Mighty Minis and Super Mighty Minis at Cadwell Park 15th and 16th July 2006 19th July 2006 |
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This was rounds 8 and 9 of the Mighty Minis and Super Mighty Minis Championships for 2006. It was held at Cadwell Park racing circuit. What a weekend, and what a circuit! Cadwell Park is located in Lincolnshire not far from the East Coast and north of Lincoln. For the BRMinis team this was a long journey and an early signing-on for Saturday morning. The weekend started Friday lunchtime and after a cross-country journey arrived at the circuit about 7.30 in the evening. A number of the Mighty Minis competitors had arrived that day to take the opportunity of a test session and a chance to get to know the circuit. Some of them more intimately than others. Mike Tarr with Super No. 88 had had clutch problems which limited his on-track time, and necessitated a trip to Halfords to buy a clutch puller. Emma Blaken had suffered an off-track excursion which required some work on her car for the following day.  (click to enlarge)Saturday started clear and bright, and with signing on at 08:30 so was team BRMinis. The driver, however was apprehensive as this was his first visit to the track as a driver. He was being told that this was a “drivers circuit” which translates into “fast with lots of scary corners” The number of Super Mighty Minis were rather depleted with only nine attending. As a consequence the organisers had combined them with the Standard Mighty Minis giving a field of 27 cars. This was going to be interesting. Qualifying was a joint affair, but the Supers went first to avoid being mixed with the slower Mighties. BRMinis qualified 8th out of the 9 cars and the driver was well satisfied with his first nine laps of the circuit, but was some 5 seconds off the pole time. The front row of the Supers was Neven Kirkpatrick on pole with brother David alongside. Andy Harrison was third, on the second row, with Mark Ditchburn alongside. The top seven were covered by 1.5 seconds. For the Mighties, Neil Slark was on pole with Phil Heatherington second. The next row was David Berney and Richard Lockwood. It looked like a good race was in prospect.  (click to enlarge)As we all lined up on the grid it was clear that this was going to be a busy race and a crowded track. The Supers were separated from the Mighties by a three row gap . This meant that the last row of the grid would be on the hill down from Barn corner which would help them with the start. The last rows also had some difficulty in seeing the red start lights. Team BRMinis made a good start from the fourth row, helped by a demon start by Alex Comis (car 47) in front. We got ahead of Tim Harber who had a slow start and stayed ahead through Coppice. This did not last and were quickly passed, on the inside, by Tim, into Charlies. The field settled down and completed the first lap without major incident. Neven Kirkpatrick was leading the Supers and Phil Heatherington the Mighties. On the second lap BRMinis (car 57) had something of a moment and spun in the middle of Hall Bends causing a few exciting moments the following pack of Mighties, and certainly caught the attention of the driver of car 57. Fortunately no contact was made; all credit to the drivers for their car control. The leading position of the Supers remained unchanged until lap 10 when a small error allowed David Kirkpatrick to take the lead which he then held until the end of the race. The Mighties as a more frenetic affair, but resolved with Nigel Pike coming home in first followed by Phil Heatherington second and David Berney third. The BRMinis car made a heroic effort from the back of the field to finish 15th. All credit to the drivers passed who drove with consideration, but did not make it too easy. After being poured from our cars and undergoing sessions of R & R the drivers were ready for their evenings entertainment. A barbeque had been arranged, with food provided by Roger Tello, the ringmaster of the Mighty Minis organisation. Cooking equipment was provided by a number of worthy people and cooking skills provided by Phil and Sandra. It was an excellent evening with good company. Super Mighty Minis Race 1
Mighty Minis Race 2
Not Classified
We arrived for the Sunday qualifying (yes a second qualifying session was scheduled which was good news for BRMinis and learning the circuit) at a relaxing hour and no need to sign-on again. Mike Tarr had withdrawn from the second race in Super car 88. He had lost power towards the end of the Saturday race and a check showed a problem with one of the pistons in the engine. This may have been the result of an overheating problem at Mallory Park two weeks before. The Supers were down to eight entries. Sunday was to be hotter than the previous day and even by 10:00 the temperatures were in the low 30’s C. Qualifying followed the same format as Saturday. This time David Kirkpatrick was on pole with Neven alongside. Again Andy Harrison was third and Mark Ditchburn was fourth, but this time the gap to the first row was smaller. BRMinis again qualified in eighth place alongside Tim Harber. The Mighties were also in good form with Neil Slark again on pole with Richard Lockwood second. The next row was Phil Heatherington with Adrian Tucklet alongside. Race one winner Nigel Pike was in the fourth row of the grid. After the activity of the morning there was to be a long break until the race scheduled at 4.05 pm. During this time the Mighty Minis paddock area looked like a scene from a Mexican village in a spaghetti western with bodies in what shade was available and no discernable activity.  (click to enlarge)Sixth place for BRMinis; our best finish ever. The Mighties were making their own spectacular race, but out of sight of this commentator. This time the winner was Neil Slark with Phil Heatherington second, again. Third and fourth were taken by Richard Lockwood and David Berney respectively. Again there was action throughout the field and only one non-finisher, Mark Welsby. The “Ladies Cup” was resolved in the favour of Caroline Gilbert after a race with Emma Blaken. This was two fantastic days racing and a magnificent demonstration of the fine art of Mini racing. Mighty Minis Race 2
Not Classified
Super Mighty Minis Race 2
Not Classified
[Ben]
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