Bryan McKay Savage Photography
We held our own in a fierce debut in the Celtic Speed Scottish MINI Cooper Cup.
Qualifying – P18 // A car broke down on the circuit leading to a Code 60 situation for most of qualifying. Do you know what Code 60 is? No, I had no idea either! I then only had one flying lap to set a time and unfortunately this was in traffic. We managed P18 out of 24 cars which I was happy with considering the situation, but I was certain we had more speed to offer.
Race 1 – P19 // Sitting in the holding area before Race 1, it suddenly hit me that we were about to race for the first time in 2017! Months and months of hard work had come together to allow me to line up on the grid of Scotland’s most competitive circuit racing championship. I was ecstatic. Perhaps I was too busy being ecstatic that I forgot to turn at Turn 1 and went straight down the escape route. Cold tyres and green turf don’t mix but I held a sideways moment and immediately rejoined the circuit...albeit in last place. With nothing to lose, I set about chasing the pack. I had already made up a place before the first lap was complete. It was a bit of a baptism of fire with many stricken cars and 2 safety car restarts but we battled hard.
Race 2 – P21 // Another big moment at the first corner (got to entertain the crowds...) but thankfully managed to hold on and get back on the bumper of the pack in front. I enjoyed a 4 way battle for the duration of the race. It was great to experience the close and relentless racing that the Mini Cooper Cup is so famous for.
Race 3 – P22 // After a horrific start (clearly an area to work on!), it was all to play for. The final race was fairly uneventful although I did carry the onboard TV camera which was very exciting! Unfortunately the gear box issues which lost us a few places over the course of the day gradually worsened and really came to a head during Race 3. By the end I couldn’t select 1st gear to drive back to the Minimax garage. The marshals saved the day and pushed me home.
Nothing could have prepared us for just quite how competitive the Mini Cooper Cup really is! It truly is the crème de la crème of Scottish race series with only 1 second covering the whole grid. I had a spectacular day and really learnt a lot. Our laptimes during the race were consistent with those who finished much further up the pack so I'm hopeful that with a more successful qualifying session, I could fight my way to a higher placed finish should I have the opportunity to race again in the future.
I have been so focussed on one day for such a long time – now that it’s over I’m feeling a bit lost! Unfortunately the future is somewhat unclear. Repairing the gearbox will most likely be a very expensive job. I will soon have to make the very difficult decision as to whether it will ever be feasible to race again.
I would like to thank my wonderful sponsors to whom I am very grateful. I am so proud to have a team of such passionate people around me – Walero Motorsports, Rentec Autocare, Super 23, Ian J Brown and Company, BlackBox, 1st glass vehicle glazing and Harper Performance. Particular thanks to Brian and Mark from Rentec who have worked tirelessly to have Emilia in tip top condition for raceday. Thank you also to my teammates at Minimax Motorsport for their generous support during my first race weekend.
Until next time,
Emily ✌🏼️
Ruth Keith Photography
CMC Images