John Cooper Challenge Snetterton 15 Sep 2002

Eleven MINI2ers went to Snetterton, Norfolk, to cheer the John Cooper Challengers (JCCers) in their second race event. A few non-MINI2 new MINIs were spotted at Snetterton, and a few of them even joined the MINI2ers to form an impressive line-up of MINIs.

MINI2ers in the Eastern region were glad to see a JCC race at Snetterton since it allowed them to have a leisurely start to the day, rather than the usual trek cross-country to the Midlands. Big thanks to cooper_sport and darren.horward who travelled from the south coast, setting off at 05:00h in the morning!

MINI2er Roll-call for the day: cooper_sport, Ginger, Neil Curtis, Jon, ricardo, ELISEBOY, JonE, darren.howard, MPJ, DK and Mr DK.

And so to the race itself. After the practice run, the JCC MINIs were weighed and apparently a number of them were found to be underweight. Those that were found to be underweight, including the championship's current leader Steven Meli (aka ALIEN7 of MINI2), were put to the back of the grid. One JCCer allegedly pulled out of the race since he was not happy about being put to the back of the grid! The race was eventually won by Arthur Forster (No. 21). Excellent results for Racer (No. 6) who finished 5th just ahead of AndyW (No. 23) in 6th place. Big cheers to AndyW who held out from being overtaken by ALIEN7 (No. 7) who fought very hard to join the pack in front, overtaking as many cars as he could, and finishing 7th. Poor Racer had a minor collision with another car (Chris Chilton in No. 8), which caused Mrs. Racer to miss a heartbeat or two! Luckily the car did not appear to have suffered any serious damage, phew! DK is no motor-sport journalist, so please visit the John Cooper Works website for the full write-up of the race itself.

Well done to cooper_sport who had the only winning entry of DK's sweep-stake by guessing correctly AndyW's finishing position. Here are a few pictures taken on the day of the meet - a bit fuzzy due to poor lighting and DK's lack of skill!

A MINI is not just a car - it is a way of life!