Crash Tuesday (Racing Edition)

Road racing doesn't usually count for "Crash Tuesday", considering that there is always at least one crash per any auto race (which is partially why auto racing is such a popular spectator sport!). However, for this installment, I thought a nice compilation video would be appropriate! Enjoy!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5-w7H5Duyw

Crash Tuesday [photo]

Headline: Targa goes off course in Freshwater

 

A car competing in Targa Newfoundland’s Placentia leg of the race met an untimely end in Freshwater Monday, Sept. 15 when it careened off the road and rolled into a ditch after rolling two or three times.

Full story here: http://www.thecharter.ca/index.cfm?sid=174407&sc=312

Crash Tuesday [photo]

As seen on MotorTrend.com...

At least this one was during the Targa Newfoundland race...

Video: Rally MINI!

Here's a video of a MINI wallowing in its Rally heritage.

[From a MINI USA Press Release, 08/07]*
"...[In] 1960, the MINI for the first time won a rally in its category, the Geneva Rally, with brothers Don and Erle Morley at the wheel....[T]wo years later the MINI was even able to clinch overall victory in rally racing, with Pat Moss, the sister of world-famous Formula 1 driver Stirling Moss, and co-driver Ann Wisdom bringing home the Tulip Rally in the Netherlands.

Another two years later the MINI works team entered the annals of motorsport once and for all: No less than six MINIs showed up for the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally, already the most famous rally in the world. Four of the cars were MINI Coopers developing maximum output of approximately 70 hp from 997 cc in Group 3 trim (close to production standard) and two were MINI Cooper S with maximum output of approximately 90 hp from 1,071 cc in Group 2 trim (improved), together facing more than 290 competitors in the event. Some of the other cars entering the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally had more than twice as much horsepower, such as the 4.7-litre Ford Falcon, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE, the Volvo 544 “Humpback”, or the Alpine Renault.

In a genuine struggle of David against Goliath, the MINI quickly proved its fortes. With its compact exterior dimensions and broad “stance on the wheels”, as well as its long wheelbase, the MINI excelled through its optimum roadholding and above all its superior grip in bends even at the car’s top speed of 160 km/h or 100 mph..."


*Read the full press release at Motoringfile.com

Street-racing Crash Kills 7

[Ed. note: Well, this sucks....]

[From: CNN.com] A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch a drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing seven people and injuring at least four, police said.

A witness said two cars in the illegal street race sped past just before a car without its lights on came up behind the crowd of about 50.

"There were just bodies everywhere; it was horrible," said Crystal Gaines, 27, whose father was among the dead.

Read the full article at CNN.com

Racing MINIs (Not to be confused with "racy")

Found an excellent photo gallery tonight, linked to from NAM*...



...with over 100 awesome photos of track and rally MINIs! NICE!
(click the image above to visit!)


*What's NAM?" You say? Why, its NorthAmericanMotoring.com
(" MINI Cooper news, forums, FAQs, and reviews for enthusiasts and owners of the North American MINI Cooper")

Alex Roy's BMW M5... drool...

Photo courtesy of Wired.com

Long before I had any interest in cars, I was the biggest technology fan and gadget freak I know. That has only subsided a bit in favor of the occasional go-fast mod and a penchant for a spotless and shiny MINI!

Imagine my excitement this morning as I read the Wired.com article about Alex Roy (who I now classify as "some crazy Manhattan-ite"), hellbent on beating the U.S. coast to coast speed travel record. Straight out of the movies (Cannonball Run), inspired by a movie (C'était un Rendez-vous), it became a movie, "32 Hours, 7 Minutes." And now I can't wait it to own it- and a couple "road-friendly" gadgets I never knew I wanted. Until now.

If you don't agree this is the the coolest BMW M5 ever, then you're probably not a gadget freak. Enjoy the full-length article anyway, and more video clips at Wired.com and 32Hours7Minutes.com.

(How does one obtain a bumper-mounted, thermal imaging night-vision camera, anyway?)

