When the MINI Challenge first launched in Australia it was always supposed to be a five-year plan. But, the recent financial woes of the world have already claimed one major Australian series in 2009, with the demise of the Porsche Carrera Cup. So, it is welcome news to learn that the local MINI Challenge series [...]
Round 4 of the 2009 MINI Challenge is best known for Chris Alajajian’s spectacular crash in Race 1. In the clip above Chris speaks about the incident and thankfully he was not injured. Although, he did describe the accident as a “painful experience” and “very upsetting”. But that wasn’t the only drama at this round, [...]
Round 4 of the 2009 Australian MINI Challenge is taking place at Sandown this weekend. Chris Alajajian currently sits in second place on the series table, however his chances of clawing back some points on championship leader Paul Stokell were done no favours after this spectacular crash in yesterday’s first race. The accident happened on [...]
Australian Olympic legend and all round nice guy James Tomkins (pictured left) is taking a seat in the MINI Challenge Uber Star Car this weekend at Sandown International Raceway. Tomkins is a self confessed motorsport tragic and he couldn’t wait to get out there, “I’m pretty excited,” he admitted, “Motor Racing has been a passion [...]
Round 3 of the MINI CHALLENGE took place on a new street circuit in Townsville. While it was a new track, it was the same story as far as the results go. Paul Stokell came away with the round win to extend his championship lead to 123 points over Chris Alajajian. The feature event for [...]
Ex-World Rally Championship regular Chris Atkinson will be driving MINI’s Uber-Star racecar at the next round of the Australian MINI Challenge, the inaugural Townsville race, on 10–12 July. Forming part of the support program for the V8 Supercars, the Townsville round will be taking place on a new 2.87km street circuit. The course looks to [...]
Grant Denyer claimed the points at Round 2 of the MINI CHALLENGE 2009. Here are two clips that show how he did it. There’s plenty of action on offer, including footage of Denyer punting off Über-Star Car driver Steve Bradbury during qualifying!
Grant Denyer won Round 2 of this year’s MINI CHALLENGE, held at Symmons Plains in Tasmania (30–31 May). Denyer pulled a late move on teammate Paul Stokell to claim the points required for the round win and was delighted just to be taking part, “It’s so good to go well,” grinned a delighted Denyer post [...]
The lads at MotoringFile.com have been doing a great job of covering the MINI United celebrations at Silverstone. They have audio of an interview with Michael Hoehn from MINI who is responsible for the roll out of the MINI Challenge across the globe. Currently the one make MINI series is running in Germany, Spain, New [...]
Australia’s first ever Winter Olympic Gold Medallist Steven Bradbury is the latest recruit to the MINI CHALLENGE Uber-Star ranks. The cult hero who proved the old adage ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’ will be racing in Round 2 of the Australian MINI CHALLENGE to be held at Symmons Plains in Tasmania this [...]
Paul Stokell has topped off a near perfect weekend by winning Race 3 in the MINI CHALLENGE earlier today. Gary Young also completed a solid race weekend by finishing second, with Chris Alajajian crossing the line in third. Stokell now leads the series with 144 points, ahead of Gary Young (129pts) and Andrew Mill (98pts). [...]
After two strong performances Paul Stokell is best placed to claim the Round 1 honours in the 2009 MINI CHALLENGE series. Stokell won a shortened first race by 1.6 seconds from Chris Alajajian, with Nathan Caratti in third (full results HERE). The race was reduced from 6 to 3 laps due to the event schedule [...]
A full grid of MINIs will take part in this weekend’s MINI CHALLENGE opener at the Australia Formula One Grand Prix, held at Albert Park in Melbourne. The complete list of entrants can be read below, which includes infamous AFL icon Sam Newman at the wheel of the Uber Star car!
Great news for MINI CHALLENGE fans with confirmation that Paul Stokell and Grant Denyer will be back chasing the 2009 title with DecoRug Racing. Defending champion Neil McFadyen will have his work cut out with the fancied DecoRug duo determined to make amends for 2008′s promising, but ultimately disappointing, season. Bill Gremos, DecoRug Racing team [...]
The 2009 Australian MINI CHALLENGE series calendar has been confirmed and, as speculated, the year will kick off at the Melbourne Grand Prix. Full listing below: 2009 MINI CHALLENGE CALENDAR (TV Coverage in brackets – Live denotes single race unless otherwise stated): March 26-29 Formula 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Vic (Live) May [...]