James here again, back for another race report on the Mighty Minis championship. Hopefully you are enjoying it! Let’s take you through the weekend at the Uk’s fastest racing, Thruxton. This circuit saw the Mighty Minis take to the track for the Thruxton Retro weekend meeting on the 21^st to 22^nd of June. We would be joined by other racing series such as the GT and Sports Car Cup, the FISCAR championship and the MG racing club. Due to having issues with their cars, from the previous meeting, only 11 Mighty Minis would be racing around this circuit. The weather was set to make conditions tricky, 29 degrees Celsius was the air temperature and the track temperature was certainly a lot higher!

Qualifying would be the usual 15-minute session, for me the car felt like it was performing well through the corners and on the straights. Dad was enjoying experiencing his car on this fast-flowing circuit. Before qualifying we made a few setup changes which seemed to improve the handling of the car and help with the straight-line speed. However, it would be Olly Samways who took pole position, closely followed by Greg Jenkins and Will Burnham. Well done all, some great driving. I however was 10^th out of 11 cars and dad finished in 9^th position. For some reason in the latter part of qualifying, my car kept misfiring when turning through the two long right-hand corners at ‘Village’ and ‘Church’ and driving up the hill to the Chicane. This was very strange, it seemed at first like an electrical problem therefore we decided to change the kill switch and ignition coil. We hoped this would work for the race.

Race 1 would see Olly starting on the front row with Greg, both drivers are currently fighting to win the championship therefore this battle would be interesting. I made a poor start and dropped back to last. Everyone else got through the second corner, the Complex, without any contact, credit to everyone for some great driving. Dad got a good start and passed a couple of cars. Olly and Greg did some great overtakes until Olly’s car developed an issue, he unfortunately was forced to retire from the race. Meanwhile slightly further back, my car was still not performing as it should. I tried to drive around it the best I could, but my progress was still slow. However, the upside was that I did have a good battle with Paul Hollett over the course of the 20-minute race. Further up the road Dad did some good overtakes and battled hard with Trevor Peters, fair, close and exciting racing from the two of them, well done to both. In the end Greg took the overall win, closely followed by Will Burnham and Morgan Bartley. I must just mention here the quality of the build of Morgans new car. Built by him and his dad Pete over the course of the last 2 years. It was presented exceptionally well and to get on the podium in its first race was credit to the both of them. Congratulations to you both.

All competitors had plenty of time to work on their cars and sort any unexpected issues as our race on Sunday wasn’t until 17.10. Trevor Peters was unfortunately down on power in the first race therefore did a compression test and realised something major had failed with his engine. He decided to not participate in race 2. Olly Samways’ issue was investigated by Steve Rideout of Octane Racing. The issue was a failed head gasket, which unfortunately resulted in damage to the block and cylinder head. Therefore, Olly only had two options, race with Ahmeds car in Race 2 but not score any points, or race in his car with Ahmed’s engine. The regulations state that you are not allowed to use another “Spare” car, if you do no points will be gained. Consequently, the decision was made for Steve Rideout to work his magic. After 5 hours of hard work, removing two engines and installing one back into Olly’s car, it fired into life and seemed to drive ok. All fingers were crossed for race 2. In the meantime, I investigated the issue from race 1 and my fuel pressure seemed to drop to zero pressure when the engine was being revved hard, this was not supposed to happen. I decided to bypass the fuel pressure regulator and this solved the issue. Fuel pressure stayed constant and didn’t dip when the engine was revved. The usual checks were carried out to the cars, and we were ready for race 2.

I was starting 8^th on the grid with dad in 6^th position, James Bryan was in pole position next to Ben Butler. The lights went out and Olly Samways made a lightning start, passing 3 cars on the start line and gradually making his way to the front of the grid. I got away well from the line and was alongside dad into the complex. He kindly let me through, and we followed each other round for a few corners. Then I got swamped by everyone behind me and the battle was on. Morgan, James, Ben, Chris and I changed places nearly every lap. Close, wheel to wheel racing entertained the crowds. This is what racing classic minis is all about, no contact and superb driving from everyone. The front pack had a similar battle, Olly and Greg swapping places, joined by Will Burnham. Unfortunately, Will got a 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits therefore his win resulted in a final place of P3. Greg took the win and Olly finished in second place. Well done to everyone for an exciting race in slightly cooler conditions. I finished in P4 with Dad in P8, we were both very pleased with this result and points gained.

Mini racing still excites crowds and entertains lots of mini enthusiasts. Well done to Steve for getting Olly’s car sorted for the second race and everyone in the paddock for some great close racing. Mighty Minis Racing is the home of affordable mini racing. As you are reading this maybe you have thought I would like to do that. Well, that was me 3 years ago having never driven a racing car before. Life is short and anything is possible, hopefully I have shown this, therefore make the most of it doing things which make you happy.

Checkout the Mighty Minis Facebook and Instagram pages to stay up to date with all the trackside action. Also follow Jenkins Motorsport on all social media to see mine and my dads racing, workshop activities, track days and lots more…..

Many thanks to John Creech Motorsport photography for the photos!