Mini Challenge CLUBSPORT Talk Show

Show was LIVE, Wednesday 21st August 2024 at 7pm

Join as we went LIVE for episode 2 of Mini Challenge Clubsport Talk Show, where we will get to speak with our multi-year partner, Airtec, and several of the several of the successful drivers from our fourth round at Donington Park on 10th and 11th August.

Host, Chris Dawes (commentator and founder of Visual PR), spoke with Airtect Motorsport's Ryan Beeden, and some of the victors from Donington Park (Andy Langley, Oli Willmott, Charlie Newton-Darby, Zac Blackwell, and Jamie Ringer), along with Mini Challenge Clubsport's Rob Auston, Tom Halliwell, and Glen Copeland). Get a drink at the ready, and the comments and questions flowing, as the design of these shows are that the banter is high and the engagement fully flowing – or should the be the other way round?

Each episode will be live, which means that it is not scripted or edited and has a more natural and engaging tone. This enables viewers to type questions or provide comments/input whilst watching the live broadcast on either our YouTube or social channels, which will be put up on the screen (with your profile photo and name) and responded to by the episode’s guests to make it immersive and interactive. And the name of the game is for it to be fun and sociable, so get a drink in hand and let the good times roll!

The stream can be watched live (and recorded) from any of the following locations: Facebook: www.facebook.com/MINICHALLENGECLUBSPORT/live_videos

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MiniChallengeClubsport

www.minichallengeclubsport.co.uk

This is a Visual PR production – Connecting the dots between PR and Marketing with authentic, credible, and engagingly natural conversational video content and resulting assets from each episode – Elevating your Brand and Igniting Audience Engagement!

www.visual-pr.co.uk

enquiries@visual-pr.co.uk

www.youtube.com/@VisualPRUK

What is Mini Challenge CLUBSPORT Talk Show?

The idea behind the Mini Challenge CLUBSPORT championship is for MINI racers to enjoy a close competitive series whilst keeping costs low, making the series ideal for amateur drivers with a limited budget.

The idea behind this monthly talk show is to provide a fun community show where we all come together and enable the racers and business partners to gain extra exposure, with guests on the live shows rotating around the partners and drivers, and anyone else involved in the championship. The show is designed to be light and fun, and will also enable us to promote upcoming activities and discuss those that have already happened. Make sure you tune in to the live shows on YouTube and Facebook, and your comments/questions added during the live shows can even be put up on screen (along with your profile name and photo) and answered live in the interactive episodes. But this podcast also enables you to listen back to the shows whilst driving, walking, or working out!! (or in the pub...)

Good evening.

Welcome to episode... It is episode two,

but it's the first one that

we've really gone live with

this because the guys

bailed out the first time

on me and we had it recorded.

I'm going to bring out one of the main men,

Rob Austin,

from Mini Challenge Club Sport.

Rob, you went easy episode one,

didn't you?

We launched it with a recorded show,

but we're now live, mate.

No swearing, all right?

No comment.

Yeah.

How are you, mate?

I would have been happy to do it live.

But I think all the other

boys were a little bit nervous,

weren't they?

Of you, probably, weren't they?

Yeah, yeah.

Now that we've got 18 people

watching this evening,

I think they'll be really nervous, though,

if I'm honest.

And there'll be even more.

Pile in, guys.

Make sure you share it.

Get it wide.

This is a great opportunity

to catch up on the races.

to speak to some of the key characters,

both from behind the

steering wheel and partners

and all those kind of things,

and to really get excited about it,

plus giving everybody an

opportunity to promote

everybody that helps them

do what they do and things like that.

But also, Rob,

I know your big remit is to

have a bit of fun with this as well.

I think it's all about fun, isn't it?

I mean, life is so difficult these days.

We take things so seriously.

Even our racing we take really seriously,

but we need to have a bit of fun,

don't we?

A hundred percent.

That's why.

As to be expected.

What are you going to do for

the second half of the show?

The current Mrs. Dawes has got home,

so she'll keep me topped up.

That's fine.

No, I mean, it's, you know,

it's really about taking

the championship to the

highest level that we can

at club sport level.

You know, we want to be the best.

We've had two fantastic years coming,

you know,

almost finished the second year now.

and we just tom and I and

glenn we just want to

really bring in as much as

we can that's a little bit

different a little bit

sparky keeps people engaged

and um helps it grow and I

think that we're we're the

thing is we're always

learning and there's always

new things I mean when

you've got you know you

can't teach old dogs new

tricks and hence the reason

why we're playing around with this

Exactly.

And this is what we can see.

What you're going to find

tonight is we've got a

whole host of guests.

It's a busy show.

Thanks for that, Rob and Tom.

You've really thrown a lot

of people at me for this one.

No, you haven't.

They can hear that.

So I'm confirming that's not the case.

But no, it's going to be a great show.

Some key characters from the

Donington Park round really

is the essence.

