As there is a certain fan base for Mini Coopers here in the SCGT crowd, and
there are lots of people who like the 'Ring, and we have some astute car
editors and track editors, I thought this might be interesting. The latest
Classic & Sports Cars had an article about the Mini touring car team Ken
Tyrell ran in the 60s. First interesting note is that the Minis were
lapping it at about 10:30, or about the same as a lot of us when we first
get our hands on the wheel in GPL (or maybe even after lots of practice).
Conclusion: you could peddle a Mini damn fast around the 'Ring, considering
it was less than 1000cc for some classes. Second point of interest was
that, due to the crazy rules of the time, you were awarded extra points for
not only winning, but winning by a large margin. So, Ken brought everyone
who knew a brake from a clutch, put them into whatever Mini he could find
(sometimes slapping race tires and a number onto a road Mini) and then
sending them out into the saturated field. Often he had his 2nd place car
stop for a little car wash in the pits to kill time and inflate the margin
of victory! Saab was also doing this, and rumour has it they stopped for
lunch at one point out on the circuit... Third interesting point was that
often they would use the trick that McLaren and Ferrari showed us at Indy,
sending out their 1275 Cooper to give the 900cc car a tow on the straights.
At Monza (the banked circuit) they managed to drag a 900cc car up to the
number 2 starting position. Oh, and there was also a twin-engine Cooper at
one point, with the power to weight ratio of a Ferrari. There were wild
rumours about this one, like John Cooper switching off the front engine and
lapping faster in RWD mode. In the end, Cooper himself rolled and stuffed
the development car so badly at a roundabout, that he put himself in
hospital for months, and his father cut up and buried the remains of the
car.
What is this stream of consciousness all about? Nothing really. Just
musing. Now, if someone could figure out how to get Minis into GPL, or the
'Ring into SCGT, then we could have some real fun.
Stephen
