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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...)
Five Four Three Two
Good evening.
Welcome to episode three of
the Mini Challenge Club Sport talk show.
And I can't believe it.
It's the end of the season already.
You've had your final round.
We've got champions.
And we're going to be
actually speaking to one of
those tonight.
We've got a packed show.
I'm going to bring on the
main men in a second
because we're going to be
fitting in Freddie Hewitt,
who has won R-Fifty-Six and
the Air Tech for the
combined R-Fifty-Three and R-Fifty-Six.
We've got one of our key sponsors,
business partners and the
past champion in the Coopers,
and he's changing to the
Cooper S's next year.
It'll be great to have a
chat with Neil Clarke from Norfolk Cars.
And we've got Jordan coming
on from Ravenol because
we've got a really exciting
announcement tonight that
I'm delighted to be
bringing you live and in full effect,
as they say in the clubs.
I think I'm too old for that, really,
aren't I?
But we're going to have a chat about that.
And then myself,
Tom and Rob are going to
chat after all of that and
just bring you the
provisional calendar for next year.
And a part of that Ravenol announcement,
we're going to take an
element of that a little bit further.
Before I get our first guess in,
I'm going to very quickly
bring the powers that be in
because I just want to make
sure that we chat about the
season that was.
Evening, gents.
Evening.
How are you?
Yeah, very good.
You guys well?
Have you refreshed from that
trip up to Croft yet?
No.
I think Rob's still trying to get home.
I love it I love it no no I
mean I tell you what
actually it's interesting
because you know at this
time of the year it
suddenly becomes very busy
um because you want to set
in stone everything for for
the following year so we've
been sorting calendar been
talking to the partners
talking to the drivers the
response from the drivers
for the you know at the end
of the season been great
for next year we've got other things
Nineteen or twenty coming
back already confirmed.
We've got some new drivers coming in.
Each year, Tom, it's just, you know,
the foundations get stronger, don't they?
Yeah, definitely.
And it's just been chaos, really,
since just before Kraft
trying to sort out the
calendar for next season.
new drivers wanting to join,
wanting confirmation on regulations,
which obviously we have to draft.
So there's a lot going on
and everyone thinks it's a
bit of downtime.
For us,
it's actually probably one of the
busiest times of the season,
trying to sort out even
more partners for next
season and some testing
with tyres and things like
that we need to get on with.
So, yeah, busy.
But, I mean,
what a wonderfully rewarding
situation for you guys.
I hope you take time to sort of take
delight and pride in what is building up.
The fact that you've got to
put that effort means that
it warrants it.
Yeah,
I think that we've got four fantastic
champions this year.
The thing is, the racing was superb.
Our clerk was really,
really complimentary about
the way the drivers behaved.
I'm really happy,
actually more so than anything,
is that we've got new champions,
we've got new drivers coming through,
we're going to new circuits,
and we've got this
camaraderie in the paddock,
which seems brilliant.
And that's one of the key things.
difficult it's difficult to
get and very difficult to
maintain agreed uh and I've
seen where it's it's been
good and it's been lost as
well so it does take that
constant effort from
everybody from both sides
the drivers and you guys on
the the organizing side of
it so I applaud you guys as
well for everything you've
done I'm allowed to say
that because I'm neutral so
it's fine I know it's your
show but I'm neutral so
well done to you guys um
Quickly,
we've already got David Taylor's
jumped in and said, evening,
ladies and gentlemen.
I hope everyone's good.
And he says, hi, Dorsey and the MCC guys.
Evening, David.
You can all put comments or
questions wherever you're watching,
whether it's on Facebook, YouTube,
doesn't matter.
Put your comments, put your questions in.
We can put them up on screen.
This is all about the
community that we're building,
even when you're not at the race circuit.
That's the whole idea of this.
I guess, guys,
we need to push on and get
our first guest in.
Are you going to stay on for
questions or are you going
to pepper me with things
from the private chat?
Private chat for me.
I don't mind either which way.
You decide, Chris.
We'll put you to the back
and you can do that because
you're coming on later anyway.
We'll do it that way.
I've got to go and put the spuds on,
so if you just get...
Well,
what I'm going to do is that I'm
going to get rid of these two.
They can go like up in that,
what's the Muppets up in the balcony?
You're going to be, yeah.
You two are going to be
hounding me in the
background like those two.