Mini Mania Inc. Announces La Carrera Panamericana 2007 Race Entry - The First Late Model MINI to Race in Event

I certainly thought this was interesting:

Mini Mania Inc. Announces La Carrera Panamericana 2007 Race Entry - The First Late Model MINI to Race in Event

Mini Mania Inc. announces the entry of the first BMW MINI Cooper S entry to the La Carrera Panamericana Mexican road race driven by Colin and Eric Herrick.

Nevada City, CA (PRWEB) August 30, 2007 -- Mini Mania Inc. (www.MiniMania.com) announces the entry of a 2005 MINI Cooper S entry to the La Carrera Panamericana 2007 Mexican road race held between October 26, 2007 to November 1. Driven by the son and father team of Colin and Eric Herrick, Mini Mania expects their entry loaded with Mini Mania performance products will be the first late model MINI Cooper S to start and finish this prestigious race.

The La Carrera Panamericana is a 50 year-old vintage car race with over 100 entries for this year's event. For only the second year, the Unlimited category will allow late model cars such as the Mini Mania 2005 MINI Cooper S to participate. The course is a grueling seven day, 1935 mile route that starts from Oaxaca in the tropical Southern Mexico and travels north through altitudes rising from sea level to almost 10,000 ft. with temperatures ranging from near freezing into the 90's. The race finishes in Nuevo Laredo at the Texas Border. The changing environment is an added technical challenge to the already difficult route.

"This will be a true test of Mini Mania products on this extremely challenging and technical event," said Don Racine, president of Mini Mania Inc. "Despite the high attrition rate for the Pan Am, our goal is to finish the race in the top 10 for our category."

About Mini Mania, Inc.
Established in 1974, Mini Mania Inc., is the leading supplier of aftermarket performance and accessory products for the BMW MINI and Classic Mini. Mini Mania products are available from dealers throughout the U.S. and abroad and on the company's extensive web site. MiniMania.com is an information portal for Mini Cooper enthusiasts containing over 50,000 pages of unique content augmented with 1000's of part numbers, technical articles and community forums.

Mini Mania is headquartered in a 16,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in Nevada City which is nestled in the Northern California foothills outside of Sacramento, California.

###

source: PRWeb.com

AMVIV IV: A Brief Recap

For those playing along... We got back from "A MINI Vacation in Vegas" on Sunday afternoon, with minimal traffic. That's what you get when you're already on the road by 8am!

I took about 400 photos this time around as well as about 2 hours of video. I hope to have everything edited and posted in the next couple days but in the meantime, here's a brief recap of AMVIV from my perspective!

For the record, this year's event was totally awesome. Last I heard there were about 450 and about 600 people. There were twice as many vendors as last year and a little something for everyone- well except for ladies' t-shirts in small. The product I noticed "flying off the shelf" the most was the M7 Strut Brace. Even with 4-5 vendors all selling them, I think they each sold out of them! Heck even *I* bought one! I didn't get it installed though due to some minor suspension issues I wasn't aware of. :(

The North American MINI Cooper Challenge race was fun to watch despite a pretty significant fender-bender in the first race. Even more fun to watch were the Bikini All Stars from MAV TV! (raaar...)

I didn't do any of the runs this year. One reason involved the installation of an ALTA 15% Pulley! (Yeah baby!). Other reasons involved me not getting up at 8am every day while on "vacation". The Boot-n-Bonnet Show was spectacular this year as well. Many of my favorite MINIs were back, along with a lot of really really nice ones I'd never seen before. I didn't win anything but I wasn't trying. It was great meeting new people and people I "know" from NAM but never met in real life. Ironically, many of the folks I know "IRL" ("in real life" that is)- I didn't get to spend much time with.

The Strip Cruise had about 260 cars involved this year. An awesome sight to behold. So much so someone felt a couple rounds from a BB gun into some cars was warranted.

This year marked the first time DB, Todd, and Gabe from WhiteRoofRadio were all in the same room. Their MCing of the banquet was well done and I hope they recorded it and just post the whole thing as an episode.

Overall, not a bad extended weekend, and worth every penny. I'll have more detailed recounts of particular events as the days and editing of photos and video progresses!

John Cooper Photo Gallery

1,000s of beautiful photos of MINIs in head to head competition.




www.johncooper-mini.com