But I'm delighted to say

that we've also got Ryan from Airtek,

one of the key partners,

multi-year partners of the

Mini Challenge Club Sport Championship.

um so we'll catch up with

with ryan and find out all

about air tech we're going

to find out from andy and

ollie on the cooper class

we've got charlie and zach

from the r53s we've got jamie

Hopefully we'll be back.

His lad's playing football at the moment,

but hopefully we'll be back on the R56.

I know that doesn't include everyone,

but anybody watching going,

why aren't I on?

Because we can only have so

many at a time.

So make sure you get your

name down because we'll get

you in future episodes

because the plan is we'll

be doing an episode every month.

And it gives us the opportunity, Rob,

to come together as a community,

doesn't it?

And have some fun together

whilst looking back and

looking forward at the

championship as well.

Yeah, I think the thing is that, you know,

first and foremost,

we want to get all the drivers on.

That's what we've got to do.

We want to get all the partners on.

And that's the aim, I think,

to talk equally across the board.

And we've tried to do this

with our get-together on a

Saturday night.

Most people come along.

We get a great turnout,

maybe 90% plus come along

for a drink and a chat.

And it just eases the

situation after what can be

a pretty hectic times racing.

The racing this year has been intense,

but I'm pleased to say, you know,

we've had very few issues,

judicial issues, which has been, you know,

a feather in the cap of the

championship and a feather

in the cap of the drivers.

So they know how to play hard.

contact has been relatively

minimal compared with other

championships.

And, you know,

that's a key area of cost

because it's not cheap to go out racing.

Tom and I know this.

We've done it.

We spent years racing, as you well know,

Chris.

And part of it is we need to, you know,

minimize accident damage.

And that's been one of the things.

But we just want to bring in

the different characters.

We've got so many different characters,

so many people involved with this,

so many people enthusiastic about this.

And it would be great to

hear from them all.

Because then I can carry on

with doing whatever I'm doing,

like washing the car or whatever.

Because, as I've said to you all along,

I've only got a face for radio, really,

not TV.

Well, I didn't like to say,

but I still make a living,

even though I'm the same, mate.

But, yeah, for those who don't know,

is that, yes, I'm very privileged.

I get paid to commentate on motorsport,

travel the length and

breadth of the country and

sometimes Europe.

And it has included Rob

Austin and Tom Halliwell for many,

many years as well.

And we've had a good laugh.

I was very honoured when

they approached me with my company,

Visual PR,

to put something like this together.

So remember that while you're watching,

you can put comments and questions.

And I will jump in because a

couple have... Well, I say a couple...

Even in Paul Sawyer,

he put this comment on YouTube,

because I can tell from the symbol.

He's also put it on Facebook.

I can imagine him.

He's got a tablet and a

laptop and the TV and everything.

And he's got his mixing decks, of course,

hasn't he?

Yeah.

Evening, Paul.

Great to see you on.

Definitely another guest

that we'll get on at some point as well.

Put your comments,

put your questions wherever

you're watching them.

They'll come up and we'll be

able to see it.

Hello, Nigel from the Nicker Book,

Nicker Book at Alton Park.

Evening, Chris and Co.

Good to hear from you, Nigel.

So get your comments in

because this becomes, you know,

an interactive.

Paul's actually said,

I'm actually working on an

interview whilst listening.

rob I thought us men

couldn't multitask sorry

I'm paying my bills on my

mobile while I'm listening

as well so we really are we

are multitasking no I mean

it's yeah it's it's it's

great you know it's a good

opportunity this is nothing

for anyone to be nervous

about they've got to have

fun with it and and and

that's you know if you

can't have fun and don't

bother but uh yeah be

interesting to see if we

get who who does send any

questions through

Yeah, questions, comments,

anything like that.

Jason McGuinness.

Jason McGuinness,

one of our drivers from last year.

Brilliant.

He's just waved.

He's going to come out again, Jason.

Yes, make sure you get out, Jason.

Look, it's even grown even more.

And by the way, I can see in my green room,

Jamie Ring is in.

Evening, Jamie.

Good to see you here, mate.

He's back from football practice then.

Yeah, he is.

Hopefully he can hear us.

I can see you down in the camera below.

So he'll be on in due course as well.

He's just waved.

I'll be able to grass him up

if he ends up with a

drinking hand like the rest of us.

Hmm.

Right.

I think we need to get on with this show,

don't we, Rob?

Because we've got a lot of

people to speak to.

In which case, Rob,

I will see you a little bit later,

either for the regs bit or

at the end when we just

look at the championship

standings and preview Croft

a little bit as well.

Those that are watching,

please do keep the comments,

keep the questions coming in.

But Rob, I'll speak to you later, mate.

Coming up next,

we're going to speak about

the Cooper class where Andy

and Ollie had an absolute

humdinger of a battle or three.

Gentlemen,

I feel like I should be in the

middle of this one, actually.

Welcome to the show, guys.

Honestly, what I've got to say,

you guys put on an absolute

thoroughbred entertainment

at Donington Park.

Absolutely brilliant.

I'm going to start with you, Ollie,

purely because...

Well, you took race number one.

You took the victory.

First race with the Mini

Challenge Club Sport as well.

