I'm real proud of you guys and what you've accomplished. You're doing what a lot of us would love to do, if we could. I know it probably gets frustrating at times, but just remember we're all out here pulling for you. You only live once, you know, live it well.

 

see, greg and I decided not to go and you guys did well!

ha ha !

 

Nice job, guys! Congrats! See you at Lime Rock!

 

Time to start a thread for Lime Rock . . .

I thought you might be interested in seeing the car with the 15" tire and wheel combo.



This was taken at Miami-Homestead.

Randy

 

Looks good, long as it works better! When is Lime Rock, anyway?

 

Yea! When can we come see the action?

mb

Edit - nevermind, memorial day it is. Look and ye shall find.

 

http://www.grand-am.com/CONTENT/Docs...20Schedule.pdf

May 24-26 We race on Saturday. There is racing on Monday also, but we are finished on Saturday.

Randy

Here is a picture at Iowa . . . note the 15" Hoosiers w/ 9" of tread !

 

Nice Randy! I like the gap ~under~ the 9" right rear Hoosier

 

Nice the huge Hoosiers look great, what competitor's car does a guy have to accidentally drop some bb's into the oil fill to get a ride in that beast . Seriously though, I cant imagine anyone will be able to dive under you going into big bend with that set up, looking forward to seeing you guys out there on memorial day.

 

Let's start with the Acura's and work down from there. Just kidding of course, but the Acura's are tough competition. They have lots of power and are very aerodynamic. Unconfirmed rumor says the top team has +/- 250 RWHP with a minimum weight of 2500 lbs.

Acura pays lots of support $$ to it's teams:

Here's a cut and paste from the Grand Am site:


1st in class-$10,000,

 

I'm kind of surprised my last post has not generated any responses.

Am I the only one who recognizes that much of the success of the Acura's is directly proportional to the support they offer??

There are other track side examples . . .

Chevrolet shows up with a state of the art 53' trailer full of engineers and god only knows what else. We non-Chevy types are banned from seeing inside the 'Starship Enterprise'.

This rig is more significant when you realize it IS NOT A TRANSPORTER. It carries NO cars. It has a roof that raises up with tinted windows to view the track. They can see out . . we cannot see in. It has all types of radio antennas and other electronic gear. It must work because the Cobalts are pretty D*** fast too.

The next time you think your favorite ride (Mini) is not as competitive as it should be, remember . . . we are bringing a knife to a gun fight.

My choice of a Mini to race is dictated by my love for the car. If it was money that motivated me, there are numerous other brands that make more sense.

At least the owner's group and fan support is above and beyond. There is a lot of satisfaction from your encouragement and attendance at the races.

Thanks for that !

Randy

 

Can anyone find the announcement from MINI USA last year about better support for racing (etc) THIS year. I had a long talk with a guy at the LRP Historic about the availability of performance parts like a GP intercooler etc. You know, the way Mazda and everyone else does. I started the talk asking him about the slow pay-out to the autoXer's the year before. Boy, was I embarrassed, he WAS the guy who wrote the checks! It just doesn't fit with MINI's sales stragity (money) in-spite of the potential appeal to the sporty purchasers. Great guy, wished he could do more. There is a lot more to be said, but I gutta go to work!

 

Randy

It is sad that MINI is not more proactive in motorsports. I guess the immediate appeal of the MINI and it's financial success has MINI USA feeling that they may not need to support private efforts to place their product in front of fanatic car lovers. Sad, I wish they would step up and provide you with some assistance and support to run in the GA and help you work with the GA officials in reviewing the rules.

If one has not seen the Starship Enterprise they would be shocked at the safistication you are up against. I suspect the Enterprise cost easily exceeds $1.5-$2 million dollars. You would think we were at Le Mans or an ALMS event when that rigs pulls in.

The playing field is truly stacked against RSR. The support of the MINI community and NAM'ers is great to see at the events. Fans love the MINI, it is the sentimential favorite at all the events.

I guess when you are standing on the podium (hopefully with me) the grin on your face will say.... we kicked some factory butt and I did it all by myself !!!

MINI USA, we know you are out there and watch this forum, comments ???

Mark

 

Randy,
You state "I'm kind of surprised my last post has not generated any responses. "

What did you expect?

