I was excited to be going to Mineral Wells TX this past weekend for the Prosolo with the Mini finally feeling like a GS Mini on crack with camber. I ordered a fresh set of tires, got them mounted and headed down to Mineral Wells. Upon arrival, after inspecting the course, I was amazed to find the longest drag strip start that I'd ever seen at a Prosolo, maybe 500 feet(just guessing)! AND, it was going up hill and required an emergency brake to hold postition. Luckily I had some practice starts, I was able to dial in the optimal RPM start at 2800 or so RPM's with a clutch release in unison with the 3rd yellow light, then, a bit of feathering through first gear into 2nd. The only problem that I noticed at the warmups was that the Subaru WRX's were putting down 1.8-1.9 60 foot times going uphill compared to my Mini's 2.4-2.5, oh, and, the surface was probably medium to slightly lower grip asphalt. I'm not sure how far in front they were at the first turn, but, I would guess 1.5 seconds. Ughh!! This is my first prosolo in STX, but, my feeling is, with a long straight after the launch, the Mini is going to be toast. I felt my Mini really handled well, I wouldn't have changed anything on setup for this event besides adding AWD. lol

Needless to say, I ended up 1.4 seconds back in 4th behind Billy Brooks in the WRX. I'm not real use to getting my azz handed to me in that fashion, so, I'm a bit bummed about my feeling's on the Mini's chances in Prosolo form, I felt I drove average, nothing spectacular, but, certainly not poor enough to be 1.4 seconds back without some real questions raised as to the Mini's ability on SOME Prosolo courses. I think it will hang easily enough in National Tour form, but, in Prosolo's, its going to completely be course/launch/surface dependant. I guess I knew this coming into STX, but, I didn't expect the varience to be that much. I've got the Peru National Tour and Prosolo coming up the next 2 weekends, so, hopefully my results will show a bit better than Mineral Wells. :-)

 

Thanks to Craig for the superb co-drive this weekend. That Mini is so much more fun than the GS car.

We had a blast, great courses, great weather and lots of fun. As bad as the start was, it felt good to reel those WRX's in on the course itself. I really am looking forward to Denver.

thanks again Craig.

 

Courtney felt the same, driving my car the last 3 years. When he won Pro's it was by a small margin, when he lost it was 1-2 seconds. The bad news is Nationals is now on a slick surface. The good news is Peru is about as sticky as it gets. Just hope the straight isn't real long. See you there.

 

Sounds like fun. I can't wait for Denver! I am definitely going to need to take a lot of practice runs on Fri. as I've never experienced the Xmas tree start.

I'm waiting to hear about it from Dylan (Talon) over on an AWD board. Looks like he struggled a bit. I am consistently behind Dylan by about a second at the local AutoX's. Doesn't bode well going up against you crazy hot-foots. Can't wait.

 

Yeah, Denver is going to be a blast! It was probably one of my favorite events last season, so, I am REALLY looking forward to the National Tour and then the Prosolo the following weekend with a helluva lot of fun in between up in the mountains. See you there!

Craig