That was a nice way to start.

Well, good evening, everyone.

Yeah, it was a good one.

I did it... Well, halfway through,

I was like,

I'm never going to get past Andy.

And then I was eyeing him up

pretty much every lap on

the last chicane.

And then last lap, it happened.

And...

Yeah,

it was a pretty big part inside the car,

I would say that.

Well, I did.

I only watched that today on

the stream because, sadly,

I'm a disadvantage.

Where was I this weekend?

Oh, I was doing... No, I can't remember.

I was commentating somewhere

else when you guys were racing,

so I missed it.

But I have watched some of the stream,

and it was like, yeah, real move.

Andy, you from the other side, I mean,

that was... You've had

enough wins this year,

but that was not what you wanted to see.

Do you think so?

I think so.

I was good, but yeah, fair play to Ollie.

He was on my case all race.

We had a real, real close battle.

And I just messed up last

year's game and he came sailing past.

So there you go.

You can't win them all, apparently.

I tried.

Well, let's be honest.

From my reckoning, well,

let me just double check to

make sure I'm getting this right,

is that you still won the

other two races after that,

just to make sure that you

stamped your authority back on.

Yeah, yeah,

the rest of the weekend was pretty good,

yeah.

I think,

I wasn't sure whether you'd

actually won the Cooper Championship,

but I think if you haven't,

you're on the cusp of it.

So you're going to Croft

with the intention to try

and get it wrapped up.

Does that mean you're still

going to go for the wins?

Always got to battle.

There's no point in being

there if you're not going to go for it.

So yeah, I think actually,

if I don't turn up,

I could do it on drop scores just now,

but there's no point in that, is there?

No.

Yeah,

of course you're going to be going

for it.

Absolutely.

Yeah, that's like Ollie says,

that's the boring way to do it.

And I think, especially, I mean, this year,

Andy, I mean,

I did cover you guys at my home circuit,

Castle Coombe, and again,

dishing up the entertainment.

And it's hard work

commentating on you guys

because there's so much

action going on up and down the whole,

you know, grid,

not just with the championships,

but the Cooper ones a bit

easier to see because you

guys do tend to congregate

and it's been entertaining

throughout the whole year.

yeah absolutely you know the

cupers are just they are

great fun to drive I know

they're not massive power

but you know you're

guaranteed a close race and

you know me dan neil and

ollie as well you know

we've had we've had some

real close races it's just

it's great you know you get

out the car you know you

know you've had a proper race brilliant

Before I move to Ollie with

the fact that it was his

first time showing,

I just want to just make sure, Andy,

for those of those that are

watching that might not know,

what is a Cooper Class Mini?

So the Cooper Class Mini is

pretty standard spec.

So you're allowed, like, dampers and,

you know, a few other mods.

But, you know, they're quite fancy.

They're a bit more strict on

the regulations,

so you can't do a lot with them.

Fairly standard cars, which is brilliant.

And normally aspirated as well.

Only about 130 horsepower,

so not over-fast,

but the racing's great and really good.

I guess for me that sort of

stands out as that is one of the,

I know that the mini

challenge club sport is

about being affordable to come racing in,

in what is kind of like a

mini touring car to some extent,

but the Cooper class

therefore must be the most

affordable of them.

Yeah, definitely.

You know, you,

you can't go crazy on mods or anything.

Like I said, there's,

it's only minimal things that you can do.

So,

So yeah, definitely.

I think out of all of them,

it's the most affordable

and it's guaranteed, you know,

you're guaranteed parity really.

So you can, you know,

someone's not going to have

something better than you

because you've all got the

same equipment pretty much.

So yeah, that's what I like about it.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Now, Oli,

let's go back because this was

your first mini challenge

club sport race.

What have you done previously?

So I started in the Saxos,

the junior championship.

And then from there,

I went straight into

Britcar and a Porsche GT3.

As you do.

That was a bit of a shock.

And then through COVID,

I sort of didn't do any racing.

And then Tom Halliwell died.

just told me to come and

have a go in the mini

challenge club sport.

And then I said, yeah, why not?

I'll come and see what it's like.

And it was pretty epic,

let's say it that way.

I love the fact I'm just

watching Tom in the green

room down at the bottom of

my screen and he suddenly

sat back with a beaming

chuckle on his face and his arms folded.

So he's laughing about it,

but he's also pretty

chuffed with that one as well.

I mean, to the point, Ollie,

that did I hear right that

there's now a car acquired

ready for next season?

I don't want to spoil it all,

but you'll probably see my

face a bit more next year, yeah.

Yeah.

I've sported it.

Apologies, mate.

Basically,

that's an amazing advert for the

championship to go that you

rock up once and you do it.

I mean,

did you really expect to be able to

rock up and sort of get the

three podiums?

No.

Just because I haven't been

racing for such a long time.

And yeah, just to get back into it.

But

I guess it didn't look too bad.

Oh, it didn't?

Because you're not even in the country,

are you?

No, I'm overseas.

I'm in Switzerland now.

So, yeah, one hour in front of you guys.

Oh, fair enough.

