Race 1 , a rolling start was the order of the day and by lap 2 the mini had settled into its own rhythm gaining 3 places  making us 4^th overall with a comfortable margin of 5 seconds between my other class rival.  A dramatic bang ensued in the transmission retiring the car immediately. .

A call to KAD was made for assistance, however due to  the weekend  there was no staff available, but they were constantly in touch with us by phone checking on our progress.

It was decided to assemble a very old Special Tuning  gear kit  from the 70’s.  The team worked through the night at the workshop in Ashford and refitted the engine at Brands Hatch that evening.

Race 2

With the Mini starting from the rear of the grid, to gain a class win would not be an easy task .   The minis progress was halted by a huge accident, the safety car was deployed during which time the damaged cars were removed safely.

The race was underway although much shortened and we lost the overall class position by 100^th of a second.

Semsec attracts varied machinery, also this is an ideal championship for the novice driver.

The teams assult on this championship was to include Mary Grinham and her space frame with our fabulous 1460 8 port.
Qualifying for the clubman proved difficult because of the amount of novice traffic , however 3^rd overall and 1^st in class was achieved.  Our team mate Mary also qualified well.

Race 1 Highlighted gearbox maladies but was able to achieve 2^nd overall/2^nd in class, Mary also ran well and finished  3^rd in class.

Race 2 With dramatic phone calls to and fro from  KAD re the gearbox problems, it was decided to be cautious with the gearbox .  With instructions to treat the gearbox with utmost care we took our place on the front row of the grid.  A gentle start saw the mini beaten to the first corner into 5^th place , this demotion only lasted until the 2^nd corner.   3  cars were passed which  promoted the Mini to 2^nd overall and 1^st in class.  A good achievement considering  the trials and tribulations of the day.

Meanwhile team mate Mary also won her class, both cars have amassed good points in the championship. Watch the action here

The engine was removed after the race and will be delivered to KAD for gearbox inspection and rebuild ready for the QMN championship at Brands Hatch on the  21^st/22^nd of April.

With new tyres and brake pads to bed in lap times would be slow to start with, however practice was halted prematurely with the total demise of a BMW just missing our mini on the rebound from the Armco.  Even so the mini managed an incredible 5^th overall out of all the Quaife Motorsport News Cars.

Race 1.

Our strategy was to survive the onslaught of the Silhouette cars as mentioned earlier.  Constant looking in mirrors was to be a hindrance but in all, things went very well and a 2^nd in class was achieved.

Race 2.

Just before the start my crew discovered a leaking nearside front shock absorber, as this corner of the mini is crucial to good lap times it was decided to swap the shockers around  to get over this problem thus it should better our lap times.  Progress in race 2 was steady having made up 2 places we finished with a 2^nd in class and we was 3^rd overall.

A good solid start to the season, a good foundation to build upon throughout the year.

Our next Race will be at Lydden Hill  on the 14^th April, come and watch the Mini Go.

The 1st race

A rolling start was the order of the day with all classes jostling for positions. A class B car positioned himself disappointingly between ourselves and the Peugeot 205 that was heading our class. With determination a hard push was made to outwit the Seat class B car, however this was not to be. Our beloved Clubman did not disgrace itself and achieved a 53 second lap.

 

2nd Race

Our main adversary in this race was to be a very rapid Peugeot 205 driven by a young charger. For us to win the class championship I had to beat him. The race saw a duel between our Clubman and a Cosworth Sapphire, he had to be passed before we could launch an attack on the French machine.
This was not to be, the Sapphire being impossible to pass.

We can hold our heads up high as this was not an easy Championship to compete in due to the class structure.

 

The Mini proved to be a huge crowd pleaser at a packed Brands Hatch, it has a massive following of fans.

With the run into Chessons Drift (1st corner) the mini was out-dragged by a rapid Escort RS2000, combat ensued for over 10 laps, eventually forcing the Escort into a mistake and conceding his 1st place.

The priority in the 2nd race was to conserve our last set of allocated front tyres, too much wheel spin from a standing start could play havoc with the longevity of the Avon slick as 15 laps on this circuit induces rapid wear.

A non aggressive start saw the mini once again settle for 2nd place, for 8 laps our adversary drove a defensive race until aggressive defensive driving forced premature wear in his overheating tyres, allowing the Escort to run wide. He had to settle for 2nd place. Watch the thrilling race unfold here.

With 2 Poles and 2 Overall wins, it was a successful weekend for the Team.

With our Maddogs Team amassed points we were Crowned Semsec Sports and Saloons Champion.

With very light rain the team opted to qualify on slicks, although the Mini appeared to be a handfull the qualifying time was deemed to be most respectable and saw us 5th fastest overall.

Race 1 saw the weather conditions brighten up somewhat and as Lydden is not a power circuit our driver and machine fared well against the bigger class A cars. After some dramatic driving a finishing place of 2nd overall and 1st in class was achieved. Watch the onboard action here.

