The North American MINI Cooper Challenge will be a Time Trials event series.

Under the guidance and management of veteran MINI Cooper racer, Phil Wicks and his Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy, the series provides an arena for MINI vs. MINI competition at an affordable price, in an affordable car, at various race tracks across the country.  Split into two divisions for 2009, the east coast and west coast divisions will campaign in their respective locations and meet for a series championship run-off competition to crown the North American MINI Cooper Champion.  It’s a formula for fun, for competitive driving and the best bang for the buck in motorsports. 

The MINI makes for a great handling streetcar and as a track car, it is at its prime.  Taking notice of the series potential, series organizers were able to negotiate a national cable network, MavTV, to televise the events for the 2009 season.  It is virtually unheard of for a grassroots-oriented racing series to garner this much attention and this much exposure.  We all, it seems, love the MINI Cooper and the North American MINI Cooper Challenge brings the excitement, the thrills of competition to drivers who are looking for the challenge of competitive non door-handle-to-door-handle motor racing. 

The Time Trials series is an on-track driving competition. Cars are set off individually with a time gap between each driver. The driver is timed during practice qualifying session. All 5 groups of cars are eligible (see Rules and Regulations). The Time Trials is a 20-minute timed event. The target time for each car is determined by qualifying sessions. An increase in lap time in the Time Trials; i.e. sandbagging; will incur additional time. All cars must run with the same equipment as used in the qualifying session and as inspected during technical inspection. That includes tires. The driver that attains the nearest to his/her target time is declared winner. Therefore, a driver with a showroom stock car can still win overall.

This is where you’ll find it.  If you’re a MINI racer, Time Trials competitor, or would like to become one, please call us.  We’ll give you all the MINI details!