Fair enough.

Crikey.

And aren't they meat-tired?

You'll be even more tired

than if you're an amateur.

So speak to us from someone

that rocked up for the first time,

because I think I can

safely ask you this.

I know Andy's going to be a

massive advocate of the

paddock and the

championship and everything because,

you know, he's never present.

But ask someone who's just rocked up.

I've seen the paddock from

the commentator's side,

and it always seems really friendly.

People help each other.

There's the Saturday night get-together,

all of that kind of stuff.

Is that a true perception?

Yeah.

For me,

it was probably one of the best

experiences over the, whatever,

seven years of racing.

You just rock up.

Everyone's super nice.

Have a drink together.

Race together.

Have some close racing.

sweat your bollocks off I

lost probably five kilos

yeah and it's just it's

lovely and like loads of

people as well I mean yeah

really cool I like that I

mean andy I call you an ever-present but

that can't be a novelty that

wears off because you know

what you're going to get

each weekend someone summed

it up for me uh with with

motor racing in general is

that you spend miles more

time in a paddock than you

do out on circuit yeah

definitely I i think

honestly I know I know I've

done well this year but

this has been the best year

for me racing just off

track and on track you know

I've really enjoyed it

paddock's been great we've

got a great little team

you know,

run together with Norfolk cars and,

you know, we've had, um, friendly boys,

you know, friendly group together.

So yeah, it's been, you know,

just the whole paddock is a

great atmosphere.

You, you know, you can't, um,

you can't put price on that.

It's great.

No, agreed.

And that's why I safely

asked that question because

I kind of just from the

outside looked at it.

How do you feel about the

fact that it looks like

you're going to be getting, well,

which way?

I've got a point that way.

It looks like you're going

to be getting competition

from this guy next year.

Yeah, yeah, I love it.

Yeah, you know, we had some hard racing.

It was a good weekend.

I, you know, I've got a bit,

I was a bit stressed before

the weekend about Oli coming along.

you know,

in terms of the championship and

everything and, you know,

what's going to happen.

But, you know,

he pushed me hard and I loved it.

You know,

it was great to just dig deep and, yeah,

it was great.

Enjoyed it.

And I can imagine that

because you guys don't like

just going out on track days, i.e.

where there's no real competition.

You come out of it with a

massive smile when you've had a battle.

Definitely.

Yeah.

You know, if you win a race at a canter,

it's not the same feeling

as if you've had a real hard battle.

Never.

I was witness to that, Ollie, all right?

And really,

I guess what I'm doing here is

that from the commentator

slash fan slash spectator

perspective is that I'm

bigging up that this is a

tussle that we can look

forward to is that it just adds another

uh subplot to the whole

championship that is is

just something to really

look forward to in what is

already close racing uh I

mean ollie I get the

impression that these cars

are relatively forgiving

but you've really got to be

on it with them they are

like mini touring cars yeah

exactly and I would just say

for people that want to

start racing I mean it's

the best thing I mean I've

come from a Porsche that is

10 times as faster but the

racing was ridiculous I

mean from start to the end

is just you are properly on

it and if you're if you do

a mistake like I did in

race three then I came to third and then

eventually got back to second.

But it's, yeah,

no mistakes are allowed in this race.

Although it does show that

you don't need to lose absolute heart,

is that you can kind of

like wash it off and go again,

which I like as well to watch it.

Question then, Ollie,

that has been prompted to me is,

did your dad enjoy it?

I think he did.

I think he liked the first race.

I think that, yeah.

Like the whole of my family came over.

And yeah,

I think I did them pretty proud

on the first race.

And the second and third is

what's happened in motorsport.

Yeah.

And apparently you're entering Croft.

Is that right?

Oh, no, that's my dad.

Oh, your dad.

Sorry, Tom.

I didn't understand that comment.

He's put that in the thing.

Your dad's entering craft.

I like it.

So he's going to have a go as well.

So I've told him already

that the slipstream's

pretty good in these minis.

Yeah,

they're not the most aerodynamic of

things, are they?

So the slipstream's always

going to be pretty darn good.

Yep.

Although, Andy,

I get the impression it's

not quite to the level of

some things you see, I don't know,

like let's take, say,

Caterham's where you don't

want to be in the lead

until you've come out of

that final corner.

It's not quite that bad in the minis,

is it?

I know it was for you in race one,

but... Yeah.

No, I mean, probably at Donington,

it was worth a good half

second a lap easy at Donington.

But yeah, not as strong as the Caterham's,

but...

But, yeah, you've got to, you know,

I know in race three when I

made a mistake and I

dropped back and the

slipstream really helped me

to catch back up again, you know,

in race three.

So, yeah.

Yeah, so it's not excessive,

but it does mean that you

can have the patience and

you can kind of go, right,

that was a mistake.

Don't lose sleep.

Let's get on with it again

and work your way back up again.

Rob's stirring, by the way, Ollie.

He said that you're on

national service right now.

Yeah, I am.

So after this,

I'm going back into our bunker.

And that's why I was going to be at Croft.

