If you managed to visit the British Mini Clubs event at Himley on the 12th may 2013, you would have seen the Mini rallying legend Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams and his MK1 Cooper S. During the day our very own Danny managed to interview him. Barry first got into motorsport in 1957 and a few years later moved into the Mini. with which he managed quite a bit success.

The Mini Cooper S on show, owned by Barrie, was the won the 1964 International Welsh Rally outright. It then competed in the Swedish in which Barrie was the first British driver to finish a Scandinavian Winter Rally. It was 1st in class on Geneva International Rally and 2nd overall on the Manx International. It competed at also at Circuit of Ireland, in the RAC Rally as part of the maufacturers team. The 1965 Welsh Rally, and many club, national, autocross, auto tests and hill climbs. It stands today as a still competitive race car.

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This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph in 2002 about Barries life http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2718040/Autobiography-Barrie-Whizzo-Williams.html

The British Mini Club are proud once again to be supporting Big Mac Racing in 2013 in the Dunlop Mini Se7en Challenge, sponsored by Mini Sport. Car #88 is now sporting British Mini Club graphics as part of its new livery. The 1st outing of 2013 was at Donington Park. Read the blog below to find out how they got on.

We made it to Donny and it was certainly down to the wire - poor Dave and Sam from www.trackroadandrace.com were a little worse for wear after zero sleep - but #88 was ready for what the East Midlands circuit had to offer. A few cosmetic bits remained to do but it was certainly worthy of showing its face and unleashing the new fresh look that had been kept under wraps.

It would be the 1st time car and driver would reconnect after the busy winter break (well after New Year to be precise), which was spent rebuilding #88. In fact, it was more like a fresh build - more details on that in my next blog. I am extremely happy with the work everyone has put into it - not just because of the great repair work and paint job, but the precision and thought process that has been applied to the build is clearly visible. I was now intrigued how it would act when put through its paces.

Quali crept up on us rather quickly - feeling shattered, no food or drink and my head was not in right frame of mind - late for quali and realised we hadn't yet adjusted the harnesses and to top it off lost my way in the paddock, forgetting where the assembly area was!!! Finally managed to get out onto the circuit to squeeze in only 5 laps. I returned feeling rather frustrated, as I really wasn't switched on. My lines were all over the place, braking far too early and under revving due to not having time to test the read outs on the digi dash. The car did feel a bit different but to be quite honest after such a long break, it was evident I just needed to get some laps under my belt and get my rhythm back.

Dave, Sam and Shaun cast an eye over the car, performing the usual checks - everything was looking good!! It was clear from the lack of fuel usage that I had just been out on a Sunday drive :-) A couple of tweaks with mirrors and dash, food and drink and a bit of time to collect my thoughts, this time I was ready to go out and have some fun! Having only qualified P16 out of 19, I had my sights set on climbing the field.

The tense moment sat on the grid, watching the red lights soon arrived - revs climbing all around.....and the lights are out and we're off. I had a pretty good start, managing to climb a couple of places as we headed down for Redgate. I opted to take to the outside, forgetting how long a corner it was and just about keeping at bay from the dirt.

Luckily I managed to keep my position so focused on a clean sweep down through the legendary Craner Curves behind the se7en s class of Proctor. I resisted lifting and late braked down the inside into the Old Hairpin, exiting behind Burrows. Foot down and starting the incline towards McLean's, I decided to dive down the inside before then climbing the hill for the tricky Coppice. De Silva was in sight, as were a large pack head of him, encouraged by this I pushed on.

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 I really was struggling with a couple of corners, mainly that of Redgate - I don't think I got that right

No matter how much I pushed I just couldn't seem to significantly close the gap - continually making mistakes. I must have cooked my tyres and brakes from over doing corners, no doubt as a result of wrong lines/braking. I just seemed to go backwards and my lap timings showed exactly that - as of lap 5 my times were way off.

I crossed the line, pleased to see the chequer flag in P9 - looking back, an extremely good end to the day, following a rather stressful lead up to the event.

Plenty of positives from our outing at Donny - got back out there after a long break with no testing, tested the

many new bits with the build, climbed the field after a disappointing quali, and best off - nothing fell off - a real testament to the high standard of work by www.trackroadandrace.com.

The car will now have a quick check over and possibly a couple of slight changes following its 1st outing.

Big thanks to our supporters and sponsors:

www.classicandcustomworks.co.uk

www.britishminiclub.co.uk

www.trackroadandrace.com

www.opieoils.co.uk

www.selbyengineering.com

Thanks also to www.mbracephotography.co.uk , Nick and Rain for some fantastic photographs. Plus of course none of this would be possible without the continuing support of my family.

