We’ve recently been asked by several customers how Adam got involved with MINI racing and the UK MINI Challenge. We have to start by saying, for Adam anyway; this hasn’t been a quick process, it’s been a 10 year process to be more precise.
For those of you that don’t know, this year Adam started racing in the UK MINI Challenge which since 2002, is the Championship for the new MINI in the UK. Consider this a much more scaled down version of Formula 1 but for MINIs only and admittedly, slightly different rules. The story of how Adam got started dates back to 1995 when Adam completed an apprenticeship with the MINI Tuning Specialists, Fast Parts. It was his time at Fast Parts that sparked his interest in racing as he spent time as a member of the owner of Fast Parts’ rallycross pit team. We’re sure you’re thinking rallycross isn’t exactly MINI racing but it got Adam’s attention pointed towards racing and motor sport in general. Flash forward to 2014 and Adam’s interest turned to MINI racing when he had the opportunity to be a spectator at a Brands Hatch Classic Car vehicle racing. Adam admits that seeing the classics racing urged him to take part.
Come autumn 2014, Adam had to complete his race license test involving a written test as well as a racetrack driving test which focused on technique. Next up was the purchase of his own MINI in November 2014. According to Adam and experienced racers, the key to finding the right car for the MINI Challenge is to ensure it has never had any accidents and that it doesn’t have a sunroof (a bit ironic given that we’re sunroof specialists!). Once purchased, the vehicle prepping process began by Excelr8, specialists in racing and performance upgrades. Excelr8 stripped the MINI to a bare shell, replaced all suspension and worn parts, painted the interior and added the race seat and harness.
Next came the track and test days at Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Donnington followed by the final wrap of the vehicle done by Simon Rackham of SignIt, didn’t he do a great job?