The fans are great and love to cheer you on and get bragging rights but other than that they have no vested interest in your project. They root for the car because they own one like it and when they move on to another brand they're gone.
I love the fans and have enjoyed their support for four years, MINI owners are very loyal and appreciative.

You on the other hand are a very successful business man but you made a some rookie mistakes and now you have to live with them. As far as manufacturer support while I can't speak directly for them but I have worked directly with some of those engineers in the "Starship Enterprise", I can say that you have a long journey ahead of you. Does Ford give you free truck chassis, parts and support? What about Thetford, Norcold or Dometic?

Randy you should do what you do in your other business. Evaluate the operation, determine the risk/reward factor, calculate the ROI and determine if this operation should continue to be funded or closed down. You talk about no mfg support well reverse the situation if a startup business owner came to you and asked you to financially support his business what would you do, say or look for? All businesses are responsible to their share holders and they want good earnings and high profits not to loose $.

Just my $.02
Tony

 

Randy,
What did you expect? The MINI fans are great and loyal fans but they have no vested interest in this. They are there for the entertainment and bragging rights. They are there because they own a MINI, when they move on to another brand they'll probably root for that car if its being raced.

You have three races under your belt as a team owner. Perhaps a little more due diligence before jumping in head first after driving only two pro races would have been prudent and eased some of your frustration.

As a successful business owner you should probably ask yourself what are the risk/rewards factors here, what is the ROI, if this operation continues to be funded will it achieve the goals I've set for it or should it be shut down.

There have been three GA teams racing the MINI before you, did you ever wonder why they were gone or why there weren't more teams racing such a popular car? Why there wasn't a higher success rate for the car? The answer isn't that the manufacturer wasn't supporting them. Look at BMW or Porsche lots of those cars being campaigned with little or no direct support.


Best of luck to you at LRP and the season.
Just my $.02
Tony

 

Mark & Randy, I just saw this thread...

Unfortunately, all I can say is that I hear ya, and that it sucks. FWIW, Nuzzo also expressed the lack of factory support as being a major factor contributing to the challenges of being succesful... Having the resources to really refine the car is one thing, but the clout of factory-backing in the eyes of GA seems to also be of significance in terms of addressing requests and/or concerns about making the MINI competitive (rules, provisions, etc)...

As far as why MINI is not so gungho with the support... I guess the parent company (BMW, a GA competitor, comes-to-mind. We are a true underdog in so many ways... "We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts."

AND - this will make your day on the podium all that more meaningful!!!

 

Tony:

Boy! did you misread my post . . . you might want to clean your glasses and read it again. You totally missed my point and misrepresented my position. I sense bitterness in your tone and I don't particularly like the insults you tossed at me.

I don't know what Mini did to you, but they've certainly done nothing to me. I would like their support for competitive reasons, but I expected nothing and I've gotten nothing.

I'm OK with that.

I HAVEN'T ASKED MINI FOR A SINGLE PENNY. I only spoke to them once when I asked for assistance with the GP spec and all I wanted was the GP aero package and bigger brakes. Even you have to admit that would be a benefit.

My purpose was to point out to NAM that Mini does not support racing relative to the other cars and competitors. People ask me why there are 10 Accra's, 8 Cobalts, etc . . . and one Mini. The reasons are obvious to those at the track.

AND, I'm pretty damn proud of where we are at the end of three races. We started with a clean sheet of paper and learned virtually nothing from the "three other GA Mini teams". I spent the 1st two races trying to fix the suspension and tire problems I was handed.

We've made mistakes and had some bad luck . . . but that's racing. We are fixing the problems and not repeating our mistakes.

Things started to come together at Iowa. Our 15th place finish ranks right up there with your best finishes of last year.

I think you owe an apology to the members of NAM. You were not very kind to them either.

Randy

 

Don't know what Tony's issues were with NAM, MINI, YOU, but I've made it to two races so far on your schedule, unfortunately they were part of the learning curve, and I hope to see you guys continue to improve. Best of luck and both Beaner and I look forward to seeing you run again when you guys get back to FL.

As for Tony, what they hell did you think would happen with online forum support, this is a forum for Minis, once you don't own a mini anymore are you really concerned with what is happening with it anymore.

