I don't see a thread for racing a straight Cooper Clubman...

I'm taking mine to Grattan Raceway this weekend, a small and 'technical' course by description. I'll be with a racing club and thus will be getting instruction, being a complete novice.
My MINI has the sport suspension and is wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. I don't expect to win any medals against some track racers, but I believe that my Cooper will be fun to drive and controllable.
Any advice or anecdotes from others who have taken their Clubbies to the track?
I have a mount for my iPhone video on the dash looking over the hood. Woo Hooo- home movies next week !

 

Congrats, you'll have lots of fun! I haven't tracked the Clubman yet, but I did do a track day at Mid-Ohio with my previous car, a 99 Audi A4 1.8TQM. It was an excellent experience, and my biggest reccomendation is to change to some fresh brake fluid with a higher boiling point. My brakes faded a bit towards the end of the day from boiling the fluid over and over. One more tidbit, see if you can find a way to tether the phone and/or mount to the car in case it comes loose. Some stewards don't take kindly to devices in front of the driver, but as long as it's out of your line of sight, and it can't interfere with you if it comes loose, you should be fine.

Remember: Slow in, Fast out. And don't forget to tell us how it goes!

 

Hey Bikerbob, thanks for the greeting and tips. I have fresh brake fluid in the MINI, but my pads are getting down there, and track day may finish them off.
I have my system for my iPhone video inside the car, and I hope they let me use it as rehearsed. It makes for some nice videos around town too, looking down over the hood.
I see that the Michigan MINI Motoring Club has quite a few race day threads on a special forum just devoted to it, although I didn't see any Clubman there nor hardly a non S.
By Sunday, I should have a little report :-)

 

Well, I took my Clubman to Grattan Racetrack near Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend. It was my first ever experience on a track. I used my daily driver Clubman, street tires and all. I participated through a racing club called 3Balls Racing, a fine, well-organized club that makes such delights possible for people like me. I took an old buddy who used to race off road rally style, and a little track too.
Grattan has great camping. It's like a huge nature preserve with some cars in the middle. We set up our tent Friday evening and were able to walk the course, sip on beverages and cook a great campers' dinner.
I took an instructor for my first 20 minute session. I was in Group 4, novice. Most of the cars were quite powerful and the drivers seemed to really know what they were doing! I just tried to relax a bit, and have fun.
I did 3 sessions, could have done more, but was a bit fried after these, so we headed out a bit early. The event also went on for another day, so some folks had a more substantial event than me.
Still, it was a great event in my life, and it makes my MINI look even better when it sits still in my garage, now with a bit of racing heritage. My Michilen Pilot Super Sport tires finally were pushed to squealing (substantially!). I may have finished off all my brake pads too... but the MINI was great on this very twisty track. I'll post a link to a You Tube clip eventually, shot over the hood from my dash. It's really fun to watch!

Here's some photos for now:

 

P.S. #1
I submitted a similar note to the Michigan MINI Motoring Club forum and included some photos of three other MINI drivers, who were in Group 2 or higher, the true racer level for 3Ball club members. These were a young man named Dylan in an Oxygen blue Cooper and CountryboyShane in his modified S, and both were right up with the best of that group of 500 hp Corvettes and Mustangs and the like.
http://www.michiganmini.org/forum/in...p?topic=7900.0

 

P.S. A 2 lap video

 

Good to have a fellow H.Chocolate Clubman owner out there with a great lens!
Thanks, Mark Whitney.

 

What's with the hood pins?

 

Who cares, its his car...

It looks like you had a great time! I saw a Corvette waive you on, you must have been doing pretty well. Glad you had a good first experience

 

The hood pins:
I put them in a couple of years ago as a way to unlatch my own hood in place of the spring loaded latch under the bonnet. I simply cannot reach in a deploy that OEM latch, having a weakness in my fingers. I had to always ask my wife to do the hood for me so I could check my oil... not fun. So, the pins are very practical for me, and kind of fun too. I posted about them a few years ago somewhere.
Plus I'm sure they're good for an extra 5 mph :-)

Bikerbob: Yes, I was on that Vette's tail for a couple of laps. Also there was an Ansa (?) that eventually waved me by, not that he was slower than my car, but i only got blasted by on the straights and didn't seem to get in the way too much in the curves.

 

Unless you can afford to total the car and walk away, buy track insurance. Accident's happen even if it's not your fault...

 

It wasn't a slight or negative comment...I saw your seedy eyes glaring at me

I was curious because I figured they were practical. Most people don't really put hood pins on a daily car these days. Glad to see you were able to combat a problem and use stylish devices at that. Sorry to hear about the condition. Scleroderma and Rheumatoid Arthritis run in my family as well as other auto-immune deficiencies. I'm sure I will be there eventually; it's good to see you overcome and have fun.

 

It was a good question, Yetti96, and I was glad the hood pins were noticed. I just take them for granted after these years.
My own condition is autoimmune and progressive, so track day is extra special in a 'Bucket List' kind of way. In fact the MINI itself is sort of a hobby driven by adjustments to physical limitations, after decades of ski racing, windsurfing, kayaking, etc. Once you get an autoimmune condition bad enough to change your hobbies, it sure helps to have a fun car and to do fun things with it. Sounds like a new, over-dramatic, thread!

And I'll throw in a thanks to Borderwave2 for the tip on track insurance. I was a bit worried about damage since I was pretty sure my main company would say WTF to any possible track claim. I wonder what the track regulars do about this? ...Thik I'll lok on the 3Balls Racing Club Forums.

 

Wow, just watched that video. Like the guy said: "Holy Sh*t"

 

I've never taken my Clubman to the track, but I have two pieces of advice for you. 1) Don't wreck it. 2) Let your insurance agent know what you're up to, because insurance fraud is a jailable offense.

Good luck.

EDIT: I didn't look through the entire thread before posting, and it seems someone warned you already regarding track day wrecks.

 

If I'd had an accident at the track I would not have tried to file an insurance claim. I read my policy and track wasn't covered, so I couldn't/wouldn't try to fill in an accident report and move the location to Front and Union Streets. I would have just had it fixed and put it on my credit card, or just taken a photo of the remains.
My insurance agent is pretty friendly with me and previously had advised me not to advise them if I ever ran the track, since it wouldn't be covered anyway. Some folks even claim that they were dropped after advising their insurance about a track day!
No, I like the concept suggested by Borderwave2 above, about track insurance.
The club I ran with hasn't had an episode in years, so I felt that my one day in the sun was a reasonable risk.