Next up, Rockingham May 21st-22nd for rounds 2&3 of the Dunlop Mini Se7en Challenge supported by Mini Sport. Hopefully see you all there!

To find links to the full results from this years Dunlop Championship and how to find Big Mac Racing on Facebook visit there blog today http://www.bigmacracing.co.uk/Blog/2012rounds910racereport-thruxton

The British Mini Club are again supporting Big Mac Racing this season in the Mini Se7en Championship, by promoting them via our website, Facebook and Twitter.In fact watch out for our graphics on #88 this season. Below Kieren McDonald in his latest blog tells us how his prepartion for the season are progressing

Would you believe it - it doesn't feel like long ago since we were at Croft, where I managed a marvellous 4th place. So much has happened since then with Christmas, family gatherings, too much work and purchasing a motorhome ready for this season (thanks Gordon!)...but the one thing that has amazed me the most, has been the rapid growth of my little boy who turned one in February! He was only 4 weeks old when he attended his 1st Mini7 race and now he'll be terrorising the paddock on his own two feet - scary!!

Now back to the car - Mini Se7en #88 - as quite typical of club racing when the season ends, everything goes quiet, racers get bored, nothing much happens....then all of a sudden, a storm erupts as realisation kicks in that the season is due to commence in a few months. Well that didn't happen, rather we got started only a couple of months ago, if that! Nothing like leaving it to the last minute :-)

It was decided due to a couple of fundamental items, that it may as well be stripped down, presenting the ideal opportunity to do some shell repairs and generally give it a new lease of life and with that, a fresh look.

 Dave Yardy at Track, Road and Race stripped the car to a bare shell and I whizzed it over to Rob at Classic and Custom Works. Rob certainly had his work cut out as the shell needed a fair few things addressing and certainly hasn't been helped by fact it was covered in oil! I opted to go for a new carbon fibre front end, bonnet and boot floor which required cutting and fitting. A few other bits and pieces are being replaced such as the windows to generally smarten the car up so that it is more desirable for potential sponsors.

The shell is in progress with receiving a new paint job and the hope is to collect it in the next few days to begin the rebuild process with Dave Yardy.  Once the main rebuild has been done, it will be back with Rob to finalise the front end, fit windows, any last bits of spraying, make up a switch panel and some mirror brackets.  The hope is that we have time to, not only finish the rebuild, but also to give it a shakedown a few days before the 1st round at Donny!

Rob really has been doing an amazing job - I'll try to share all the rebuild pictures once it is a finished article! Anyone that needs body repairs, spraying or anything custom made, give Rob a call on 01494 716 416 - very competitive pricing and a good guy to deal with. They do plenty of magazine work, which shows their work is of a top standard.

I'll give another update during the rebuild when back with Dave.

Sponsorship

I've also been sending out quite a lot of letters regarding sponsorship recently with the help of my lovely wife. If any form of sponsorship is of interest to you or you know of someone, please do get in touch via my Twitter account or Facebook page.  The decision so far has been to do the full season apart from Zolder, although a new sponsor could change this!

To contact Kieren please visit www.bigmacracing.co.uk 

The British Mini Club are again supporting Ben Gridley in he quest to be on the starting grid for MINI Challenge in 2013. Ben has numerous podium finishes including 3 in 2012 and a fastest lap in 2011.

Ben is an exciting prospect and this season he is looking to push for his first win in the MINI Challenge. To do this he requires more sponsors and has put together a very good prospectus and we are sure a MINI based company in the UK would love to help him towards his quest. 

Download the prospectus today by visiting http://www.bengridley.co.uk/bensamualracing_006.htm and be a part of a 'Parthership not just sponsorship'

Ben tells us 'As our logo says, "A partnership. Not just sponsorship." We understand that an investment is only worthwhile if your business benefits in return, whether that be an increase in sales, custom, clientele or for entertaining staff and customers. It’s a win, win, win scenario. Your target market receives the product/service they require from you, your business has a loyal customer base that increases your sales and consequently profits, and I am able to race in 2013 generating more potential customers, in an endless cycle.'

BenSamualRacing can offer a wide range of methods, which are certain to do all of the above. But how?... click the above link to find out more

About Ben:

“I was almost eight years old, and had to make that big decision of what I wanted to do for my birthday. One Saturday evening at my grandparents’ house, my Nan told me how at work she could hear the noise of the karts coming from the track just down the road. And in that moment, I decided. I turned to Dad and said like all seven year olds asking their parents for something, “Can I have a go karting party? … Pleease.