Once I've killed the Spuds, I'll be back.
Yeah,
and I'm going to bring out our
R-Fifty-Six and the
combined Airtek trophy champion.
Next up, we've got Freddie Hewitt.
Evening, Freddie.
How are we?
I am good, thank you, my friend.
I'll just quickly bring this up,
is that Paul Noloth says,
Rob looks ready for his hot chocolate.
I'm just kidding.
Yeah, he has laughed.
That's the good news.
First things first, Freddie.
Massive congratulations.
A hard-fought season.
Some great dicing with the
likes of Jamie Ringer and
all of that sort of stuff.
Congratulations, and I believe
it is kind of built up to a
lifelong dream to get those
championships under your
belt yeah thank you um for
what I've been I've been
racing for going on ten uh
thirteen years now uh in in
go-karts and then moving up
to cars and it's always
been a massive dream from
the very start to to become a champion
So to do that and have that
monkey off your back is
such an unbelievable achievement for us,
such a family-based team
and only fighting on the
scraps we have really.
And that's quite an interesting one.
You've used the phrase,
the monkey off the back,
and I hear it quite a lot,
is that whilst you're going
for it time and time again
and something happens that
just robs you of it and a bit of bad luck,
does it genuinely, I mean,
it obviously does because
you've said it yourself,
that feeling of the monkey
off the back give you a clarity,
a strength going into next year?
Yeah, in go-karts,
I actually really struggled to be
one of the quick guys um
consistently anyway um and
going into cars I felt so
much more comfortable than
at home but when you're not
winning uh or you're in
this well you're in the
wrong series for you or for
your car uh it does give
you doubts of whether a you
should be doing it and b
you're good enough to do it
and do it at a competitive
level um last year was a really good year
in the way that it gave me a
lot of confidence.
But I made a few sort of young boy errors,
which affected my season.
And the bad luck Zach had at
Snetterton in the end of the season,
if I didn't make my mistake,
I'd have liked to think I'd
have won that championship as well.
But it wasn't to be.
I made my mistakes and I
learned from them.
But such a big boost of confidence
from last year uh that we
managed to carry through to
this year so that's the
interesting uh sort of like
progress isn't it is that
frustration and and you
know really gutted that you
came so close but to then
turn it around and go yeah
but hang on I was in the
hunt that gave you the
confidence coming into this
year you've now done it
what does that mean going into next year
It means hopefully I can put
a few more people up for
some sponsorship because
it's such a sellable item.
Last year's results really
helped us get some
sponsorship for this year
and hopefully we can push
on for next year and get a
good quality sponsorship deal.
And I guess having gone
through that whole process
is that it means that
you're kind of going, no,
I feel ready to deal with the success,
the disappointment, the frustration,
the elation, all of the above.
You kind of go, yeah,
I know how to deal with all
of them a bit better now.
Yeah,
and I think you also sign up for most
of them when you decide to
be a racing driver.
You get the excitement, the downfall,
just all the emotions of
being a racing driver.
It is a lot, isn't it?
A couple of comments coming in already.
Alan Scoggins says, Freddie,
are you still the Rainmeister?
I was at Croft.
I was at Croft.
Okay.
But not a brand because I
was on the wrong tyres at the time,
so that didn't help.
Oh, no.
That's a nightmare.
James Howard says,
a well-deserved win and a
round of applause there.
Uh,
so thank you for that comment from James.
Perfect acceleration sim racing.
They say evening or hello to you.
I'm assuming that's probably
going to be Mick, uh, saying that.
So good evening to you guys.
Um, I,
my gut instinct therefore is that
this championship was the
perfect one to come in
because it's amazing cars.
serious competition having
commentated on you guys is
it's always without fail
exciting you know racing
very close very tight but
highly regulated in terms
of the driving standards
and a wonderful spirit back
in the paddock as well
which must sort of help
relieve some of that
pressure it does and the
journey our cars had it's
been within our family for
this is the tenth
anniversary of owning the
car so my sister used to race it
I think her first season was
in the original
mini-challenge open class
and to have the car through
all of them years and have
this journey with it has been very good.
You say about being in the
right championship,
obviously that
mini-challenge broke up and
not long after that I jumped in the car.
Which meant we had to go to
a more open series where
the brakes were more open.
You could have different cars.
