WGI is hard for the MINIs to run on. I find it to be one continuous uphill corkscrew and it is hell on brakes.

 

Damn, I wish I didn't need to be saving money right now.

 

Good thing the MINIs will have the JCW brakes this year.

Did you have fun? Any pictures of your car on the track?

 

Some awesome in-car video: http://miniracefan.com/2016/06/28/in...m-laguna-seca/

 

Very cool!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

First Watkins Glen practice session is over and it wasn't the best. Top runner was the #73, 18th in class. If you're interested in the numbers: http://miniracefan.com/2016/06/30/wa...ice-1-results/

 

thanks for the update!

 

Continental Tire 150 at The Glen

http://www.imsa.com/news/062016/ford...-international

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Practice 2 is over and the #37 improved by over 2 secs! The #37 was 15th fastest in class. Full practice 2 results here: http://miniracefan.com/2016/06/30/wa...ice-2-results/

Qualifying is later today at 1:25 pm EST.

 

They got the pole!!!!! And the 2nd starting spot!!

 

Yes they did! Full results here: http://miniracefan.com/2016/07/01/wa...fying-results/

 

Spotter's Guide:

http://www.imsa.com/sites/default/fi...ersguide_2.pdf

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

I run 4+ days a year at the Glen, doing HPDE events mostly with BMWCCA. Last year I ran events on both the 3.4 mile road course and the shorter NASCAR course (~2.2 mi) as they started the repaving mid-year.

Yes, I have fun.
But I also find it frustrating as a lot of the braking zones are headed downhill and a lot of the acceleration zones are going uphill. It is really hard to maintain momentum as a result. It is easy to over brake on this track and if you do, it is hard to gain back the time. Also there are places like the toe that are designed to rob you of momentum and put a premium on HP.

Having the JCW brakes is surely going to help the team. The next big thing will be reliability and staying away from that ever present blue guardrail. This is an unforgiving track that demands respect. The flip side of that is that it is on beautiful ground that are great for spectators.

I am sure I can find some photos of my car on the track that I can link to. I also have quite a bit of in-car video on YouTube, just search my screen name "Eddie07S"

 

Here i am coming out of T2
https://www.tracktimephotos.com/larg...0_WGI_OPT_5815

 

Not the results we were hoping for but a good effort by the team at Watkins Glen. Full race recap here: http://miniracefan.com/2016/07/02/ra...0-at-the-glen/

 

That is a great picture at the beginning of the article of the 2 MINIs going down into turn 1. It is not very often that you get a camera shot that gives such a good perspective of the elevation change. And you can see the huge amount of front camber thes cars are running.

Now that they have the ability to take the pole they just need to figure out what it takes to make it to the end of the race without problems and I am not counting getting run into

Great job at any rate.

I plan to go to LRP later this month to see them.

 

Do those cars keep the full-length undertray?

 

Starting 1st & 2nd is AWESOME! I wish the coverage on tv was better...I guess I'll have to wait a few weeks for the replay! Appears that better days with better end results may be getting closer! Would really be nice for the announcers to actually "mention" the MINI's during the actual race instead of as an afterthought due to some wreck or such thing (as has always been the case).

 

Awesome shot! I'm jealous that you get to do that so often.

 

I know what you mean. I used to only watch the TV broadcasts, but they air them way to far after the race.

I also hear you on the fact that most of the mentions are when they are involved in incidents. If they can spend more time at the front I'm sure it will change.

 

Some good news! IMSA has made a balance of performance change, the MINIs can run some extra boost now. Full story: http://miniracefan.com/2016/07/05/mi...-gets-a-boost/

 

Hope the BOP is kinder to the MINI team than it was to Corvette at Le Mans.

 

Those guys take some really good shots. Once in a while they get a great one. Glad you liked it.

A couple of notes about that shot. I am flat out at this point; foot to the floor and accelerating from there to the braking zone at the bus stop (actually acceleration starts with the exit of T1). The car has the stock sports suspension springs. Standing still there is about 1-1/5" of wheel gap to the fender. You can see how that gap has closed up with the g loads.

Lastly I am doing all I can to extract all I can out of the car with the appropriate driver head tilt.

This actually was a special HPDE that I was invited to that had some awesome cars at it:
https://www.tracktimephotos.com/larg...1_WGI_OPT_6281

Have you given any thought to doing a HPDE?

 

*Fingers Crossed*

 

I have! Last year I went to PBIR. It was my first track day and I loved it. I actually wrote about it here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...track-day.html