[dukesantos]

At the SEMA show in Las Vegas today I was told about a new racing series planned for the Cooper and saw the first car. It will be called the MINI Cooper Challenge Series and has backing from BMWCCA and NASA. The first car, owned by San Francisco MINI is on display in the North Hall. It is a red/white Cooper, displaying number 58. It had a full roll cage and aftermarket front seats with harnesses but otherwise appeared stock. The second car is reportedly finished and about to go on display at the new MINI dealer in Phoenix. Similiar to Spec Miata, a kit to set up a Cooper for the series will be available in the $6 to 8 thousand range. The basic stock engine will be used, not the turbocharged version also announced at the show today (see thread in Perf. and Tuning about that). Tires will probably be either Kumhos or Toyos. Should be fun to see this unfold.

[TomM]

Sweet!

Thanks duke. Sounds like a great idea.

Tom

[dukesantos]

Here is the first car. It does not have the track tires/wheels installed.

[dukesantos]

I hope the USA series is set up like the John Cooper Challenge in the UK. They built and sold 25 Coopers for the series, engines were sealed and all parts, including tires were the same. Cost was about $28k, which included all track and entry fees. For 2003, they are building another 25 cars and the cost will be about $30k. In addition they are expanding to have a John Cooper Trophy series on major tracks. They will use more modified, but still street legal and sealed Coopers. This series will have 28 cars, including about 20 that are being upgraded and moving up from last year's Challenge. Hopefully the Challenge (USA) series will adopt one of these specs., have sealed engines, and keep the cost reasonable. If they adopt an ad hoc spec that can be played with then it would probably be better to just have the new NASA Bimmer Series spec which is fairly liberal on mods. They also have classes for both the Cooper and the S. The disadvantage is that you would have to spend more in the Bimmer Series for a competitive car.

[dukesantos]

BMW Car Club of America racing chairman Steve Olsen confirmed that the cars for the Challenge Series will all be identically prepared, including the tires and wheels. Major series suppliers will be Mini Mania and the Tire Rack. He said that a race-ready car is expected to be around $30,000., a figure that would probably hold the field size down initially. In his remarks, reported in the Dec. issue of Roundel, Olsen said that he expected the field to grow in two or three years as prices drop as the cars start to change hands.

It still isn't clear to me if the cars will have sealed engines and if not, how they will keep them identical. The cost is also somewhat higher than I'd heard from Minia Mania.

[JSA82]

Do you know when the challenge series is going to start? And what locations are they planning to at?

[L8APEKS]

Dukesantos or Anybody,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that a MINI Series (whether it be with NABR or BMWCCA) in the USA is still only in the planning stages with no actual cars competing yet. Thanks for any insight.

[dukesantos]

Quote: Originally Posted by L8APEKS

Dukesantos or Anybody,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that a MINI Series (whether it be with NABR or BMWCCA) in the USA is still only in the planning stages with no actual cars competing yet. Thanks for any insight.

You are correct. I've been following their progress. Neither BMW CCA or NABR finalized their specifications in time for any cars to be built up for this year's races. However, they do have some other classes you can run in the meantime.

Unfortunately it appears that each SPEC MINI class will specify suspension and tire/wheel components from different vendors making it very difficult/expensive to compete in both series. The BMW CCA general club racing schedule is national with races all over the country but not many in one area. NABR is primarily racing in the West with races in AZ, CA and NV.

[L8APEKS]

Thanks for the reply Duke...

Quote: Originally Posted by dukesantos

However, they do have some other classes you can run in the meantime..

Yup, I was reading BMW CCA put the Cooper S in their J-Stock class this year (a popular class which includes stock E30 M3s) and the Cooper is in their L-Stock class.

Quote: Originally Posted by dukesantos

The BMW CCA general club racing schedule is national with races all over the country but not many in one area. NABR is primarily racing in the West with races in AZ, CA and NV.

I looked at BMW CCA's 2003 schedule and most of the east coast events (where I'm originally from) are within my towing range from D.C. I'm currently researching to see how the Cooper S is doing in J-stock - mostly out of curiosity as oppossed to knowing if one is better than the other.

Also, NABR has just started running their SpecE30 class in the east with NASA-VA. Sounds like they've only got about a 1/2 dozen car field but are having a blast nonetheless.