And we ended up fighting
against sequential Renault
Cleos in a pretty not far
off standard powered Mini.
And their penalty for having
a sequential gearbox was like,
twenty kilos of weight or
something like that.
You just had no chance.
We still gave them a good race, but
you had like I say you had
no chance um so when when
the opportunity came to to
join this series it was a
really good opportunity for
us to to show what we've
got show the car still got
it uh quite an undeveloped
car now um and yeah and
we're really enjoying it
it's been great so it's so
credit to to tom and rob
for putting it together for us really
Absolutely.
I agree with that sentiment.
Claire McKinnis says, well done, Freddie.
That's from Jason, actually, not Claire.
Unless that's just a weekend thing.
I don't know.
But James Howard says,
working alongside Freddie
and the team has been great this season.
Looking forward to next season.
Hopefully more trophies to come.
So lovely comments from James.
Yeah, absolutely.
Chris Aram says, sorry for all the emails.
I'm not sure who that's to,
whether that was to you or
whether it was to Tom and Rob.
We are well on the way with Build,
looking forward to being on
the grid next season.
So I think,
I would imagine no one's going
to complain about emails if
it's getting more of you on the grid.
I mean,
have you decided on next season yet?
The plan, the sort of,
what I would call the bog
standard plan which is all
being well uh is to be in
the series next year um
unless as I always keep my
options open unless there's
a someone out there with a
lovely pot of money pot of
gold hopefully um that
would mean I could I could
move up into a maybe a
cooper or a jcw within the
the mini challenge but
I don't see that happening currently.
So it looks like this season,
next season would be to
defend and hopefully carry
the number one for the year.
Nice.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I love it.
Well, listen, Freddie,
massive congratulations.
Do you want to give a shout
out to him before I let you go?
Oh, so many people.
My dad sat behind me and
been really quiet.
So I'll give him a shout out first.
We're actually doing a rally
in a few weeks time together,
which he wanted me to shout out for him.
So that'll be quite fun as a co-driver.
Keep yourself busy in the winter.
Paul and Jay, PJN, my sponsor.
Obviously, Chris is watching.
So I have to look at my t-shirts,
remind myself.
James from Electrical, Hell Performance,
Jetstream, Spectra Packaging as well,
Pitlane Developments, James at HRRC.
I've probably got it wrong.
I always get it wrong.
And Meister R as well for
their support this season.
Wonderful.
Well, a great opportunity to thank them.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, yeah.
Mum, don't forget,
she'll be sat on the sofa shouting at me.
Hi, Mum.
No, it's lovely.
Well,
it's nice to give you that
opportunity to give them a
shout out as well.
So, Freddie, many, many congratulations.
Winner of the twenty twenty
four R-fifty six class and
the Airtek trophy for the
combined R-fifty threes and R-fifty six.
Not a bad season, mate.
Many congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
No, no problem at all.
So we're going to change
over now because next up
we're going to have Neil Clark.
So thanks, Freddie.
We'll speak to you soon.
Thank you.
Good evening, Neil.
Good evening.
Now you're here with two hats on, really,
because directly above your camera,
we've got your Norfolk Cars
mini specialist, but you're also
a past Cooper champion.
And in fact,
I think you came runner up
again this year.
Yes, yes, very true.
We've been on board since the beginning,
supporting the series and
had a cracking year last
year in the Coopers and
returned this year.
And whilst I didn't win this year,
it was an awesome,
awesome year of battling with
with Dan and Andy in the Coopers.
So, yeah, just great all round.
And, of course, we do congratulate.
We had Andy Langley on episode two.
Congratulations on the
Cooper class win this year, Andy.
I'll say that because I'm only joking.
You would say that as well, wouldn't you,
Neil, to be fair?
yeah I have to uh I have to
but um yeah when andy's
with us um he's uh he's
always always on the case
you know he's very thorough
with what he wants with his
uh car and you know he
deserved to to win this
year you know it's just so
such a good driver and so
difficult to pass and you know it's um
It's been brilliant trying,
managed it a few times,
but then he's equally as
good to get me back again.
So that's been brilliant.
And that's the beauty of it.
And I've got to tell you
from both a spectator and a
commentator's perspective
is that it's always so much
action going on,
the full length and breadth of the grid.
And that in reality is what you want.
You don't want to sit there
and just sort of like put
all home from lights to flag, do you?
