MINI On the Podium in Three Consecutive Grand-Am Races
MotoringFile would like to officially congratulate RSR Motorsports for yet another fantastic effort this weekend in the Grand-Am series.
Official Release: MINI USA congratulates RSR Motorsports on their second-place finish this evening in the Salt Lake City 200 held at Miller Motorsports Park. This marks the third podium in a row for the both the team and car No. 198. During the 2010 season of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the RSR team has achieved two wins, a second and a third place finish – the best season ever for a MINI racing team.
“The RSR Motorsports team has finished a season to be proud of, and MINI USA is pleased that our vehicles played a key role in their success,†said Jim McDowell, Vice President – MINI USA. “GRAND-AM racing is an intense sport, and the RSR Motorsports team has proven that MINI has a solid place on the track. I look forward to the next racing season and all of the possibility it holds.â€
RSR Motorsports races three MINI Cooper S vehicles in the ST (street tuner) class of the Continental Tire Challenge. During the Salt Lake City 200 race, team manager, Owen Trinkler, and driver, Sarah Cattaneo, were co-drivers of the No. 198. Team owner, Randall Smalley, and VJ Mirzayan drove the No. 197 car; while Dicky Riegel and BJ Zacharias drove the No. 196 car.
In addition to the second-place finish today, RSR has earned wins at the Garden State 250 and the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The team finished in third place in the Homestead 200, where driver, Sarah Cattaneo earned the pole starting position, and secured her place as the first woman ever to do so in the ST class.
For their recent wins during the Garden State 250 and the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, RSR earned the largest single payouts from MINI USA’s Motorsports Contingency Program ever made to any of the motorsports teams that race MINI vehicles. For a first-place finish in Grand-Am racing, a MINI driver is awarded $5,000 from the program. The second-place finish of the Salt Lake City 200 has earned them an additional award from the manufacturer.
“As a team, we are happy with our performance in 2010, and we have learned a lot from both our wins and our losses,†said RSR Motorsports team owner, Randall Smalley. “A total of 49 vehicles raced this season, and RSR now has a strong foothold in the front of the pack as we move into the 2011 season.â€
RSR Motorsports returned to the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series in 2010 for their fourth season in professional motorsports. RSR is based in Mesa, Arizona and has been a solid presence in the Street Tuner (ST) class of Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge since the team’s entry into the series in 2007.
<p>RSR is the best – so glad to see MINI USA is getting behind them more. Congratulations to Randy and the team!</p>
<p>Fantastic job to everybody at RSR. A huge nod of respect for all that you have achieved this year.</p>
<p>Whoa… awesome to see MINIs racing so well. Great job. Add to this the Prodrive Rally MINI Countryman, and we’ll really be making headlines in the world of motorsports!</p>
<p>Makes you Proud to be a MINI owner!!</p>
<p>What model year are these MINIs?</p>
<p>Another fun year working on the RSR Crew!</p>
<p>Lots of momentum going into next year!</p>
<p>If I remember correctly:</p>
<p>196 = 2002
197 = 2006
198 = 2004</p>
<p>Let’s not get too carried away here with these results obviously from spin doctors.
MINIs have been racing in a few world markets for some years now in the MINI Challenge series and also in Canada’s Targa event.
Sure, the team has done well, but this is in a class/type racing situation.
A quick look at the Series website shows the reality of results;
The MINI finished overall 18th – In the ST class 2nd to a VW Golf GTI, only just ahead of two Honda Civics and a Mazda 323 in 21st. Some KIAs were only a whisker behind.
So if you think and believe that MINI is a world beater given this limited series racing, then you need to get a global perspective on things.</p>
<p>No, not a world beater, but in the class and series it’s taken a lot to get the cars to be competitive. The fact that MINIUSA is doing a press release is noteworthy in that they have chosen to acknowlege the efforts of a private team that is becoming more and more competitive. It’s take the team a few years to get here, and while the motives behind the late arrival of MINIUSA can be debated, the results of the team speak for themselves.</p>
<p>The MINI Challenge series is a MINI only event, and the Targa Newfoundland is quite a different type of race than Grand-AM ST class. Congrats are due and have been earned by the RSR team.</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>Well done RSR! Congratulations all around.</p>
<p>Definitely looking forward to next year.</p>
<p>Yeah, what Matt said.</p>
<p>RSR has been building steadily since 2007, success following failure, baby steps all along the way. Steady progress culminating with a series of well earned successes at the end of this season.</p>
<p>All because of the belief of one man, Randy
Smalley, who knew and believed that the MINI could be a winner, and had the strength of belief to stick it out.</p>
<p>It would be nice to believe that MINI/NA or BMW/MINI would get behind this program, but I’m not holding my breath.</p>
<p>R53 FTW!!</p>
<p>@ Greg W.</p>
<p>The RSR MINI finished on the podium in it’s class (ST). Did you really expect it to finish ahead of a BMW M3 in the GS class? Every decent form of motorsports has multi-class racing. You wouldn’t expect the Flying Lizard Porsches or Rahal Letterman BMWs in ALMS to finish in front of an Audi R15 or Peuguot 908 at the upcoming Petit Le Mans would you? Yet based on your comment a podium finish in their class wouldn’t be much of an accomplishment.</p>
<p>I suggest you take a better look at multi-class racing and try to understand it better. Oh, and speaking of spin doctors, nice to see you belittle the MINI’s accomplishment by suggesting it finished ahead of a Mazda 323. I used to own a 323 and I can guarantee you that a 323 is nothing like the Mazdaspeed 3 the RSR MINI really finished ahead of.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reactive comments guys.
