MINI CLUB-LEVEL CONTEST LAUNCHED
An accessible Mini Challenge club-level contest will make its debut in 2023 in the new Clubsport championship.
It is the brainchild of former Mini Challenge racers Tom Halliwell and Robin Austin and will operate as an affiliate to the existing JCW and Trophy classes, providing an entry point onto the Mini Challenge ladder.
It will have three classes: Cooper S open to the R53 and R56 models at a tightly regulated level of tune; Cooper Am for the R50 variant used in the Mini Challenge Trophy, but with a more flexible set of technical rules; and the Open class for any Mini with a maximum power -to-weight of 220bhp. Organisers received more than 40 expressions of interest before registrations opened this week.
There will be 15 races across six meetings in 2023, which includes supporting the British Truck
Racing Championship at Thruxton, headlining the early August
Brands Hatch Mini Festival and joining the Mini Challenge
Trophy at Silverstone.
Austin said: “Both Tom and myself were aware that there were a number of drivers out there who either own Minis that aren’t eligible for the main Mini Challenge, or who don’t have the budget required to compete in the Cooper [Trophy] or JCW classes.Rather than those people competing in a range of different multi-marque championships, we decided to investigate the possibility of creating a new championship.”