I've posted a few times on this message board before but by way of re-introduction, I'm an American (from the D.C. area) living in Belgium during these interesting times. I thought I was going to stay off track for my few years over here but instead I've gotten more involved in motorsports than ever before, which is not a bad thing :smile:...

Anyway, I put together a little video of a recent practice day at Spa-Francorchamps. Not that I'm going to be threatening anybody but the safety car with my lap times, but I thought some of you might dig this... Go to this URL:

http://thetouristreport.org/zzz/

...and download mtps.wmv (25.7MB)

Here is a map of Spa for reference sake:

http://www.atlasf1.com/2000/bel/preview/bellap.html

My viddy starts just before turn 12, Fagnes. Keep an eye on the silver Porsche that overtakes me on the F1 front straight about a minute and a half into the video. We loop around the 170 degree hairpin (turn 1 - La Source), and he just rockets away down the straight. After about turn 5 though, the MINI's go-kart like handling begins to reassert itself :smile:.

I put in about 180 miles of training on Tuesday. I was wore out afterwards but satisfied with finally getting a good foundation from which to start to improve my lap times. My best lap time was 3:13.03 (Spa is 4.4 miles/7kms long). That's still a good 4-4.5 seconds off the race pace which makes me a distant backmarker , but Tuesday was only my second full day of track time at Spa and my first trouble-free day.

My first race at Spa in the "Stars & Stripes" MINI is next weekend. Hopefully I'll finish this race. Wish me luck.

_________________
Ken Rahaim, #11

Cooper S Club Sport

MINI Cooper Challenge



<a href=http://www.desmethracers.be><img src="http://www.desmethracers.be/site-ele...></a>

 

Sweet video
Thanks for posting. What modifications have you made to your MINI?


His, Chile REd all over / Hers, EB UJ on top.

 

Great video, Ken!

I enjoyed the part where you smacked yourself on the helmet for messing up at (was it?) La Source. I'll be following your race. Some MINIs are racing locally (Southern California) next weekend, also.

BTW, are you a member at Atlas F1? Best racing site on the net!

Good luck with your race.

 

>>Sweet video

Thanks!

>>Thanks for posting. What modifications have you made to your MINI?

The mods are strictly controlled by the race series I run in (the Belgian MINI Cooper Challenge). There intent is to keep the cars relatively stock. You can find a pretty detailed list on my website here:

http://www.desmethracers.be/0.0.framemaster.htm

Just click "Car Specs" in the menu. Basically as far as drivetrain its just a Pipercross air filter and a John Cooper Works exhaust. The motor, supercharger & transmission are all sealed by the series so that there is no cheating. When we go to a race, the scrutineers take all of our computers and swap them out randomnly amongst the 40+ competitors.

As far as brakes, the only thing we're allowed is to add 2 brake cooling ducts (which are badly needed) and we must use Performance Friction 97 brake pads (they work well). Unfortunately for the weight of the car (min weigth of 2600lbs), the single piston calipers don't keep up too well.

The suspension is about the only area where there are major modifications and its not really all that much. We can use SPAX coil over suspension both front and rear but we can't slam the car to the ground. We must meet a minimum ride height requirement which isn't much lower than stock.

After that its only safety equipment: Sabelt race seat & harnesses, John Cooper Works bolt in roll cage and fire suppression and electrical cutoff.

 

>>I enjoyed the part where you smacked yourself on the helmet for messing up at
>> (was it?) La Source.

I'm not sure what the name of that turn is. It might not have one. Its turn #14 and its between Fagnes and Stavelot. I came in way too hot and really blew that apex and ended up in the marbles coating the tires in all kinds of crap. Its one of the 3 most important turns on the track because after it you're flat out (er, or you're suppossed to be - I haven't quite worked up the nerve to stay in it through Blanchimont) from there until the bus stop chicane.

I've been known to get a little animated in the race car :smile:. I tried to keep my commentary down while video taping.

>>BTW, are you a member at Atlas F1? Best racing site on the net!

Nope, not a member, but I'm looking into it now.

>>Good luck with your race.

Thanks!

 

Ken,

Does RBM make the modification to the front lip for the brake ducts? Or do you do it yourself? I would really like to find source for that modified lip.

Thanks,

Ricardo

PS great video, what was the red light at the top of the speedometer? and what was the little item in front of the steering wheel on the dash?

Ricardo

 

>>Does RBM make the modification to the front lip for the brake ducts? Or do you
> >do it yourself? I would really like to find source for that modified lip.

Kind of both. RBM did the bottom, oval ones, all the competitors did the top, round ones once it was determined the smaller ducting didn't provide near enough cooling under race conditions. There's not much to it though. Here's a closeup picture of my teammate' car:

http://www.desmethracers.be/images/0...livery-005.jpg

The oval one leads to a bit of brake ducting behind the black lip. You can see the 2 bolts underneath the lip which secure the duct by 2 "L" shaped tabs that are spot welded to the duct. The duct has a 60mm outlet which is connected to high temp silicone hose. The hose is routed along the bottom of the inner fender (you can see some of it in the picture) to just below the hub where it points to the center of the rotor. It attaches via a bit of metal duct work.

The larger round holes lead to a 90mm brake duct. The duct is connected to 90mm tubing which is routed "inside" the inner fender. This is kind of tricky on the pax side because of how close it runs next to the motor pulleys but it works. The tube ends up just behind the hub again attached via a bit of metal ducting.

>>PS great video, what was the red light at the top of the speedometer?

Disconnected airbag. Don't leave pit lane without it :smile:.

>>and what was the little item in front of the steering wheel on the dash?

Man, you don't miss a thing Ricardo :smile:. That's where I mount my Garmin GPS V. Imagine if you took a box of spaghetti, dumped it in a 20"x20" square and put road names on each piece of spaghetti and those roadnames changed everywhere the spaghetti intersected... well, that's what Brussels' roads are like, hence the GPS :smile:.