Apart from the rain, and reviewing GP paint issues (!), we still had fun, including watching some of the challenge races, and a 20 minute “MINI test drive” in an R56 MCS. And if you’re wondering about the test drive, George loved it! I deliberately drove it in “everyday” style, generally cruising with revs at 2000-2500; I found the car too sluggish in that range – compared with GPMINI of course. I also found the little differences a bit annoying – side mirror controls moved (to a better place, but not where I expect), wiper controls less intuitive (each flick up increases speed, each down reduces; so if you’re at high speed and want to turn wipers off, you have to flick down three times!)
Also, I found that I could not quickly read the speedometer (it had nav too and the subtle indicator spinning round the outside isn’t so asy to spot and read the numbers), although the clear numeric display in the tach worked fine.
Re-thinking the Clubman now as it will be like the R56 … although, disappointingly and surprisingly, there were no sneak peeks of the Clubman at MINI United!
M&I / GBMINI 
” disappointingly and surprisingly, there were no sneak peeks of the Clubman at MINI United!”
I saw a pic on WorldCarFans (http://tinyurl.com/2sa2u2) that said they were there??? Upon reading further… it was close press event. Maybe Gabe was there?
My fav combo colour. The Bee look! Oddly painted wheel arches.
Even the MINI USA folks were surprised and disappointed that the Clubmans were not shown to us this weekend.
Maybe they could not all that plastic off the back in time. 😉
Ian, fantastic shots of the challenge race. Impressive camera.