You want to be able to have those battles.
Exactly that,
and that's prior to this
series being set up.
Um, you know, we had the Kumo, um,
BMW thing, and then before that there was,
you know, track day trophies.
And I think like Freddie was saying,
there wasn't the battles,
there wasn't the close battles.
And that's what gives me a buzz, um,
more so than, than winning sometimes,
you know,
knowing that you've had a good fight,
you've been able to defend,
you've been able to attack.
Um, and it's,
it just puts a massive smile
on your face and you can
get out at the end of the race.
can hug the other drivers
you're battling with it's
just that lovely atmosphere
in the in the um in the
park in the paddock as well
it's it's it's really good
yeah I love I do love that
even when the battling's
intense that you still
shake hands smile and
everything mark hume says
evening all evening mark to
you as well uh keep those
comments and questions coming in now
neil and before I'm going to
address your your
intentions that I've been
informed of for next year
is that I want to address
your your sort of almost
dual involvement both as a
competitor and as I said
directly above your camera
there the norfolk cars
that's your business is
that right yeah and gary
gary papworth he's he's uh
of course yeah as well yeah
the clubman clubman racer
um so yeah both of us and um
I set it up twenty-odd years
ago now and I've been doing
the minis for fifteen years
and Gary was initially helping me,
he was an AA man and he was
on the side doing jobs for
the workshop and cam belts
on the driveway in wintertime,
all that kind of stuff and
eventually I said to him, look,
just come on board and he left the AA,
come on board and not look back really.
So it's evolved from there,
from having two or three
minis on the driveway to a
brand new purpose-built
workshop that we've got now.
Where's that?
It's all in the village.
We're rural Norfolk,
Tilney All Saints near Kinslin.
And it's great because I
work here from home in my office.
It's built onto the back of our premises.
And the workshop is
literally a two-minute walk.
And some more farm buildings
that we've converted into
workshops and storage.
And, yeah,
we've got a good team there now.
It was getting stressful a
few years back because more
and more work was coming in.
We had the race cars to prep.
But we've just taken on
another technician recently.
So we've got Gary and Pete
and Andy down there who are
very competent with the
minis and are turning out some good,
reliable race cars as well.
Yeah, I was going to say that.
So the primary focus was road-going cars,
but the race cars have
obviously come along as well then.
Yeah,
predominantly we're an online
retailer of minis.
We don't have any passing
traffic where we're located.
It's all online.
And as that's grown and the
customers want to come back for servicing,
so that's grown.
We acquired, I wish we still had it,
an original Mini Challenge
R-五三 race car probably
about ten years ago.
And we
thought wow let's let's have
a go at racing and uh we
went in the track day
trophy for that not really
knowing what we're doing
but um absolutely loved it
and we then become involved
with a mini challenge back
in I think it's when
charlie butler henderson
was racing and and he was
in the group uh the jcw
class so we we sort of
sponsored him because I've
known him for um you know
through the motor industry and um
Then, yeah,
we got involved and we did have
a season in the mini
challenge in two thousand and twenty.
I think the COVID year and
wasn't great because it was COVID year,
no spectators, etc.
And then when Rob and Tom said.
what they're going to be
trying to achieve with this
new series straight away.
I was like, yeah, I'm behind you on this.
It's exactly what I've been
after for years.
And you nearly had it with
the Cooper M series, you know,
and the numbers were twelve,
thirteen Coopers in there.
And it's a good atmosphere.
And the boys have done an
incredible job to be where
they are right now, I think, you know,
just in two years of this series,
having the grid they've got
and the people that are in
the racing is fantastic as well.
So it's great to be associated with it.
Oh, I can imagine.
I wasn't supposed to be racing because the,
I said to him,
I'll support you with
getting it up and running.
And, um, I had, um, baby Leo and, um,
I said, I haven't got the time to race.
They said, well, look,
you may as well do one, do the first one.
So I said, I will,
which series do you want?
Cause we've got Cooper S's and Coopers.
And he said, well,
we could do with a few more
numbers in the Coopers.
So I went in the Coopers, went to Cadwell,
um,
and won the first three races.
I thought, ooh, this is unusual.
And my wife, who's very understanding,
she said, oh,
you're going to do it again then?
I didn't even have to ask.
Wow.
