Several members of the Houston MINI Motoring Society (HMMS) went to the Texas World Speedway near College Station (North of Houston), yesterday, for a track day kindly organized by Andres (of Momentum Cars, thank you Andres!). There were 7 MINIs, plus quite a few other notable cars. These were the 7 MINIs: LY/B MCS (James), IB/W MCS (Louis), two PS/B MCS (Cathy and David), JB/W MC (Chris), DS/B MCS (Mike) and EB/W MCS (me).
WHAT A BLAST!!!!!!



If I remember correct, all cars were stock with these exceptions: Chris' MC was outfitted with the aero kit and MINI Mania stage 1 kit (air induction, exhaust, 1" lowering) and with the 17" R90 wheels. Louis' MCS has the BMP intake and Magnaflow exhaust. David's I can't remember what he might have under the hood, but you will notice his aftermarket wheels in the pics. Everyone else was stock on 17" Minilites, my EB/W was the only car on 16" V-spokes.
Here's Mike at the wheel and David next to him looking at video they shot:



here's another view of some of the cars, this one was taken by Chris:



There were other cool cars! Lots of Porsches, mostly 911 Turbo's, one Carrera, at least one Boxster. One fully race prepped 911. A Nissan 350Z, and four Corvettes. A couple of Miatas!
And, this classic Mini:



It ran circles around most other cars, but unfortunately blew out it's engine after 2 laps. A closer view:



In the background you can see the race prepped 911. That thing was LOUD!!! and FAST!!!! It was driven by a fellow in a wheelchair, all hand controls, amazing!

The 'vettes were fast, but Chris was faster, here he is overtaking them:




Actually, they are passing Chris here. However, Chris' Stage 1 MC was fast, and had great sound. In my MCS, I could only ever so slowly make any ground on him, and pretty much only on the straightaway. However, this was my first time ever on a track, and I had lots to learn in terms of finding the line.

Other fast cars: the 350 Z was very fast. The 'vettes were fast and loud! The 911 Turbo's were amazing, but I was surprised that after learning about optimal line I was able to mostly keep up with a 911 Carrera and the two slower of the vettes in the twisties (in terms of them not pulling away by a large amount), but then of course not at all in the straightaways.

The classic Mini was blazing fast for 2 laps, and the MIatas were also absolutely amazingly fats. Stock engine, 120 horses, but lightened and great suspension. They just would not slow down!!!

Here's Cathy's MCS in the pit lane:


This was a 'street' course using the straightaway of the banked oval. 16 curves, I think 2.9 miles per lap.

David's MCS:








James:





Chris' MC, here driven by his dad:





a pic of the 350Z:



and of course a pic of Celeste, followed by Mike (this pic taken by Chris):



All in all, a tremendous amount of fun! The only thing that comes close in terms of sheer excitement is skydiving!

I learned a lot about how my car handles. It is utterly amazing.
My first few laps were very slow and cautious. Then James showed me some fo the basic ropes (thank you James!!!), then I tooled around on my own a bit more, until Andres took me around and showed me the line again after I had gotten more familiar with the car (thank you Andres!!!).

My first few laps with James were sedate by his standards, but for me were mainly a constant grope for the missing 'oh-****' handle. By the end of the day, I was whizzing around in a way that would have had me reach for the barf bag in the first few laps. It is completely amazing how well these little cars handle, unbelievable.

WHAT A BLAST!

THANK YOU MINI!!!!!

 

very cool!

Great story

jc

 

I'm moving to Tyler Texas in a couple weeks - how often do they do these track days? I'm very interested in doing these with the gang.

 

>>I'm moving to Tyler Texas in a couple weeks - how often do they do these track days? I'm very interested in doing these with the gang.

I'm not sure, this was the second one I heard about, in 2 months.
I'll post more when I find out more.

 

Great pics, sounds like you had a blast! Can't wait for Pocono this August!

 

Very cool. I'd love to really find out how my car handles but you sure can't do that on the streets! I used to bicycle race and I recall the thrill of taking the perfect line through a corner and having the power to pull away from the competition. The human body loves acceleration!

 

Yeaaaahhhh Baby!!!

I have the need for speed too now!

Heard from Chris and he heard from Andres.
Seems like the next track day will likely occur in October, and not before then on account of the intense heat that we will have over the summer. I think that's a good idea, it is already hard on the cars as is (my tires were really very, very hot to the touch after runs), and you want to keep the A/C off, and have to wear helmets. It gets hot!!!
So, let's all plan on a fun track day sometime in October!
That helps me go easy on my wallet for a bit, and use the saved money to get some cool things for Celeste (air intake, maybe rear sway bar).

Yay!!!!!!

 

Excellent photos Marcus.

The video is excellent. The one you took is so funny. The camera flips around and first we get a close up of the warning sticker on your visor then it flips around and we get a nice long close up of the inside of your boot lid handle pulls. All to an excellent sound track I might add. Too funny.

I'll be at the next one for sure.

TOPHAT loaned me a tire and wheel until I get my situation cleared up. MINI people = Nice people.