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A road-registered MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works Tuning Kit has scored an
emphatic win in the final of three Team Australia Speed Comparisons at Indy.
After narrowly missing out on victory on Day One of the Indy weekend, and
being frustrated by an aborted run on Friday, when the Champ Car suffered a
technical fault, the Team MINI racer driven by Paul Stokell finished its single
lap of the 4.47 km Surfers Paradise street circuit a car length ahead of the V8
powered Champ Car.
Both finished well ahead of the built for racing Porsche Carrera Cup
challenger.
“After the first run on Thursday we changed the suspension set up slightly
and the result was far better traction coming out of corners,” MINI driver Paul
Stokell said.
The multi Australian Drivers Champion and former Lamborghini racer said the
MINI felt strong all lap and he could have gone even quicker with a few more
laps under his belt.
“Mid-corner grip and stability under braking were all brilliant, helped by
the Dunlop slick tyres we were using,” he said.
“We certainly turned a few heads this weekend with our race pace. We have
shown how competitive our car can be on the track.”
The Speed Comparison lap began with a standing start with the MINI given a 25
second lead over the significantly more powerful Porsche and a 45 second head
start over the V8 Champ Car.
The handicapping system was designed to bring all three to the finish line
close together, but if Will Power, Indy racer and driver of the Champ Car
thought the MINI would be a pushover, he was proved wrong in dramatic style.
“I think we had a clear car length over the Champ Car at the finish line and
about four or five car lengths ahead of the Porsche,” Paul said.
As a result of the MINI’s magnificent Indy race win, the Team MINI pit was
the centre of attention through the third day of the four day Indy meeting, with
plenty of spectators dropping by for a closer look at the road-legal street
racer, many posing for photos next to the victorious machine.
The MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works Tuning Kit is perfectly suited to
fast road and circuit work, able to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 6.6
seconds thanks to its supercharged 1.6-litre 154 kW engine that produces 245 Nm
of torque.
It is fitted with competition brakes, developed by AP Racing for the
International MINI CHALLENGE series. The 330 mm rotors are clamped by 4-piston
John Cooper Works motorsport callipers, complete with braided brake lines and
competition pads. At each corner there is a cross spoke 17 x 7” MINI road wheel
shod with Dunlop slicks. German K & W coil-over suspension units feature
adjustable ride-height, and are adjustable for both compression and rebound.
An FIA Group N compliant safety cage, race seats and harness and a fire
extinguisher are also fitted for maximum safety.
Compared with the four-cylinder MINI, the flat-six in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
packs around 300 kW. It covers the 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.2 seconds.
The Champ Car is a purpose-built racer with a huge 750 horsepower (560 kW)
engine that hits 100 km/h in 2.2 seconds. It is an open-wheel, single-seater
powered by a turbo-charged 2.65L Ford Cosworth V8 engine, with a top speed of
around 300 km/h.
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