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After a rather eventful winter series at the end of last year my Class 1 Autograss Mini was looking a bit worse for wear so a complete repanel was needed for the 2008 season, this included new drivers side sill and step, passenger door skin, both front wings, front panel and bonnet. These were all replaced with new items as they are fairly cheap for the Mini and its not really worth trying to make good with secondhand stuff. As well as that lot there was also a few changes to the roll cage following a new rule by the governing body and a new gearbox as the old one jumped out of the 2nd gear all the time. As usual I left all this work until a few weeks before the start of the season, but it was all completed in time except the sign writing as you can see by the trailer pic. Door numbers were done in black electrical tape and due to time running out the car wasn't dynoed before the first event, big mistake!
This year as well as me racing I also have my youngest daughter Laura racing in the juniors, and my eldest daughter Robyn in the Ladies, all using the same car which makes it all afordable and a fun family day out.
Our first meeting was 2 weeks ago at our local club, Trent and the waether forcast was shite, but I ended up with sunburn as it stayed clear all day. As most meetings the previous week had been called off due to snow there was a big turnout with people travelling from all over which meant 4 races in my class and only 2 heats before the final so you needed good results to get that far!
Laura had to do a test to prove she could drive safely and this was the first time she had driven the mini on here own and she did great, even remembered what all the flags mean which I'm still trying to do
Anyway i was out in the first race and managed a 2nd place behind team mate Steve so was well chuffed, Laura upnext and despite comng near the back she was on the pace and remember this was her very first race so again well chuffed. Robyn next and she was as slow as anything and came into the pits saying it just wont go very fast
Checked most things and car seemed OK, revved cleanly but with no time to do anything else I jumped in and went for my final heat. n the line the car revved perfectly but when i droped the clutch it just bogged down with no power at all
Managed one lap then pulled onto centre grenn. Back in the pits we traced the problem to bent points which obviously gave up the ghost under load so that was my day over. With the car running again Laura managed a 5th place and then Robyn did one better and finished 4th. Robyn was the only one to make her final as there was only one race of ladies class11. A good start saw her into second and the two front runners broke away and were a good length away from the rest. Sadly a car stopped on the way into bend one and with one lap to go the marshalls were telling everyone to avoid the car but Robyn thought they were telling her to stop, yeah you can guess what happened, the car behind caught her up and under pressure she made a hash of the last bend and ended up third. Still her first trophy, so again well chuffed Were all back out next Sunday, and the car will be tuned on thr dyno before the meeting and i've just put a new clutch master and slave cylinder on as it was a bugger to engage gear.
A good day out and fun for all the family, can highly recommend this sport if you are low on funds but still want to race. Once you have a car and licence all it costs is approx 8-quid per driver per meeting plus fuel and anything you break
This year as well as me racing I also have my youngest daughter Laura racing in the juniors, and my eldest daughter Robyn in the Ladies, all using the same car which makes it all afordable and a fun family day out.
Our first meeting was 2 weeks ago at our local club, Trent and the waether forcast was shite, but I ended up with sunburn as it stayed clear all day. As most meetings the previous week had been called off due to snow there was a big turnout with people travelling from all over which meant 4 races in my class and only 2 heats before the final so you needed good results to get that far!
Laura had to do a test to prove she could drive safely and this was the first time she had driven the mini on here own and she did great, even remembered what all the flags mean which I'm still trying to do
Anyway i was out in the first race and managed a 2nd place behind team mate Steve so was well chuffed, Laura upnext and despite comng near the back she was on the pace and remember this was her very first race so again well chuffed. Robyn next and she was as slow as anything and came into the pits saying it just wont go very fast
Checked most things and car seemed OK, revved cleanly but with no time to do anything else I jumped in and went for my final heat. n the line the car revved perfectly but when i droped the clutch it just bogged down with no power at allManaged one lap then pulled onto centre grenn. Back in the pits we traced the problem to bent points which obviously gave up the ghost under load so that was my day over. With the car running again Laura managed a 5th place and then Robyn did one better and finished 4th. Robyn was the only one to make her final as there was only one race of ladies class11. A good start saw her into second and the two front runners broke away and were a good length away from the rest. Sadly a car stopped on the way into bend one and with one lap to go the marshalls were telling everyone to avoid the car but Robyn thought they were telling her to stop, yeah you can guess what happened, the car behind caught her up and under pressure she made a hash of the last bend and ended up third. Still her first trophy, so again well chuffed Were all back out next Sunday, and the car will be tuned on thr dyno before the meeting and i've just put a new clutch master and slave cylinder on as it was a bugger to engage gear.A good day out and fun for all the family, can highly recommend this sport if you are low on funds but still want to race. Once you have a car and licence all it costs is approx 8-quid per driver per meeting plus fuel and anything you break
The racing can be very close and there can be plenty of roll overs, its classed as non contact but there's plenty of nugdging and jockeying for position on the bends
Gary
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Proud Dad, but also pissed off cos she has more trophies than me now
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