And then I told my dad,

I can't take the days off.

So sadly,

that's my racing over for this year.

What does that mean?

So what do you do?

I work with the fighter jets.

So basically,

the security of the bunkers

where the jets stay.

wow that's cool that is cool

so I work with the F18s

they're a little bit

quicker than the minis

they're a little bit

quicker than most things

let's be honest that makes

complete sense how old are

you Oli sorry I should know

that twenty three

23 okay uh these youngsters

hey andy don't ask my age I

was I was leaving same as I

wasn't gonna offer mine

either I'm with you on that

andy don't you worry mate

we'll stick together on

that one um guys uh quickly

then uh andy before I wrap

up uh anybody you want to

say thank you on the

sponsorship side or family

side or anything like that

Yeah, really, you know,

a big thanks to Norfolk Cars.

You know,

ever since I started racing the minis,

I've been with those guys.

And, you know, Gary, who races the Clubman,

you know, he's prepped my car so well.

And Neil as well, you know,

we've raced together over the years.

We've had a few clashes over the years,

but, you know, it's all good.

And, yeah,

those guys have helped me out a lot.

So, yeah, big thanks to them, really.

Fabulous.

Ollie, same to you, mate.

Cheers.

Well, first thing, big thanks to Tom.

Yeah, he knows what it means.

And family that came over to

have a look and ski set, Wengen.

So if anyone wants to want

to come ski into where I live, come by,

I'll be there 24-7 basically.

And yeah, just Neil.

I never met him,

but I was able to use his

car and it was a good one.

It was a good one.

Absolutely.

Well, gentlemen,

thank you so much for joining us.

Don't forget, when I take you off screen,

wait until it fills up your

recording progress bar just

so that we can create

social clips from this show as well.

But, Oli, Andy, thank you so much.

Oli,

we look forward to seeing your dad at

Croft and you next year.

Andy, play it cool, Trig.

Play it cool at Croft.

I will.

see if you can secure the

championship that you've

worked hard for this year, mate.

And we shall hopefully speak

to you guys again very soon.

Yeah, look forward to it.

Cheers, Chris.

Thank you very much.

Cheers, Chris.

Thanks, guys.

Absolutely brilliant.

I've done it this way

because my transition is quite short.

So I just wanted to do it this way.

I've got to check my notes.

Right.

We're getting out.

So thank you to the drivers.

They're great to get an insight.

And that's the kind of thing

we're going to be getting

from the weekends and

everything that they do.

I would go even deeper,

but I've got so many guests.

I'm keeping it short, sharp, etc.,

We're now going to switch it

to one of the partners and a key partner,

it's fair to say,

in a multi-year partner

that have been involved in

not just supporting,

but creating as well.

So I'm delighted that we're

going to be bringing out

now Ryan Beedon from Airtek.

Evening, Ryan.

Have I spelt your surname right there?

You have, yes.

Yeah.

Phew.

It was only when I pressed

it that I suddenly realized

I typed that and I don't trust myself.

Welcome to the talk show, mate.

And it's great to speak to

you because Airtek are not just,

let's use the overused phrase, sponsor,

but very much a partner

because you guys have been

involved in designing key

parts of these cars.

Yeah.

It was quite a challenge for us, really.

So the Mini Challenge Club Sport itself,

it's one of those things

that's good fun racing,

but having the components

to work with those cars as

well is second to none, really.

And a lot of the cars was

running a few different

variations of rear wing.

And for us, we sort of looked at that.

We had an R56 ourself,

which obviously crosses

over to the R53 as well.

So for us to get into our

workshop and actually make

something that's usable and

works with the championship

was a no-brainer, really.

If we've got the facilities to do it,

why not?

The facilities and the

know-how and everything like that.

Because I was looking at your details,

because you guys started as

auto specialists back in the 90s,

which was simple aesthetics back then,

primarily for Ford.

Is that right?

Yeah, 100%, yeah.

or exclusively for Ford I'm

not sure whether it is yeah

so yeah back in the day it

was pretty much doing a lot

of shiny stuff and fancy

engine based stuff yeah

older Fords really

okay and then uh 20 sorry

2002 uh became air tech

motorsport to give it

obviously its full name I

know I've called you air

tech there um which went

into performance enhancing

cooling products and

solutions um which then

meant that you you actually

evolved into one of the

leading performance parts

manufacturers in the uk I

mean that's quite an evolution isn't it

Yeah, we'll take that.

Yeah, it grew very quick.

So I've been with the

company now for coming up 10 years.

And yeah, when we first started,

it was a lot of, like I say,

engine-based stuff, shiny stuff.

And then the Airtek

Motorsport brand was there,

but it wasn't as big,

nowhere near as big as what we are now.

It was running alongside the

Auto Specialist.

So we had all of our

intercoolers and our

radiators and whatnot

listed on Auto Specialist.

And then we see a bit of a

gap where it was,

why don't we launch Airtek

into its own brand?

And it started as Airtek

Cooling Solutions.

So it was literally intercoolers,

radiators, and that was pretty much it.