I think it's funny, you were a pioneer when it came to developing parts, a key part of the mini community, rec'd probably the most amount of support from the mini community while you raced a mini, and then the first post about you running another make, model at the beginning of the race year, and someone says you jumped ship and abandoned the mini community, you jump all over that thread, and yet your still so bitter towards mini (and if you say your not, your F'ng lying) but yet your still on the mini forum for racing, chiming in with venom towards Mini Fans, race supporters, other mini teams

GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE!

 

Well jamie,

I guess by venom you mean this quote of mine "
The fans are great and love to cheer you on and get bragging rights but other than that they have no vested interest in your project. They root for the car because they own one like it and when they move on to another brand they're gone.
I love the fans and have enjoyed their support for four years, MINI owners are very loyal and appreciative"

 

>>Boy! did you misread my post . . . you might want to clean your glasses and read it again. You totally missed my point
>>and misrepresented my position. I sense bitterness in your tone and I don't particularly like the insults you tossed at >>me.
Well randy I don't think I misread you post and I'm not bitter at all and I'm sorry you mistook constructive criticism for and insult maybe you are a little sensitive about all this. But it sure sounded like you were dissing MINI for their lack of support to you.

>>I don't know what Mini did to you, but they've certainly done nothing to me. I would like their support for competitive >>reasons, but I expected nothing and I've gotten nothing.
I have a good relationship with the people at MINI and have indicated nothing to the contrary.

>>I'm OK with that.
Doesn't sound like your ok with that.

>>I HAVEN'T ASKED MINI FOR A SINGLE PENNY. I only spoke to them once when I asked for assistance with the GP spec and all I >>wanted was the GP aero package and bigger brakes. Even you have to admit that would be a benefit.
I'm sure you could have gotten this info from your dealer or off the internet. Whether I think it’s a benefit or not doesn't matter its your team.

>>My purpose was to point out to NAM that Mini does not support racing relative to the other cars and competitors. People >>ask me why there are 10 Accra's, 8 Cobalts, etc . . . and one Mini. The reasons are obvious to those at the track.
The reasons are obvious you can get the necessary horsepower from thise cars.

>>AND, I'm pretty damn proud of where we are at the end of three races.
You should be proud of where you are after three races.

>>I spent the 1st two races trying to fix the suspension and tire problems I was handed.
Who handed them to you, the tires are the same for everyone, suspension was your choice.

>>We started with a clean sheet of paper and learned
>>virtually nothing from the "three other GA Mini teams".
Really?

>> Our 15th place finish ranks right up there with your best finishes of last >>year.
I guess that answers the question as to why you are the only MINI running in this series.

>>I think you owe an apology to the members of NAM. You were not very kind to them either.
Here is what I said in my post I think you need to reread it
"The fans are great and love to cheer you on and get bragging rights but other than that they have no vested interest in your project. They root for the car because they own one like it and when they move on to another brand they're gone.
I love the fans and have enjoyed their support for four years, MINI owners are very loyal and appreciative"
The point is that you are spending the money not the fans

>>My choice of a Mini to race is dictated by my love for the car. If it was >>money that motivated me, there are numerous
>>other brands that make more sense.
>>No sour grapes . . .

Sounds bitter to me

 

Randy, See you at LRP. Look forward to finally seeing a well organized Mini Cooper team. The car looks great. Going with the 15s, and your negotiations with GA to permit them was well done.

I personally really appreciate your closeness with this Mini community and your willingness to actually discus the issues and the learning process with all of us here. You have done a good job actually connecting with Mini owners on a "real" level rather then becoming some self appointed Mini guru just because you've built a race car.
Thanks!

 

I can't help but to echo those same sentiments myself! R&D is not cheap, but it does pay off eventually! Right now, I will be working Saturday, maybe will swap days off and see you Friday at Lime Rock.

 

Greg . . . Peter . . .

Thanks for the words of support. It is appreciated.

Randy

 

Hey guys best of luck out there @ LRP. While I can't lend any monetary support; I will be @ LRP and am half way decent with a wrench. If you need any crew help for the race I'd be more than willing to lend a hand.

 

No monetary support needed but loud cheering is welcome ! See you there Greg.

Randy