Little baby Leo,
he's nearly two and a half now,
he absolutely loves cars and tractors.
Um,
so he comes along whenever he can and
because we watches it on YouTube, if not,
um, it makes family life easier.
So I think there's another
up and coming racer in.
In a little while, anyway.
I love it.
I can see Tom Halliwell in
the green room below us
here and he's chuckling
away at you saying that.
I think it sounds like
they've done you up like a
kipper at the beginning to
get you in because they
knew that you wouldn't be
able to walk away.
Yeah, well, I didn't expect that.
It carried on and then the battles,
like I said, with Andy and Dan were...
were fantastic.
And it was tense,
that last race of twenty-three,
because I knew I had to
finish and not mess it up
and also score the points.
So it was really stressful,
that last race.
So this year has been a lot
more relaxing because
obviously I missed
Donington because we had a
family holiday booked.
So there was less pressure
because I kind of knew it
would be a tough ask to retain it.
Having said that,
Andy Langley won everything anyway,
didn't he?
I don't think I would have
come anywhere near.
well on that note is that I
will where did it go where
am I looking we did prepare
his car so you know we have
to take credit for that
Andy himself says thank you
Neil we had some great
battles this year so that's
a lovely comment Glenn
Copeland's stirring up
though he says are they all
of Andy's trophies behind
Neil no no they were mine
from last year just one
from this year so I'll let
Andy Langley have a few this year
Fair enough.
Well,
and also Tom in the private chat has
been winding up.
He says, you didn't have the baby,
your wife did, so it was a poor excuse.
Oh, yes, very true.
And he said he even gave you
his old engineer, Tom,
and Ollie won when you
couldn't do Donington in your car.
Andy Langley let him past, I saw.
LAUGHTER
That's Andy Longley's bogey corner,
that one at Donington.
So he always lets people
past on that corner.
But no, we've had a great team this year.
We've had Tom Ison and his brother-in-law,
James, helping us.
And I think because of that setup,
we've got the Trundley boys on board now.
It's not something we went out to get,
but it's great having them
on board because they're a
good couple of guys and
they're starting their
racing careers late,
but they're coming to the right series,
I think.
And we've got a couple of
new cars that we're now
building up for them,
ready for the next year.
So we've got quite a few cars now,
actually.
Yeah, so we might be hiring two out.
Yeah, so in other words,
there is that whole team element.
And I get the,
I've heard that you are
planning to move into the
Cooper S with an R-fifty-three next year.
Potentially.
I mean, I love the Coopers,
so I've got the option.
But, you know,
if someone's going to rent
one of our cars, I'll use the other car.
The other one, yeah.
So we're building an R-Fifty-Six.
We've already got an R-Fifty-Three.
The Trundley boys have got a
couple of Minis now.
So I think with the Clubman
and Andy Langley's Cooper and our Cooper,
there's eight Minis to choose from.
so we're not short on that
front and gary's busy
trying to get them all
ready for a bit of testing
before the year end um so
that we can get them get
them right for next season
so yeah a lot to do in the
workshop well it's such a
great uh insight there both
as a racing driver a
business partner of the
championship but also as a
as a team that are running
multiple drivers it's so
cool to hear that involvement
I don't know whether it's
the same comment to put to you or not,
but I would imagine it is.
Do you want to give a shout
out to anyone at the end of this season,
Neil?
Well,
obviously Tom and Rob for organising
this because I have done a
cracking job and
I know it can't be easy and
people always whinge and
complain about different series,
but you know, honestly, this is,
this is one of the best,
even Gary's happy with the series,
you know,
and just get Gary happy is
something special,
but it is a great atmosphere.
So we're going to be
supporting it going forward.
And, you know, everyone on our team,
because we've got a lot of
people involved back at base, you know,
with, with mechanics, Gary and, and,
Andy and Pete and Neil who
cleans the car so they all
do well but of course the
family as well because you
know they are understanding
of it it's five weekends
away but they enjoy it and
yeah make it all feasible really well
I love the sound of all of that.
Listen, Neil,
well done on another great season.
Not quite champion this year,
but still up there,
just missing off that top
step and runner up and run in the wind,
the champ and all of that sort of stuff.
And thank you on behalf of
the championship for the
support from Norfolk Cars as well.
And I think it's safe to say
that I can use the phrase
we look forward to seeing
you in twenty twenty five then.