Race 2 saw the Mini promoted to the front row of the grid next to the WRC Escort of Rod Birley – would this be a classic David and Goliath scenario?

As the race was underway the Mini was demoted to 3rd place by a very rapid intermarque Class kit car, who eventually won the race with the Clubman passing the WRC Escort to take a very respectable 2nd overall and 1st in class.  The BARC community awarded Bill the driver of the day award and presented him with a bottle of champagne.

The next outing for the Mad Dog Team will be on September 24th at the Miniworld Action Day where Bill will be giving hot lap rides around the long and fast Castle Coombe circuit in aid of The R.N.L.I. Lifeboats.

Feel free to come and meet the Team and see the array of Race and Rally Cars.

This was to be a gathering of a collection of Special Saloons that raced in the 70’s and 80’s at national circuits throughout England and many of these cars had’nt competed for quite a few years – a spectacle to behold.

The theme behind this race was ”The Car is the Star” so with that in mind qualifying began with some initial siting laps after which lap times began to tumble with a best time recorded of 53.069. The order of the day was to be a rolling start in order to minimize the stress and strain on aging transmissions.

Ahead of our Metro was some rare and wonderfull machinery including the ex DTV Vauxhall Firenza originally driven by the flamboyant Gerry Marshall. A battle royale unfolded between our Metro and Baby Bertha and with 2 laps to go our Metro passed this machine under hard braking at the hairpin. This results was an incredible achievement bearing in mind that this was the Metros 1st major race since the overhaul.

The team have collected much data for further development of the Metro and hope to compete in a full season in 2012.

The inherited problem of very little clutch bite from Snetterton was evident as we headed onto the circuit for official qualifying. With a huge amount of entrys (42) a clear lap maybe hard to achieve, however we managed to qualify a remarkable 7th overall, including a best lap 1-1/2 seconds faster than our class championship rival.

The team were jubilant as to this achievement.

The low clutch pedal issue still persisted and was decided to investigate, the team were in communication with the KAD engineers although time was short before race 1 it was agreed to change the clutch release bearing (a possible cause for the low clutch pedal)

This was duly undertaken and completed in the nick of time – to no Avail. The Mini was started in gear and headed for the dummy grid.

Race 1 saw the Mini gain a place to 6th overall and a battle royale ensued with a large class Ford Focus, this was to be the demise of the Mini, as the Clubman drew alongside of the Focus the driver turned in, not seeing the Mini until it was too late. A collision occured which forced the Mini into retirement.

With ongoing gearbox issues and a broken driveshaft it was decided to retire from the day. With a disastrous no score our challenge for the class championship has all but disappeared, however there’s an old racing saying – Its never Done till its Done !

So watch this space.

With the Mini’s freshly repaired and painted new bonnet and radiator the team headed for the power circuit at Snetterton in a qualifying round of the high profile Dunlop Motorsport News (DMN).

The team didn’t expect the Mini’s performance to light up the world, however after official qualifying the Mini made a very credible 2nd in class. The jubilation after qualifying would be short lived. The race to follow was a combined Intermarque and saloons with 38 cars on the grid.

We made a good start which put us at the time 2nd in class, at the braking point at the end of the main straight a silhouette GT car had missed his braking point collecting the rear corner of our beloved Clubman, a high speed half spin was contained however 4 laps later our 2nd in class evaporated with 1 lap to go when the jackplug that powers up the ECU decided to leave the building. A DNF was on the cards.

 
With the damage repaired Race 2 saw the mini at the back of the grid, my only thought how can I make up all these places to get to win our class?  
 
 
A rolling start is the order of the day in this series and caution was aired as the pack arrived at the 1st corner. We were greeted by various high tech machinery attempting to plough the fields but gradually things started to improve as our battling mini took place after place, eventually finishing 2nd in class.

The next round of the DMN will be held on the world famous Grand Prix Circuit at Brands Hatch on the 20th August. Watch this space for another Action Packed Race Report.

Cracking picture by Kerry Dunlop (click here to see what it was like inside)

 

Race 1 saw our beloved Clubby beaten into the first corner by our old sparing partner Nigel Craig in his obscenely fast 4 wheel drive Subaru, but on lap 8 he was demoted to 2nd place as his engine electronics decided to have a hissy fit.

Team member Mary with our 8 port works engine finished a respectable 2nd overall. A 1st and 2nd for our Mad Dog team – watch all the race 1 action here

 


Race 2 saw our Mini on the front row and for the first time with Mary making up the other place, the Subaru behind Mary. A good start by Mary and the jet propelled Subaru saw us in 3rd place but Mary ran wide at the 2nd corner and was demoted instantly to 3rd place.

A battle royale ensued lap after lap looking for a gap and with just 2 laps to go Nigel spun on oil and yes, you guessed it, so did I – our race prematurely finished caused by another competitors oil. click here to see our demise !

Our car received damaged to the bonnet and radiator, poor Nigel, had to contend with not only body damage but an engine bay fire.

Next round for us will be the DMN round at Snetterton on Saturday 23rd July.