RACE REPORT: MINI Challenge Rd1 - Donington

MINI Challenge Donington Park National

25th-26th April 2015

Words & Photos courtesy David Young

The season opener at long last.  How would the new F56s go? How much faster would they be than the JCWs?  Would the separate Cooper Class races be any good?  All the questions were answered on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday those views were confirmed..

JCW/F56 Class:
Twenty-five starters with 16 brand new F56 MINI 'S's qualifying, they looked great, they sounded great, and they went like stink!  The MINI Challenge team have to be congratulated in producing so many of them as well as getting so many F56s them to the start line.  A very bold move.  Everybody was expecting teething troubles and a few of them played up a bit.  Robert Smith, BMTR,  showed how they should be driven with 2 out of 3 race wins followed by a 3rd place - only 3rd because an oil seal went in the gearbox and sprayed oil onto the clutch. Newcomer to the MINI Challenge, David Grady had two 2nd places and a 4th place, Ryan Rhode, 4th, 6th & 3rd. So the new R56s are reliable too.  A lot of the teams were obviously trying new setups and learning the new cars.  With the weather being dry with small showers on Saturday, bone dry on Sunday, Pirelli were certainly earning their money.  My overall impression of the new cars was: Awesome!

The JCW’s were mostly being refreshed from last year, some were just brought out and some had nice new wraps.  Unfortunately last year’s Champion Chris Knox could not raise enough budget to start.  Neil Newstead and his Oakfield Motorsport Team run by Bill Sollis had a four-car team, one Cooper for Darren Chatt, an F56 for Charlie Butler-Henderson and two JCWs for himself and Steve Ruxton Cocker.  Neil had a great weekend with two Class wins and a 2nd.  Surprise of the weekend was Kevin O’Connor.  A new JCW driver, he achieved two 2nd places and a 4th.  love:mini writer Hamish Brandon was on the money all weekend and had a second place, a third place and a 1st place finish.  The leading JCWs even managed to catch the tail-enders in the F56s so speed was never an issue.

The racing was superb all weekend, hardly any panel damage, no major accidents and it stayed dry.  Superb weekend racing for the JCW/F56 Power Maxed MINI Challenge.

Cooper Class
Lots of new drivers, some old ones too. Never too old to enjoy racing!Simon Walton of Swanflight had been out with lots of practising pre-season, Rob Simms Racing had rebuilt both of the two Swanflight/Scalextric cars.  Simon had stated on Facebook that he intended to get on the Podium this year! He most certainly did that, three visits in fact!  Still the win evades him.  Adrian Norman, his team mate, also had a great weekend showing good pace in qualifying and with three 10th places.

With 16 starters, racing should be more fun this season, the Coopers have their own race. Those JCWs lapping at speed would be a thing of the past.  Henry Neal, son of Matt Neal, BTCC Champion (who was present all weekend helping), had a mixed weekend, a not too good qualifying time, trying Crammer Curves flat in the damp, causing an off, an 8th place, in the first race and destroyed his car in the second race causing a red flag on lap 9.  The great thing was his spirits were still up and he was un-hurt.

Ricky Page was the hero of the weekend, in his AP Cars Kent Cooper run by our friends at Sussex Road & Race.  Ricky had a fresh engine built by Alan Page and looked great in qualifying with a 4th place, saving tyres. He led the first race coming through from the 2nd row on the grid only to slow on the last lap with brake failure, leaving Nathan Harrison, Simon Walton and Martin Poole to overtake him.  The next two races were something else. 

The second race he went straight to the front on the first lap and there he stayed.  It was the same again in the third race - straight to the front and there he stayed. Nathan Harrison had a great weekend with three trips to the podium for Coastal Racing. 

The racing in the Cooper Class was very exciting to watch, it was great to focus just on them without the distraction of the quicker JCWs. The race is now about the Coopers. I personally think it will go from strength to strength. The only issue I see is one of parts supply. The cars are now 10 years old. Still Appendix K for pre-66 Minis is doing so well the future looks good. 

Antony Williams and the MINI Challenge team are to be congratulated for putting on a great show.  Even the website and catering has been overhauled with Refined Concierge offering gourmet buffet lunches and freshly brewed coffee, teas & chocolate.http://www.minichallenge.co.uk  for full details of futures races, results and pictures, (by yours truly of course).

Cooper Class standings after Round 1

JCW Class standings after Round 1

F56 Class standings after Round 1

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