Bridgehampton in a Mini
Bridgehampton in January usually means that you pack your bags with
several layers of thermal underwear, thick overcoats and lots of warm
drinks. This year however was different, the temperature was in the
40's and even the sun decided to show its face. All this turned out
to be very lucky, because the car I was using to compete in the rally
sprint had no heater.
I had been unable to find a co-driver for the rallysprint, so I volunteered
to co-drive for a friend of mine who races Mini Coopers, in EMRA , SVRA and
SCCA. He has not done an off-road event for a few years, but seeing as the
rally sprint consists of 60% tarmac, he offered to use a Mini Cooper which
he uses for vintage racing. This was no ordinary Mini however, it had been
dynoed recently putting out 100HP at the wheels, in a car that weighs no
more that 1350 lbs unladen.
Arriving at The Bridge at 8:00 AM, we were the 2nd crew to register and
got the car through tech before 9:30. The event was to begin at 11:00
but tech took a little longer . The first stage was a full lap around
the track and as we were almost the last car to leave, we had some time
to talk things over. We had no computer in the car (and I found no need
for it), so we would work from the map of the track that had been supplied.
My driver knows the track very well, so I would only point out the chicanes
to him and any other hazards that we may find.
As the flag was waved, 1st was found and we rocketed off, down the hill,
through the first set of chicanes, round 2 right handers and so on. I was
amazed how fast the Mini was, especially round some of the tighter corners.
The Yokohamas stuck like glue to the road, and if the backend came round
then you pointed the front wheels in the direction that you wished to go
and floor the throttle. By the time we finished the first stage the tires
were just warming up, and you could feel the difference in the handling.
We found out later that on this first stage we had the second fastest time,
being beaten only by one of the Audi Quattros. Not bad for 1300cc engine !
The 2nd stage was just less than 0.5 of a mile and all on dirt. This turned
out to be slightly tricky because the car had little ground clearance and
no skidplate, so my job was not only to keep us on course but also to
look out for any large rocks. The only slight problem that we had on this
stage was trying to find traction, some of the corners had about 3 inches
of loose sand/clay, but by coming into the corner sideways, we found that
it helped to accelerate out of the corners sooner, before getting too bogged
down in the sand.
The next stage was exactly the same as the first except that we would drive
the track in the opposite direction. During this stage I had to constantly
remind my driver where the track was, because he had never driven the track
in this direction. The finish caught us out slightly because it was after
doing a U-turn which was difficult to see. Barrelling along at a fair rate
of knots, I saw the turn slightly too late, we could not slow done enough and
missed the corner, we must have lost about 4 seconds here alone.
The next 2 stages were run mainly on dirt, which was getting very chewed up.
This is were we hit our one and only mechanical problem. With all the rocks
being thrown around, one of then jammed between the inside of the wheel
and the front right brake caliper, which caused one of the bolts holding the
caliper in place to snap off, leaving us with no brakes. This however seemed
to help slightly, because on the next 2 dirt stages we were actually faster
without brakes than with them !!!!! The reason for this I think is because
we came into the corners slower and the accelerated out sooner. During the
service break, we managed to use a spacer on the caliper, which brought the
caliper further out. At least we now had brakes.
The rest of the afternoon was much like the morning, in that about 40%
of the stages were run on dirt and the other 60% on the track. I think
that many of the spectators and also most of the other competitors were
surprised what a little Mini could do ! Altogether a great event, and
certainly a whole new perspective sitting in the co-driver's seat.
Gerry
PS anybody have a Mini for sale !!!!!!
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