QLD MINI Owners [The Usual Suspects]
After getting some of the local clubMINI member opinions, I thought it was about time QLD MINI Owners and lovers had their own thread. Here we can talk about local Mini events, get togethers, blatts over the mountains, maintenance and anything relating to QLD MINIs.
What prompted me to start the thread now was the email from Ken titled “Mega MINI Saturday 22nd April track day & dinner”. As he dobbed me in as a reference for the Saturday afternoon sprint I thought I would give a quick rite up. Hopefully this will persuade a few more MINIs to come to Queensland Raceway (QR) for a fang.
Saturday started with a surprise when Ken rang and woke me at about 8:30am. I had had a few drinkies he night before so I might have sounded a bit groggy on the phone. Anyway Ken says do you want to go for a sprint on QR, I says sounds good to me. We arrange to be there at around 11:30 ish.
I arrive at QR and am a little late, so I quickly fill out the forms and pay. I sit through the drivers briefing and after it has finished it starts to sink in that I am about to go racing around QR in the MINI. I have been on the circuit once before in the V8 experience. So I already am a little familiar with the layout .
So we are in the pits, Ken pumps up my tyres to about 40 psi, which is more of a safety thing than a performance one. Ken is ready and he is off in the first of 5 groups. So I get to see Ken blast around the Sprint circuit, passing cars like they are standing still
Ken finishes his session and I have to wait for three more groups to finish before I go on with the other noobs.
So I am lining up with about 6 other cars, all different types, when we one by one get waved off onto the track. First lap is a warm up and we get to see the track and some of its trickier corners. Coming round turn 6 on the finishing straight I have a feeling that I might be a little faster than the other cars. I have a Honda Civic in front of me. He is accelerating about as hard as I am so I know from the start it’s not a stock car. Coming to turn 1 I also know he is going to be slower than me he is going a lot slower than I would be. Though the rest of the lap I am on his tail hoping he will wave me by. For the noob group, we have to keep some distance between the cars and passing is only allowed on the main straight or if you are waved past by the car in front. So back to turn 6 and I can’t quite get the speed to pass him. Another lap goes by and I get round him on the main straight only to find another 3 slow cars in front of me. I pass another on the next pass of the main straight and get round the other two the next time round. So I am on my last timed lap and I record a 1:08.6 lap time. I am pretty happy with that and Ken says it’s good for a first time round.
The second session I brought my time down to 1:07.45. This was after passing a few slower cars and watching an Afla spin on the first of the two Sprint circuit S’s (undamaged by the spin I should add). Third session I didn’t record a faster time because of more slower cars.
Last session was my best. I lined up first on the grid, and after a few WRX’s passed me on the straight I had nothing in front of me for most of the session. I recorded a 1:06.54 on my 4th lap. On the 5th lap I waved a commodore ute past me. This was quite funny as the ute could not catch me on the straight but he gained on me in the tighter corners. I though he might have done this with some better rubber than I had. The funny part was when we were going back into the pits I saw 297 on the back of the ute, 297 KW and he couldn’t pass me on the straight.
So the session ended and I was most happy. I achieved what I had gone there for. To get some practice driving on a real race circuit. To push the MINI to see what it can do and to improve my times during the sessions. Most of all to do this safely and enjoy giving the MINI a proper squirt. Driving on a circuit like QR is always going to be safer than hooning on a public road. It will be even better the next time because we will have only MINIs on the track in our group.
So I hope by doing this write up I have encouraged other QLD clubMINI members to come to the next Saturday afternoon Sprints. Thanks Ken for waking me up
Cheers.
Gary.
Oh and I have attached a pic of QR. The sprint circuit is at the bottom.
