As part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Mini a special category was added to the bill at the BARC meeting to cater for all Minis. The Clubman entered these races with a view to competing in the “Fastest Mini In The World” race for which the 50th anniversary races acted as qualifiers. The entrants for the races came from as far as Germany to take part in the celebration event.

Qualifying

With the Minis split into classes based on engine capacity or level of modification the Clubman found itself in a relatively small field amongst the more heavily modified machinery and a new shape BMW MINI. The smaller grid size meant that the Clubman was able to find clear air easily during the session and the lap times fell quickly as a result.

A trouble free session saw the Clubman snatch pole position for the first race by a tenth of a second from the MINI. The two cars on the front row enjoyed a large gap back to the third placed machine having set very impressive qualifying times.

Race 1

Both races would use standing starts and the Clubman lined up on pole position. Following the green flag lap the cars took their places on the grid and waited for the lights to go out. The grid got away cleanly and the Clubman launched off the line heading the field into the first corner with the BMW MINI hard on its heels. The two frontrunners began to pull away from the rest of the field with the Clubman fending off the MINI and retaining the lead.

As the race wore on the Clubman edged out a slightly larger gap to the hard charging MINI and the two were now well clear of the chasing pack. The MINI kept the pressure on throughout the remaining laps but the Clubman was more than equal to the challenge and took the chequered flag to record an impressive victory.

Race 2

Starting once again from pole position the Clubman repeated its impressive start from the previous race and again lead the field into the first corner. As expected the MINI was the main threat to the Clubman and once again the German machine hounded the Clubman during the early part of the race. As the race wore on the MINI continued to be a thorn in the Clubmans side and refused to let the Clubman rest for a second.

The duel came to a premature end however when the MINI retired with a mechanical problem four laps from home. The unfortunate demise of the MINI relieved all pressure on the Clubman and from that point onwards the Clubman backed off the pace in order to preserve the car and tyres for the subsequent racing in a busy afternoon for the car. The Clubman took the chequered flag to record a comfortable win and as a result qualify on pole for the Fastest Mini In The World race.

Fastest Mini In The World Race

Having won both of its qualifying races the Clubman lined up on pole position for the Fastest Mini In The World Race. From the standing start the Clubman rocketed off the line and lead the field into the first corner. By the end of the first lap the Clubman has consolidated the lead and was beginning to pull away from the chasing pack. The lead continued to grow as the Clubman inexorably opened up the gap to those behind.

The chasing pack had no answer to the Clubmans pace and the lead continued to grow lap by lap. The chequered flag fell with the Clubman taking the win by a huge margin, its dominance unrivalled throughout the race.

The win provided a superb conclusion to the teams weekend with the Clubman taking the title of “Fastest Mini In The World” having comprehensively seen off its rivals.