Yes I know that MINI United happened ages ago … but I did take some video, and finally got round to reviewing it, doing a quick bit of editing, converting and uploading! The video includes a pan around the MINI United / MINI USA host hotel (the Movenpick in Amsterdam), then a pan around the tent-covered area at MINI United at the Zandvoort track, followed by George & I driving the track (at not-very-fast speeds) in an R56 MINI Cooper.
Then comes a bit of driver skill training – an emergency lane change maneouvre, then learning to do a 180 degree turn (in water, to spare the tires!)
And we finish with some video of the MINI Cooper Challenge races …
R56 drive time with Herb Chambers MINI
After Fridays meet the R56 at MINI of Peabody, I headed down to Gillette Stadium to join Herb Chambers MINI and their customers/friends for another R56 event – this time, driving was the theme! HC MINI had arranged two autocross tracks in a big parking lot – one was self-driven with a Skip Barber instructor to guide you, the other much more fun was travelling as a passenger with Skip Barber instructors driving! Wild 🙂
Being driven by Skip Barber was excellent! I tried to video the drive but it’s tough holding the camcorder steady while also trying to hold yourself steady, but maybe this will give you a feel for the event.
After a while it was just too cold so we headed in to the stadium to warm up, eat, drink & chat – lots of MINI friends again! When the door prizes were called, George won a Hammer & Coop lunchbox for longest drive; he immediately dressed up and it suited him perfectly!
Another great evening, demonstrating the good handling of the R56s … my own short R56 MCS drive left me with only one thought: where’s the clutch! Pressing the pedal down seems to have no feedback at all (although I guessed people will get used to it)
Here’s a heap of pictures from the evening:
Thanks Kerry, Rich and all at Herb Chambers MINI, and also the Skip Barber instructors!
MTTS Lime Rock Track – video
Here is video of driving the track at Lime Rock – once again many thanks to George (GP #0154) following me.
This video is from the start of the second lap to part way through the third; we were allowed to reach speeds of 50-55 mph, a bit slow on the straight but quite fast enough to be fun on the curves!
WARNING: BIG 29MB file! Over 2 minutes long
M&I / GBMINI 