And then we started to break

more into doing intakes and

the odd quick shifts and whatnot.

And here we are today with rear wings,

you name it.

If we can do it, we can do it.

Yeah,

because I had the note that said...

I've just got to make sure

where did I put it.

You actually developed a

rear wing for all of the

competitors on the S-Class

and the rear wing for the

53s and 56s developed

largely with the

relationship with the Mini

Challenge... Was it Mini

Challenge Club Sport or

Mini Challenge as a whole?

Sorry, I should know that.

Mini Challenge Club Sport.

So that sort of suggests

that that's very much a

useful two-way relationship

that happened there then, which is cool.

100%, yeah.

We were approached by the

guys to have a look at

doing a rear wing and a front split-off,

which, yeah, it was a challenge.

It wasn't something that we couldn't do.

It was something that we

sort of looked at.

Our development guys, one of our guys,

he went to university and

studied aerodynamics with motorsports.

So making the rear wing for

us was a cool project.

He hadn't been with us too

long on the design side of things.

So having him get involved

in it and actually put what

he knows to the test.

was really good we went

through a few different

designs same with any

development some things

work some things don't at

first we had these massive

end plates that was

ginormous and the rear wing

was absolutely massive but

it's not going to work so

we went through a few

different design stages and

the rear wing it follows

the natural curves of the

boot line so it is fully

functional moves up and

down so you've got a few

different heights on it as

well but yeah making

something like that and

And doing that for the

championship just goes to

show how well we work with the guys.

Yeah,

because isn't next year a splitter

intended to be released for it?

That's right, yeah.

So we've gone for more of a

motorsport look with the front splitter,

where it's more of like a solid look,

whereas you see the typical

splitters follow the shape of the bumper.

So we've gone for more of a

race car design with it.

not just intended for race

cars by all means a lot of

our stuff we try and do it

you can put it on a road

car why not it's not just

intended for a race car so

it looks good but it and

it's functional for the

race car as well 100% yes

i did hear someone tell me

that uh by all accounts it

is going to have I I've

made a comment already

about that these minis are

very much like mini touring

cars and it's going to look

that way even more with

this front splitter it

should do um so it was we

sent some to the

championship to put on one

of the um I don't know what

you say the prototype cars

or one of the demonstrator

cars which is showcased at

one of the rounds um

think it was earlier this

year and we had loads of

good feedback loads of

people contacted the rear

wing looks awesome how can

I buy one and the front

splitter looks great when

they're going to be

available and and it all

goes into it so it takes

time but but we get there

and all the feedback that

we get is good feedback

again same in the front

splitter we hit a few

hiccups to that with

different designs of

bumpers um some fit only

fit the earlier um m14 not

the n18 and and vice versa

but but we got there in the end

You love a challenge, mate.

That's what it's all about.

It is.

Just quickly catching up on

a couple of comments.

Paul Peter says, geez,

why does Olly Wilmot look

like Ed Sheeran's

Could have just said Ed Sheeran,

not Ed Sheeran's sister.

Just looks like Ed Sheeran

would have been enough.

Our very own Glenn Copeland says evening.

Evening, Glenn.

We'll see you shortly.

I mean,

the guys and I will actually very

quickly in a second bring

out Tom and Rob just to

participate in this,

because I know that they

are massive advocates of of your work.

Not just support, but the relationship,

because those guys were

telling me about how you're

at most of the meets,

if not all of the meets, and you enjoy it,

and you also take that as

the feedback for the work

that you're going to do on stuff as well.

Yeah, definitely.

We try to get to as many events as we can.

Not always possible.

We're quite busy with other projects.

We don't get a lot of time to do...

racing ourselves where we go

and have a bit of fun on

track but when we do we can

and like I say as much as

we can being sponsors of

the event we try and get to

as many as we can and hand

out the trophies which

gives us a nice

relationship not just with

the championship but with

the drivers as well so we

get to have a chat with the

guys that are racing and

it's just a nice atmosphere

and I think as a sponsor

it's what you should be doing

I've always said that it's

the same as I say to drivers,

the amount of drivers that

do that horrible thing that

I've watched them do when

they tried to get sponsors and they go,

uh,

let me put your company name on so you

can pay for me to go and

have fun in a race car.

I'm paraphrasing,

but that's basically what

it translates to.

Um, whereas to be able to,

to sort of like have that

fun with everybody,

is is a key thing because

because you you want to

make something of it don't

you as sponsors as partners

it works both ways with

that as well though so as

title sponsors and and

being a sponsor of

something like this to

actually go and speak to

drivers in some ways I

would say oh that was bad

timing no oh there he is

hang on he's straight back

It was only brief.

That was brief, Ryan.

You're fine.

Yeah, back to what we were saying.

Having that relationship

with the championship and the drivers,

from our point of view,

it sort of makes people

want to push us as well.

We've dealt with other

championships and the sponsors.

You say to them, have you met this guy?

Have you met that guy?

No, I don't know who they are.

I don't know what they look like.

And it's nice for us to turn

up to those events and say, oh, hi,

you're from Airtek and

which it works.

