Qvick Straight 6 Mini

M3 powererd Mini gets to the race and finishes despite never having turned a wheel beforehand

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 24 April 2002 / Loading comments

Team Qvick had a hectic week preparing their M3 powered Mini for the Belcar series last weekend. Brake line problems, body work not fitting right, etc. etc. Much midnight oil was burned preparing the car for the technical inspection on Friday 19th of April. They got it running by Thursday but elected not to enter the practice session for fear of getting distracted by curious onlookers! The car was taken to the Zolder circuit Thursday evening though and the work continued there into the early hours.

The technical inspection passed without a hitch and during the untimed practice session the car was already looking on form. An impressive feat indeed if you consider that the car hadn't clocked a single mile beforehand and that Team Qvick practically built it from scratch.

The first timed practice session on Saturday also went smoothly, with a best time of 1min 48.942s. The straight line stability was good despite the short wheelbase. The car was a little tail happy though and the brake balance would need adjusting. Further tweaking didn't rid the car of some of the woes though needing more attention overnight with the aim of shaving 3 seconds off the lap times.

Race Time!

The race was not without its problems. During the first hour, Erik Qvick drove into the pit lane with a broken gear stick. With many months of labour at stake, a creative solution was required so a hole was drilled and a tool inserted in place of the gearstick. That wasn't then end of the problems though. Later, with Vincent Beernaerd behind the wheel, the power steering went. For six laps, in blistering heat, Beernaerd drove without power steering. Then the problem disappeared as sudden as it had started, and the rest of the race proceeded smoothly.

Team Qvick finished last in the TB class but in the points (there were five further TB class cars didn't finish). The car still has much untapped potential, so there's more fun and more success likely ahead.