Two weeks later on my birthday, I had won my first race. The victory drug had taken over me, a feeling like no other, I was addicted and craving for more. And now ten years later, after karting success and multiple podiums in the Mini Challenge, I still get the same sensation.

We all had childhood dreams. Mine was to be a racing driver, and to win championships."

Mini Sport, the world’s premier Mini Specialists, and main sponsors of all British Mini Club events, have signed a three year partnership to support the Mini Miglia and Mini Se7en Challenges, which will now be known as the Dunlop Mini Miglia / Se7en Challenge supported by Mini Sport.

As well as supporting the Mini 7 Racing Club financially, Mini Sport will also market the club to their customers. .

Mini Sport was established in 1967, making the company approximately the same age as the Mini Se7ens, which started in 1966. For over 40 years Mini Sport has built a reputation second to none and is recognised as the world leader in supplying all Mini Parts and Mini Accessories.

Nick Cooke, Chairman of the Mini 7 Racing Club, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Mini Sport to the Mini 7 Racing Club family and I’m sure we are going to have a long and mutually beneficial relationship. In addition to the financial side of the agreement, I see many good things coming from this sponsorship including extra merchandising sales, increased promotional opportunities for our brand both in the UK and overseas. Mini Sport are also very keen to help us decorate the paddock with flags and branding and make the Mini Miglia and Mini Se7en area at each race THE place to be if you are a fan of the classic Mini . This partnership with Mini Sport is a huge boost of both cash and extra ‘woomph’ for the championship.”

For further information on Mini Sport visit their website at www.minisport.com

The first rounds of the Dunlop Mini Se7en and Mini Miglia Challenges supported by Mini Sport will take place at Donington Park on the 14 April.

2013 Provisional Calendar:

Dunlop Mini Miglia and Mini Se7en Challenges supported by Mini Sport

Round 1              14 April                   Donington Park (NAT)

Round 2&3         11/12 May                Rockingham

Round 4&5         8/9 June                  Silverstone National  

Round 6&7         22/23 June              Brands Hatch       MSV Mini Festival

Round 8&9         13/14 July                Snetterton (300)    Kart GP

Round 10&11     17/18 August          Zolder (BEL)

Round 12&13     21/22September   Brands Hatch

BEN GRIDLEY NEEDS YOUR HELP

In 2012 the British Mini Club were proud to help and support young up and coming driver Ben Gridley. It's fantastic to see young racing talent come through the ranks This will continue this year and you can help as well. In 2013 Ben Gridley aims to compete in the Mini Challenge Cooper Class after a number of appearances in the series since 2011, and has his eyes set firmly on the class title. But he needs your help to be on track throughout the season, starting on the 6/7 April at Snetterton.

For just £2,000 you can support Ben for any of the 7 rounds this season. But what do you get back? You receive:

- Unlimited Friday tickets

- 8 Saturday & Sunday tickets

- Full car livery

- Television coverage

- Invitation to post season event where guests can have

passenger rides with Ben

- Link on bengridley.co.uk

If this is something that interests you, you can contact Ben via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on 07553 444 392.

You can also support Ben for as little as £10, and have your picture on the bonnet stripes of his Mini. As well as this, you will be entered into a competiton to win tickets to rounds throughout the season:

1st Prize - 5 tickets to Zandvoort

2nd Prize - 3 tickets to any round (Exc Zandvoort)

3rd Prize - 2 tickets to Oulton Park or Castle Combe

T&C:

All prizes exclude travel and accommodation.

BenSamualRacing have the right to terminate the competition if it is necessary to do so.

You can support Ben for £10 by going to his GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.com/bengridley

To see more information about Ben you can see his official web site, www.bengridley.co.uk.

MINI teamed up with Monster Energy to prove that anything Red Bull can do a MINI can do more....

It can win the Dakar Rally twice in a row. It can conquer more than 100 markets worldwide. But what about defying the laws of gravity and showing snowboarders how to nail the perfect backflip? Extreme sportsman, freestyle skier and rally driver Guerlain Chicherit rocked up at the winter sports resort of Tignes in his native France to prove it can do that as well. Chicherit pulled off the first such manoeuvre ever performed in a car using a static ramp, the driver and his MINI coming back down to earth – or, more specifically, a bed of fresh powder snow – unscathed after a perfectly executed backflip on a special prepared track. Check out the jump in full below

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The successful airbound stunt crowns an already impressive career in extreme sports for Chicherit. The 34-year-old is equally in his element on snow as he is behind the wheel of a rally car. Four times a freestyle skiing world champion, he has also won the French rally championship on two occasions. The Frenchman is also a veteran of the X-raid Team (which wrapped up back-to-back Dakar Rally titles in January 2013 with the MINI ALL4 Racing), having made his debut for the German outfit back in 2006. In 2011 Chicherit was in the driver’s seat as the MINI ALL4 Racing turned its first wheels in South America for the world’s toughest rally.

