MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Donington Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Donington Race Report

Well, that's the MINI Challenge 2020 season complete for another year, and wow, did we end it on a high. Everyone I had spoken to about Donington all said how much of a fantastic circuit it is, but without driving it, I wasn't to know... within half a lap, I knew exactly what they meant. That feeling you get when going through the Craner Curves is like nothing I've experienced before; Donington is a very tricky, unforgiving circuit that, simply put, requires commitment. It's challenging to get right, especially in a low-powered car with its undulating inclines and declines, but...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Donington Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Donington Report

I hope you've enjoyed the second lockdown as much as we have... not..! Well let's be honest, it didn't feel much like the first; however, it seems to have done enough to convince the government we can all go racing again, happy days. :) So, this round was actually scheduled for the start of November, but obviously, the second lockdown pushed it back to this coming weekend. If I am completely honest, I didn't think this round was going to go ahead, or at least this side of the new year. In fact, I am actually quite surprised the meeting...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Croft Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Croft Race Report

Well, that's another eventful MINI Challenge weekend done and dusted. After driving to what felt like the moon and back Thursday evening, we finally arrived at Croft, the Monty Carlo of British motorsport, delivering all the glitz and glam UK motorsport offers; muddy field parking, sideways rain and wet feet. :) As you know, Croft is a circuit I've never driven, and like with all circuits I've never driven, I do like to get a track walk in pre-testing. Fortunately, track walks were being allowed Thursday evening, and with the dying light, we just about managed to get one in....

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Croft Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Croft Report

I can't believe we're about to start the penultimate round of my first session of racing in the MINI Challenge, it really is driving by, and it only felt like yesterday we were gearing up and getting ready for the first round at Oulton Park; as always I just wanted to send you a quick update of what we've been up to since Snetterton. As you already know; I really didn't have a great weekend of racing at Snetterton last time out and was having terrible trouble with the car. We knew pretty quickly after a thorough debrief with dad...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Snetterton Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Snetterton Race Report

Snetterton, or as I call it, 'Wet'terton… After arriving at a rather cold but sunny Snetterton Thursday morning, I was optimistic that the weather might hold up for the weekend, even though I had been spending the past week glued to the weather app on my phone looking to see if the 100% chance of rain would change… Unfortunately, I think I was being optimistic, to say the least, as these were some of the wettest conditions I have ever driven in, making the damage we thought we didn't have from Thruxton clearly evident. Regardless of the weather, I had...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Snetterton Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Snetterton Report

These MINI races are coming thick and fast, and, if I told you I haven't been feeling like Michael Caine from your favourite Mini film then I'd be lying… although we've not yet blown any doors off, just dented them :) With only four days downtime between Thruxton last weekend and Snetterton this weekend it has been quite a challenge for the team to turn the cars back around and get ready for this Friday's testing. Unfortunately because of how manic the races were at Thruxton, all three cars have had numerous replacement parts fitted. Most of which are suspension...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Thruxton Race Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Post Thruxton Race Report

Well, that was an exciting weekend… The number one takeaway: the drivers in the Mini Challenge may be slightly crazy but do deliver some fantastically close and exciting racing. Pretty quickly after driving Thruxton in the first test session both myself and my teammate realised we were not going to be able to pull a good time unless we worked together to break the wind resistance and create a slipstream. After test session one had finished, my teammate and I sat down and devised a plan of what we were going to do in the second session. In the 45...

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Thruxton Report

Posted by BRADLEY GRAVETT

MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Pre Thruxton Report

Before the next round at Thruxton gets underway, I just wanted to quickly update you on our progress and what we're expecting over the weekend. Once the excitement and, of course, frustration had calmed down after the first round at Oulton Park, we were able to really reflect upon what we learnt from the weekend; the top point, three into Cascades, just doesn't go, I tried… who figured. But, nevertheless, putting the humour aside for a moment, we've learnt a tremendous amount about three crucial things we didn't fully know before Oulton Park; how the car behaves when it is...

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