It's nice to have that relationship.

I agree.

Paul Sawyer says,

so when is Ryan going to

enter the series?

Oh, never say never.

Have you got your racing license?

I haven't.

It's something that I've

said about doing for a while.

I actually own an F56 JCW Mini.

I know it's not one of the

cars in the series,

but there's always room to

try something else.

it's the same as they nag me

as well as the fact I've

got to get my race license

because they keep trying to

get me out the problem that

makes me nervous is that

the commentator tends to

have a target on their back

if they're suddenly out in

a racing car but they've

got long memories of things

I may have said on the mic

this is something that we

have discussed it before about um

about having our own car in

a championship.

And again,

it comes down to the same sort of thing.

We've had it before where people go, oh,

they're the sponsors,

but they're driving in a championship.

What if they go and win it?

Oh, this is fixed.

Yeah.

It swings around about things like that.

Yeah,

the coordinators aren't supposed to

race in it as well, allegedly,

and things like that.

But no, I think you should be.

Rob says you could sell that

car that you just mentioned

and buy a race car.

Yeah.

And you'd have tyres for the

whole season as well,

probably then as well.

That's it.

There's a deal to be done.

There is, there is.

Look, very quickly,

I'm not going to play the transition.

I'm going to bring these two

out because at the end of the day,

this is Tweedledee and

Tweedledum that organised

the championship.

And, sorry guys, couldn't resist it.

He's dumb and I'm genius.

Yeah.

But, you know, Tom, you know, Airtek,

clearly, you know,

a partner that you're proud of.

Oh, absolutely huge.

You know,

what Rob said earlier about what

we've achieved over the last two years,

that wouldn't have been

able to have done without Airtek at all.

Airtek came on very early doors,

committed very hard.

And to be fair, you know,

everybody who's racing our

grid wouldn't have been

able to do that without Airtek.

And then, you know,

we don't have sponsors in all honesty.

We don't have people who just put them,

you know,

to me a sponsor is something who

puts something in really

and gets something kind of back.

We have commercial partners,

so everybody benefits.

You know,

our competitors benefit because

we can then do things for

reduced entry fee.

We can then give something

back to our partner as an air tech.

So this year it was

mandatory that everyone had

to run an air tech

intercooler through S53 and S56.

and then we also developed the rear wing,

which makes the cars look fantastic.

One of the things that I

picked up on that Andy said

was about parity in Cooper.

You know, we'll talk about it later on,

but we're looking for that

in Cooper S as well,

and one of the parity is also appearance.

You know,

you look at some of the photos

and some of this live stream we get,

it's all the cars look the same.

They look fantastic.

And that can be done with

people like AirTech and the

front splitter we're going to introduce.

It's going to look amazing.

The cars will just look fantastic.

So really, yeah, you know,

I can't speak highly enough of what Alan,

Ryan, you know,

have all done for Mini

Challenge Club Sport, really.

It's nice you say that.

Having the cars all

uniformed and looking the

same makes the championship

look better as well.

You know, and it makes our drivers feel,

you know,

sadly me and Rob are old racing drivers.

And, you know,

we go back to what we said before,

we were trying to build

something that we would

want to race in where, you know,

I know you talk about

camaraderie in the paddock, but you know,

it also ends as soon as the, you know,

you get out on that circuit,

you're not friends.

You kind of, you want to win the race.

Um,

So that's kind of back to

where we want it to be in club sport.

And the way the cars look is

very important to us and our drivers.

So, yeah, no, without Airtek,

we wouldn't be where we are now.

I can't believe he called

you an old driver then, Rob.

He talked for himself.

I mean, it's great.

The Airtek connection is

great because they're

well-known in motorsport.

You know,

they've got touring car

arrangements and you're

obviously involved with the

Fiestas and what have you.

So it's wonderful for us.

It's a sort of household

name in motorsport terms.

And as Ryan says, you know,

they can come along and

speak to the drivers.

I think, actually,

you're bringing up your special car,

aren't you, Ryan,

for Croft to have on display?

Yeah, we hope I do, yeah.

Yeah, we could do it, Croft.

Yeah,

so it's a wonderful relationship and

they're easy to work with

and they get the bits for

the boys and girls.

We can't ask for any more than that,

really.

Well, Ryan, opportunity then,

just do the promo bit

because it's the

opportunity for me to help

you give something back to you.

For those who don't know,

who are Airtek and how can

they get hold of you?

Yeah, so, to the point,

we're basically

manufacturers of intercoolers, radiators,

intakes, you name it.

They're all made in-house at

our HQ in Canby Island down in Essex.

And if I do want to check

out any of our range, which, again,

all the stuff that's on the... Oh, sorry,

lost my AirPod there.

All the stuff that's on the

Mini Challenge cars is

available on our website

for road cars as well,

which is airketmotorsport.com.

As if by magic,

I've put it on the screen already.

There you go.

Oh, look at that.

I was going to put your

email address on there,

but then I thought, actually,

that's not the one that you

want out necessarily quite as publicly.