The MINI Backflip show event in Tignes gave Chicherit the chance to bring together every facet of his passion for extreme sports. Tignes is one of France’s best-known winter sports locations and provided the venue for the freestyle skiing competitions in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games.

The MINI Backflip show event in Tignes gave Chicherit the chance to bring together every facet of his passion for extreme sports. Tignes is one of France’s best-known winter sports locations and provided the venue for the freestyle skiing competitions in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games.

The backflip had previously been attempted by other drivers. But Chicherit has now become not only the first automotively-propelled artist to execute a perfect landing, he also did it “unassisted” – in other words, without the aid of a special ramp with moving elements to boost the car’s rotational movement. For his take-off, Chicherit used a static ramp that fits the same template as a quarterpipe on a freestyle course. With the ideal ramp breakover angle in place, Chicherit needed only two other things to record a successful attempt: an extremely light touch with the accelerator and a MINI with a suitably buoyant spring in its step.

HELP NEEDED:

The Mini Seven Racing club promotes Europe’s longest running single make saloon car championship, established in 1966 we have been offering competitors an affordable, thrilling and spectacular way to go racing with the world’s most iconic car, the classic Mini, for nearly 50 years and we need your help to take our message out to prospective new members and get more cars on the grid. You are likely to be:

1) Passionate about motor sport and ideally, Mini’s

2) Knowledgeable and confident on how to use social media to connect and communicate with new members and enthusiasts

3) Familiar with general communication strategies and marketing techniques

If these fit, and you are interested in helping taking the club online and into the 21st century, then the fit could be perfect. You will need to travel to the six race meetings a year and a few committee meetings, we can provide free entry to all the race meetings and can pay expenses. In return, we can offer you a unique opportunity to be part of our history and the chance for you to demonstrate your skills at building an effective online communication strategy for the benefit of our members plus of course a “case study” of your work that may be of interest to possible future employers if you are currently in between roles or waiting on a new role opening up.

Please apply to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

It seems nothing can stand in their way. The French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret have won the Dakar Rally 2013 in a MINI ALL4 Racing in a repeat of last year’s success. With their overall time of 38:32.39, the lead pairing of the privately-entered Monster Energy X-raid Team from Trebur, Germany crossed the finish line in Santiago de Chile 42:22 minutes ahead of their nearest pursuers in the overall classification. For Peterhansel, his second victory in the MINI ALL4 Racing was also the 11th of his career in the Dakar.

“This is a magnificent triumph and I would like to offer our congratulations on behalf of MINI not only to Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret, but also to Sven Quandt’s entire X-raid Team,” enthused Dr Kay Segler, Senior Vice President MINI Brand Management. “The victory of the MINI ALL4 Racing last year was without doubt a surprise for many people. But now it is clear to everyone that this was no fluke. Anyone who comes home first after 8,600 kilometres (approx. 5,300 miles) in the world’s toughest rally has achieved something amazing. We are incredibly proud to count these fantastic competitors as part of the MINI family.”

 As last year, the X-raid Team was again the dominant force in the Dakar Rally 2013. Peterhansel took over at the top of the overall classification after only two stages – and defended his lead all the way to the finish. The chasing pack included the pairing of Leonid Novitskiy and Konstantin Zhiltsov in another MINI ALL4 Racing, who eventually finished the Dakar Rally 2013 in third place.

General Ranking:

1     S. Peterhansel  / J.-P. Cottret MINI ALL4 Racing       38h 32m 39s

3     L. Novitskiy  / K. Zhiltsov  MINI ALL4 Racing               40h 01m 01s

4     N. Roma / M. Périn MINI ALL4 Racing                         40h 09m 22s

12   B. Garafulic / G. Picard MINI ALL4 Racing                  43h 18m 59s

48   S. Schott / H. Schmidt MINI ALL4 Racing                    61h 08m 16s

Nothing and nobody could stop Stéphane Peterhansel. Not the difficult dune sections that really put the competitors at the 2013 Rally Dakar to the test shortly after the start in Lima. Not the majestic Andes, whose gigantic heights the rally crossed not once but twice this year. Not the relentless heat of the Atacama Desert, which has not experienced a single drop of rain in living memory. And not the strong opposition from 151 participants in this year’s car class, all of whom had to be taken seriously. On the 15th day of the Dakar, and over 8,000 kilometres since the start in the capital of Peru, it was finally confirmed: the winner of the 2013 Rally Dakar is the X-raid Team’s Stéphane Peterhansel in the number 302 MINI ALL4 Racing.