Yes, yes.
We'll be there.
We'll be there.
Fabulous.
Well, thank you for joining us, Neil.
Much appreciated.
Before I remove Neil,
next up is that we're going
to bring on Jordan from Ravenol.
But before I do that,
I'm going to bring up Tom
and Rob so they know I'm
about to bring them in
because I think it's right
that we sort of almost
precursor the fact that
we're bringing Jordan on
from Ravenol so they can
lead into it and then we'll
bring Jordan on.
So, Neil, thanks, mate.
We'll see you again soon.
Gents,
I thought it made sense to do it
this way because,
and I'm not sure which one
of you I should come to first,
is that we're now going to
bring out another one of
your business partners.
And I know I'll start with you, Tom,
actually,
because you have said to me in
the past just how thankful
and passionate you are
about the businesses that
you partner up with for
this championship.
Yeah, without doubt.
when we set out on this,
we probably didn't know the
kind of costs that were involved.
We came out, typical me and Rob,
came out with a load of
words that sounded great.
Everyone went for the idea.
We hadn't got a bloody clue
what we were doing.
And then it starts to unfold and, you know,
and the commitment we've had from,
from Airtec, from Garmin,
from Norfolk Mini.
And then at the start of last season,
it was quite a late sort of conversation.
I remember,
I'll be sort of back in the January,
February, wasn't it?
And,
ravenel we're very keen to
get involved and at that
late stage we'd still put
something together that's
worked for everybody um
this next season twenty
twenty five everyone will
have to run a ravenel oil
within their engine um and
that's the kind of
commitment back but then
ravenel have also offered
substantial discounts to
the competitors so it's kind of
It works for those as well.
And also the scientific
backup they get from
Ravenel is fantastic.
So again, it's somebody else who,
like Neil, very,
very kind words from
Freddie and Neil about me and Rob,
to be honest.
Again,
but without the people like those
partners,
we wouldn't be able to go racing.
Although we may be able to,
but entry fees would be a lot, lot more.
And then would that become
another barrier to entry,
which we're trying to stop?
We want more people on the grid.
So no, absolutely crucial for
many challenge clubs thought
and rob this uh bring I'm
going to bring out jordan
in a second is that this
was not just to sort of
have a chat with one of
your business partners but
without giving it away just
yet is that this has been
deeper conversations to
find something different to
bring in new new people
yeah I think what we worked
out is that you know
because making up the story
torn I've been going
through a massive learning
curve and I think what we
we decided was that actually, you know,
there are X amount of race
drivers out there.
But through the MINI concept,
through the car and through
everything that we've built,
the opportunities to bring
new people into motorsport
is probably where we want to be.
And this is part of what
we're proposing with Ravenel.
So it's quite exciting.
I think a lot of people who
race in the minis, they love the car.
And so we decided that we
wanted to sort of, you know,
sort of try and bring some
links together with the
owners clubs and people who
perhaps are new to racing.
And that's one of the things
that we have been
discussing over the last few weeks.
No, absolutely.
And I was just suddenly
realizing for the bit that
I'm doing later,
I'm trying to multitask
because I need to be able
to show you the calendar on screen.
And I realized I hadn't put that.
Sorry about that.
I was looking down.
Well, in which case, Rob, I think and Tom,
perfect chance to get this
person out so that we can
have a chat about the
business and then look at
what this announcement is.
You happy with that?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good evening, Jordan.
From a car park in Bruges, I believe.
Oh yeah, you know,
we live at large up at Ravenel.
This is what we do.
Absolutely.
And I've got to try and stop Tom and Rob
cracking any kind of joke
comments about you sat in a
car in a car park,
so we'll try to keep them away from that.
I know what we're thinking here.
Good job there's not a comments section,
isn't there?
We weren't going to bring
swinging into it tonight, were we?
You just went there, didn't you?
You went there anyway.
Jordan, thank you so much for joining us.
I know you're on a busy road
trip at the moment,
so thank you so much for joining us.
But you had to come on,
even without the
announcements that we're
going to go with tonight, because Ravenol,
clearly from the
conversations I've had
previously with Tom and Rob,
are an integral part of
this championship.
For those who don't know,
let's go back to basics.
For anybody who doesn't know,
who are Ravenol?
So Ravenol is a company, a German company,
that specializes in all
manner of vehicles.