But they can get hold of you

through the website.

I loved it as well.

I actually looked.

This will sound sad that it impressed me,

but I sort of went on to it.

And you literally have every

single manufacturer and

then all the different cars

under those manufacturers.

And I can go straight to the

car that I have and then

find what I can get for my car.

It was so easy.

Yeah, we try to make it as easy as we can.

Sometimes it can be a little

bit complicated with

certain manufacturers that

cross over to other different models.

But yeah, it's as simple as it is.

And our social media is always open.

We're Instagram, Facebook.

If anybody ever wants any questions,

they can send it over to us

and we get back to them.

It's not a problem.

Fabulous.

Ryan, anything else that you want to add?

No, I don't think so.

It's just a pleasure to be

involved and thanks for having us on.

Yeah,

I just wanted to make sure I didn't

miss anything.

What I will say is that Zach

Blackwell says, you can take mine out,

Ryan.

So there you go.

The funny thing is, though,

Jamie Ringer then said,

why would you want to take

out that old rust bucket?

I'm not one to stir, Raoul.

I'm not one to stir.

Well, I think that is accepted.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Guys, before I pop you two back in,

Tom and Rob,

anything else that you wanted

that I haven't covered with Airtek?

Over to you, Rob, really, on this one.

Nothing, really.

I mean,

looking forward to seeing you at Croft,

looking forward to seeing

how the Splitter comes out,

and we'll continue to come

up with new innovations.

I think that's what we're after.

Definitely.

Yeah, look forward to it.

Fabulous.

Well, Ryan, thank you so much.

I'll speak to you next week.

Thank you so much for joining us, Ryan.

It's been an absolute

privilege to meet you, mate,

and hopefully see you at circuit soon.

As I said to the others,

don't disappear when I put

you into the green room

until that progress bar fills up to 100%.

But Airtek, get in touch with them.

Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks for your support for

the championship.

And we'll see you soon, mate.

Not a problem.

Thank you very much.

Take care.

Right.

So that's that part.

That's that part.

Thank you to Ryan from AirTech.

We're now going to move on

to the R53 class.

And I've kind of just sort of

one of these, put a lovely comment in,

and then he was abused after that.

But hey, that's just the way it goes,

isn't it?

But let's bring out... I can

see him laughing as well.

Yes, Jamie,

I'm going to make sure you're

dropped in it, mate.

But we're going to look at the R53s.

So delighted to say that I'm

going to be bringing out

Charlie Newton Darby and Zach Blackwell.

They say that us men can't multitask.

I tell you what,

I certainly am getting all

of this happening, but we've done it.

But another man who was

multitasking was directly beneath me.

Welcome, gents.

Zach, just whipping himself home.

You made it back home, Zach.

I did.

Just about, anyhow.

Well, welcome, Jenson.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Let's talk about Donington

Park to start with.

Zach, from your side,

you won in the 56s last

year and the Airtek trophy,

which is the 53s and 56s together.

Is that right?

It is.

But this 53 that you've

switched into this year,

you've been developing this car.

Is that right?

To a degree.

I've been doing a lot of

setup changes throughout the season.

But other than that,

it's just a car that we started off with.

oh okay just uh I got the as

commentators we like being

fed this sort of like

romantic information that

you're developing it and I

pick up on that straight

away yeah to a degree like

there's been a lot of setup

changes um there's had to

be a lot of driver changes

as well because the car is

very different compared to

a 56 as well being with a

turbocharged and a

supercharged so you just

characteristics of them is

so different right I'm not

mechanically minded I i as

a commentator I'm the fan

in the box so explain that

to me what take us to to it

what what's the difference

what does it feel like well

so with the r56 uh the

whole front end of the car

feels a bit lighter and

being that it's got an

aluminium engine block um

as opposed to a cast block with the R53.

So naturally the R53 is a

little bit heavier on the

front and wants to push on

a little bit more going

through the corners.

So just learning slight

differences in the way to drive,

slight differences in setup.

Yeah,

it's just an ongoing thing and just

learning

battling my way for it like

my first my first two

rounds it was uh a proper

headache really yeah but

because it was so different

yeah yeah but um I managed

to get a a decent setup on

the car sussex road and

race helped me out there

and uh since then sort of

it's been behaving better should we say

i was kind of trying to

understand because there's

there's no moving up or

moving down between the 53s

and 56s it sounds like they

just literally are

different uh sorry what do

you mean by moving up and

down as in there is no you

wouldn't move up from one

to the other there isn't

are they that way or is one

class does moving up to an

s something or other no I

don't think so and I think

I think they've tried to

make it as competitive as

possible between the two,

between the two different cars.

But obviously with two

completely different engines,

although they look the same

on the outside,

two different engines is

quite hard to do that.

So yeah, it's just, and then like I say,

then from a driver's point of view,

getting in and driving both cars,

they are two very different

cars to drive.

Well,

Rob's put it in our internal chat here,

the question I was going to ask next,

which one do you prefer,

the 53 or the 56?

I would say the 53 is more

of a less forgiving car,

and you've got to be a bit

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