Racing driver Max Coates – who is sponsored by ignition and sensor specialist NGK – grabbed his first win of the Quaife Mini Challenge season in a dramatic final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch. In his Primex Plastics sponsored car, Yorkshireman Max Coates was the fastest driver in damp and wet conditions in Sunday’s two races as the hot hatch race series supported the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at the Kent venue.
Davanti Tyres-backed Dan Zelos has stretched his lead in the Mini Challenge 2021 season with a double victory. At Scotland’s Knockhill Circuit, Zelos was fired up and looking to avenge last week’s outing at Oulton Park – where he was denied a deserved triumph following a red flag stoppage.
Dan Zelos was the fastest driver in the field in the Mini Challenge at Oulton Park as he strengthened his push for the drivers championship title. Despite his second race ending early due to a red flag, the talented Davanti Tyres-backed racer from Dereham maintained the momentum gained in his Brands Hatch win last month as he aims for the overall crown this season.
With the pandemic situation continuing to place 2021 motorsport series in doubt, racers are preparing to get involved in Esports. While digital competition has been a growing trend for several years, interest in digital motorsport spiked in response to the suspension of series across Europe in 2020. A leading Mini Challenge competitor, Dan Zelos is looking forward to his return to the track on 16 January, as the championship’s official eSeries commences. Zelos is supported by Davanti Tyres; the UK tyre brand will also boast a presence in the competition as Zelos pilots his Davanti-branded Mini around virtual versions of every circuit on the 2021 calendar.
The Mini Challenge returns this weekend for its second set of races since its Covid-delayed start at Donington Park (1-2 August). The JCW field is linked to the British Touring Car Championship, both as a support series for the first time in 2020 and by virtue of its switch from Dunlop rubber to European sister brand Goodyear, which supplies the BTCC. The move to Goodyear, in the final year of its 2017 penned Dunlop supply deal, signifies the continued realignment of the Goodyear brand within motorsport. Having already returned to the international stage with top-flight series like the FIA World Endurance Championship, Goodyear wants to expand its presence in national series too. The Mini Challenge JCWs run on a variation of Goodyear’s new Eagle F1 SuperSport slick tyre range. The company stresses the strength of this move for the development of competitors looking to make the step up to the headline BTCC series.
Dan Zelos’ switch to the Mini Challenge series proved to be a masterstroke in 2019 as the Dereham Dynamo lifted the Rookie Cup. The rising star – in his sixth year as an Evergreen Tyres athlete – went into the final race at his home track at Snetterton with a mathematical shot at the overall title. And while the convoluted series of circumstances required to carry him to the overall championship for the MINI UK VIP team didn’t quite come to pass, the rookie title ensured the season ended as a hugely successful one for the series debutant.
The pre-season round of the new Mini Challenge Asia series took place at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China on 17-18 March, with all entrants racing on Giti rubber. Giti Tire says it is “excited to be taking a new step forward as the official tyre” of 2018 Mini Challenge Asia, and it is supplying GitiCompete GRT1 tyres to each of the John Cooper Works Mini F56 cars racing in the China-based series. The official opening round will take place at the Zhuhai International Circuit on 16-17 June 2018.
Dunlop has extended its official tyre partnership with the Mini Challenge for at least another three years. In addition to the tyre supply component of the partnership, Dunlop will also guarantee the champion a drive in one of its British Touring Car Championship test sessions. The series is now established as one of the UK’s premier one-make championships in its own right, with a strong reputation for close racing, professional organisation and strong promotion.
The organiser of the Mini Challenge championship, Total Track has announced a new multi-year deal to make Dunlop its sole tyre partner from 2016. The single make championship has run since 2002 with a remit for competitive, fair and cost-effective racing.
Alongside the announcement of its introduction of P Zero branded tyres into the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, Pirelli has launched its 2015 motorsport calendar at Autosport International. The tyre manufacturer is to compete in four key disciplines: single-seaters, saloon cars, sports and GT cars, and rallying.
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