The video below is from the half way point of the Dakar Rally

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To read the full story of this remarkable win please see

www.MINImotorsport.com

www.x-raid.de

The latest race report from Kieren McDonald of Big Mac Racing, from there exploits and good results at Thruxton with rounds 9 and 10 of the Dunlop Mini Se7en Challenge. The British Mini Club have been proud to support Kieren this season and hopefully we can contonue the same in 2013.

Well what a weekend - lots of changes with the car tested, both races completed...and best result yet! Here's how it went....

Following the disappointing end to Brands Hatch back in June when the gearbox let go, the decision was to rule out the remainder of the season and focus on getting everything I wanted done to the car in preparation for the 2013 season. 2012 has has been a pretty awful season, therefore severely denting the budget.  Since Dave Yardy from Track, Road and Race has taken over significant progress has been made, along with Rob Selby of Selby Engineering.  The gearbox had to be rebuilt with a few replacement parts - all legacy issues from Castle Combe!  A whole host of other changes were to ensure reliability and also better setup.  There is still further work planned pre-2013 but we thought it would be a good idea to use Thruxton to test it all out and try to get some of that good feeling back. Having missed Snetterton, I was excited to get back out again.

Quali was a mixed session with the Miglias - not in the original plans but they also combined the time, giving us more time around the 2.4 mile Andover circuit.  We made the decision to take it easy and regularly pit to check the car over and with it being a long session, there was always a fair few minis in the pitlane.  The only issue we experienced was a misfire caused by a loose coil - Dave easily sorted this and sent me back out onto the circuit again.  The car felt good, as I started getting used to the new setup...but lap after lap, I was alone out there! Thruxton, known for slipstreaming, it's important to get a tow for a decent quali time - not for me - I even tried slowing right down but nobody appeared!  Even so, I still managed to qualify p11 out of 20 for both races.

For Race 1, I made a decent start but had some contact within the first few corners. I was soon trying to get into a steady rythym after, trying to make the most of the drag on the back section of the fast flowing circuit.  Throughout the race I was mainly battling with Wightman, Smith and Burge, often playing it too safe into Club chicane and not maximising the drag in the lead up!   After swapping and changing with these guys, I was running p7 into the last lap but was slipstreamed to come home p9.  Unfortunately there wasn't a last lap board shown otherwise I could have made more effort in defending my position.  We certainly didn't help each other - as entertaining as it was, we were slowing each other down and loosing sight of the cars in front - a lesson learnt!  A good entertaining battle, typical of mini se7en racing!

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Race 2 was an extremely hot one - even hotter than the previous day - doesn't really help having a black roof and overalls!!  The race 2 footage isn't as clear - I think due to brake cleaner on the windscreen :-)  A much cleaner start in this race put me behind Burge, Smith and Astin.  I was certainly too cautious, again not making the most of the drag!  Hunter from the back of the grid past me 2:20 minutes into the race to go onto p1, I believe, before having to retire from his amazing run - entering the pits to rapturous applause!  I properly overcooked the Club chicane at 6:52 minutes into the race, thankfully catching it and bringing it back under control!  Throughout the race we used our heads a bit more to try not to slow each other down and it seemed to work better.  Burge and Wightman retired earlier in the race so it was just Smith and I swapping places each lap.  Again, the last lap board was not shown so Smith didn't know to defend his position into the last time through Club chicance, just as I had done in the 1st race.  I crossed the line in my best finish to date, p6!

An absolutely cracking weekend, car felt great, lots learnt with time behind the wheel, plenty more to time to be made and a great relaxing time with all in the paddock.  Nothing major apparent with the car, although the near side front wheel was dragging a lot - I noticed it pulling to the left on the final section of the warm down lap - something to address when back on the ramp.

Thanks to all that came to support and also the guys that got #88 into a good shape - Dave (chassis), Selby (engine/transmission) & Lee (welding).

To find links to the full results from this years Dunlop Championship and how to find Big Mac Racing on Facebook visit there blog today http://www.bigmacracing.co.uk/Blog/2012rounds910racereport-thruxton