I am not trying to belittle the efforts of RSR team at all, but its like saying the glass is half full when it is half empty. The wording of finishing “on the podium” is really saying we were either “1st runner-up” or ” 1st loser” in class. This is mediocre b/s.
As for racing classes here is my take on the subject:
Multi-class Racing is a way of getting more cars on the grid in one event. Obviously the biggest fasted car wins. Cars get lost in classes and positions by being lapped creating dangers to leaders trying to overtake. Becomes a procession really.
Class racing – say for all car makes in a capacity class – i.e. 1500cc to 2000cc with or without added boosters. Makes for easy to see racing between car makes.
One-make racing – cars are identical in size and spec from one manufacturer. Only real difference will be driver ability and usually have added weight penalty to handicap winners. Ensures door handle to door handle type racing.
But to get carried away with one or two cars in a country of 310 million people is a bit over the top.
With MINI WRC commitment, this will require a big commitment by BMW as the compettion is fierce from other European makes. An it is on the world stage.</p>
<p>With MINI, they took a performance car moniker, Cooper, and put it on a car that was not designed for racing, using an engine out of a PT Cruiser which was lambasted for lack of performance albeit being much heavier.
If MINI and BMW were serious about making a race car they would have designed it that way like the M3 E30.
Not pedal out supercharged R53’s in a single-class series to ensure another make of car didn’t beat ’em.</p>
<p>Does anyone happen to know where these recent placings have now put them in the overall class standings for this year’s series?</p>
<p>BTW RSR – thanks for putting up the good fight in a reasonably well exposed series representing the car I love!</p>
<p>Someone is a hater..for real.</p>
<p>I hope we all find something positive to say instead of the “I see my faults in you perspective”.</p>
<p>Nobody asked for your negative attitude but I bet you’re not done yet are you..</p>
<p>Cool Runnings RSR.</p>
<p>Hey,
I suggest take a deep breath. Opinions are very important and positions on both sides make for a better perspective. I know little about this stuff but enjoy differing points of view.
BTW,
I love my R56 MC</p>
<p>I think it’s fair to say that GregW is somewhat craaping in the punchbowl, for whatever reason, doesn’t really matter. I’d like to point out that “half full” and “half empty” are exactly the same, so I don’t get that point. As far as racing series go, any postion that generates point in the series is a “win” and only pointless placeings are really a loss.</p>
<p>For series standings, you can look here:
<a href="http://www.grand-am.com/standings/team.cfm?series=k&cid=7" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.grand-am.com/standings/team.cfm?series=k&cid=7</a>
FWIW, RSR cars are in 13th, 19th and tied for 28th on that list, out of a bit less than 60 cars that have participated sometime through the year. A fair assessment was that the year started tough, and they finished strong. And that’s good!</p>
<p>There are lots of different racing series. What’s nice about Grand-Am ST is that the cars are pretty close to street cars. While the WRC entry is a nice effort for sure, those $300k plus cars really only share a name and a body shape with the cars that they represent. Yes it’s nice that MINI is there, and it will be good if they do well as well. I’m of the opinion that any race series is pretty competitive and having a car do well in any one of them is something to celebrate.
The MINI chassis is a good chassis, but it’s an underpowered car compared to many others out there. It’s also not a cheap car to campeign. It’s good to see success in any form!</p>
<p>Now where is the MF arcicle on the class achivenments in the AutoX finals?</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>Congratulations RSR. A friend of mine was at Miller and at my urging from afar had him check out the RSR team (he’s not a MINI fan by any stretch). After chatting with someone on the crew and getting a little more knowledgeable about their efforts and successes he’s coming around. I’m eagerly awaiting his video and any swag.</p>
<p>Big time congratulations! Not sure why Greg is in such a hurry to minimize RSR’s accomplishments–watching them this year has been a fantastic ride for the MINI enthusiast; not only that, but RSR continues to improve with time. It’s a huge level of commitment to run in those series, and podium finishes are something to be proud of, not ashamed of…If you don’t believe it, ask the drivers who didn’t manage a podium finish.</p>
<p>Many of those Grand-Am races are hotly contested–witness what a certain Kia driver did earlier this year–the fact that, as stated above, the MINI isn’t a “real” race car (although not everyone would agree with that assessment), makes RSR’s achievements that much more special. Keep up the good work!</p>