MINI 1st in MD SCCA H Stock too

Salina Mirrorkhana May 18-19

Abner took second in H stock and I finished 4 of 4. A close first was Russell in his BMW 318 on Hoosiers. Abner was running Kumho's, Russell's co-driver placed 3rd.

Russell was last year's national champ in H stock, so Abner and I weren't surprised. He's a helluva driver and will be at the Virginia AX this weekend. Never seen a man shift so much in a small course. Abner did pretty damn good, loosing maybe by a car length or two on the final run.

Watch for Russell. He's looking for Mini's. White BMW 318. #97? The results aren't up yet on the Salina SCCA site.

I liked my Yoko's, but they just aren't competitive versus the Hoosiers.

This little Cooper definitely needs LSD coming out of tight corners it just doesn't want to hook up. Suppose the sticker rubber would help a little. I wonder if REMOVING the front sway linkage would help a little, but then, I'd be penalized in the sweepers and slaloms.

Had a great time though, but after 8 practice runs in dry condition the day before, wound up with a whole new track on race day in the steady rain.

I don't think the Cooper is a very competitive AXer with RV tow gear and street tires installed on it. I'm going to have to try and convince the wife that her car maybe needs a friend...

If you see Abner ask him about his farming adventure! Didn't know the Mini looked so good in Yellow with lots of green grass clippings hanging off it. I've photos in jpeg and will post eventually!

Salinaugs

is this russell blume youre talking about?

go to mark o'dells site...Open Track Challenge 2002
:snip:
Hmmm, I don't think we need a front sway bar linkage, anyway, do we?

This is actually an old autocrosser's technique to get the front end to gain more grip when coming out of the turns. Thanks Tal Isbell, fellow T4 competitor, for the suggestion (and also the ever trusty mechanic/race car driver Bill Arnold, who also suggested it). Since we were spinning our front wheels so badly under acceleration, we thought it might help to disconnect the front swaybar, which forces more of the car's load to the rear wheels. Its not that the Mini has so much power, its just that when you are asking the car to both turn and accelerate while you are already at the limits of adhesion, it doesn't take much to spin the wheels.

Actually this worked, and the car was able to launch much better out of the turns. But unfortunately the Mini became unbalanced and slower in other turns, so that the net effect in lowering laptimes was a big zero. We think the stock suspension setup on a Mini is really quite good for casual track use, and that what the Mini really needs is a limited slip to get the power to the ground. :snip:

[snicker]

"This is actually an old autocrosser's technique..."

well, I'm not as old as ABNER, but I'm over 45! thanks for the cool link.

Yes, I believe Russell's last name was Blume.

Nice guy. I believe he's running 215/40-16 Hoosier AX'ers on a 16 x 7 rim. Also an adjustable front sway bar. Maybe adjustable shocks.

But very H-stock. They tore his car down last year after his win and he was clean. The year before I think they found his offset was some miniscule amount out of the allowable.

PrimaFacieAugs

Nice to see Abner catching up on Russ.
It gives me hope !

The last time I saw Russ, he ran Hoosiers in size
225/50/15, and shifted between 2nd and 3rd a lot.

Non MINI content here, but here's a view of
Salina from the baseball stands, taken at
MidDiv Round 1



And here's a corner where the inside line is limed
but the outside line is agricultural.
(if you are a corner worker at Salina, stay on your feet,
and keep your head up)



MidDiv round 2 is this weekend.

MidDiv Round 3 is back in Salina, but I may go
the the Pros in MI instead.

Russ Blume's wheels

you know, you're right, he had 225's for sure, but I don't remember the wheel.

And he was constantly shifting between 1 2 and 3 on the Mirrorkhana ("to keep it in the power band"). Just a very busy driver. His codriver, during one of the semi final runs, was downshifting to 1st through the buttonhook and actually stuck it in reverse. He was running Abner at the time and lost to him. My bad luck, he was spot on when he raced me.

Russ said his BMW has the same pre 3000 rpm dead spot in it our Mini's do.

Nice photo of the runway!

Maybe you can help me post this jpg I have of Abner next to his Mini Farm Tractor.

OffcourseAugs