but that may be later in the season. It appears that BMW doesn't want competition for their marque from a lesser cousin.