Wednesday 24th April 2002

Qvick Straight 6 Mini

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

---

[gnomesmith]

Short wheelbase? Isn't the new Mini's wheelbase the same as the original Range Rover? Not what I call short.

[superflid]

Don't know what the Mini's wheelbase is but the old Range-Rover was 100 inches. Had to laugh when I read about the broken gearstick, my Range-Rover overdrive gearstick broke off in the west coast of Scotland. Drove for a fortnight with a large screwdriver held in place by a jubilee clip. Maybe I should become a Belcar mechanic.

[hansgerd]

The Mini was at the test day in Zolder and did a couple of test laps. So it did in fact turn a wheel before the race. But now I know why they used a hammer when the car sat in the pits. They used it a gearstick, quite funny. Anyway, the car is quite impressive and I wish the team all the best for the next races.

[AuForm]

The mini wheelbase is about 97". Relatively big for its class, but small for its purpose. A regular E36 M3 wheelbase is 107", which is a big difference.

The car didn't turn a wheel before the event, like the article states. The test run you are talking about is the one on Friday, after the technical inspection, and is part of the event. The car didn't clock a single mile before that. Thursday night we weren't even sure the car would be ready for the next day. Things didn't look good then. But it worked out great.


Catteeuw PJ
Team Qvick

[hansgerd]

Hmm, I was sure I saw your car at the test day but you should know it better. So, I'm wrong there. Good luck in the next rounds.

[hansgerd]

With test day I mean the official test day on thursday 11th April.

[AuForm]

Are you sure you're not thinking of the untimed practice on Friday? Or maybe it was another mini, or something. But I'm 100% sure that the first time the car was on the track was Friday.

PJ