So we have incredibly
specific oils for if you've
got a Ford or you have an
M-五七 BMW engine or you've
got an M-twenty or whatever,
anything like that,
we have a specific oil for your car,
including even gearbox oil.
So ZFs, Gattrags, all of that,
everything is specific.
And that's kind of our
our USP and obviously we've
got the USVO range which
means instead of having
linear polymers they're
star chained instead so as
it cycles through as your
oil cycles through the
engine it gets chopped up
into little bits every
single time so what the
USVO stuff does is it stops
it kind of deteriorating so
there's less shear rate on
it and what you end up with
is when you finish your
racing your five forty or
whatever was in your engine
is still a five forty at
the end of that as opposed
to something that's lost its viscosity.
I mean, that just sounds incredible to me.
I'm not the type of person.
Good explanation though, Jordan.
Good explanation.
Well done.
It really is.
And super impressive.
Even for those that don't necessarily know,
and certainly I'm not mechanically minded,
but even I was there going, right,
I don't understand
everything you just said,
but I certainly know that, wow,
and there's a whole lot
more to what I put in my
car than I probably appreciated.
Oh, massively so, yeah.
I mean, you've got a gearbox always,
you've got coolants,
you've got antifreeze, engine oils,
diff fluids, everything.
In fact,
my two hundred and thirty six
thousand mile BMW has all
of it in and it runs perfectly.
So in other words,
they can go to your website
and say this is the car
that they've got and it
will basically tell them
which one they therefore need to get.
Yeah, pretty much.
You go into our oil finder,
type in your reg and it'll
tell you what oils you need
and even tell you the fill
amount you need.
So, for example, this is seven litres.
Wow.
OK, that's that's really, really cool.
Incidentally, I did have.
So we've got the Ravenol
direct dash direct UK.
And we've got the the full
blown motorsport one as well,
which you can go to the
main website and and you'll
be able to click the
motorsport one as well.
Because it is both the race
car and your road car, isn't it?
Yeah, exactly.
We do two different ranges.
We do a motorsport range and
we do a normal car range.
But most of the technology
is shared across us.
In fact,
our USVO range came from
motorsport and it's now
developed into road cars.
Oh, so it's that way around.
That makes sense, actually,
because a lot of the tech goes that way,
doesn't it, to be fair?
Yeah,
exactly like that when everything
just trickles down.
So all of the cars in the
Mini Challenge Club Sport
Championship will be using...
the Ravenol oils next season.
But they actually, you guys,
such as the partnership
that they even get
discounts on those as well.
Yeah.
So all of the drivers,
if they've got their own
personal cars can have
discounts on it as well.
And then of course,
obviously they're race cars as well.
They get discounts on that.
Fair shout.
Tom,
any other things that you would be
good to bring up or ask
Jordan from your perspective?
No, no, I mean,
Jordan's obviously got
heavily involved since he
started with Ravenol.
I think, you know,
during probably halfway through this year,
you started with Ravenol, didn't you?
Yeah, yeah.
Well,
Thruxton was the first time I met you
guys.
Wow, so that was a little bit later,
wasn't it?
Because that was the penultimate round,
wasn't it, Thruxton?
I think it was.
I've lost track now.
It was the third round.
Third, yeah.
Yeah, the third round.
Yeah.
Fine.
I've lost track.
The season's gone just like
in a blur already, hasn't it?
Well, the key thing,
one of the other things is
obviously the guys wanted
an opportunity to promote
Ravenol and thank for all
the business partnership
that continues and actually
is going up a notch by the
sounds of it for next year.
Really, really exciting.
And I guess the point being
is even if people don't understand it,
aren't sure,
come and speak to you guys
because you'll be able to
advise them as well.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, give us a call, shoot us an email,
or even message us on Instagram, Facebook,
wherever.
We can help you guys out.
Perfect.
No, that sounds good.
But the big one is,
there is an announcement
that this is going above
and beyond just being a
business partner and just
being a supplier of the oils,
is that there is a very big
initiative in keeping us connected.
I missed all of what you
said at the end there,
but I think I looked at it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
It's going into, into computer now.
Um, yeah, obviously, uh,
talking with the guys,
talking with Rob and Tom, that,
we want to bring an
initiative to get newer
drivers into the sport,
just into racing in general.
So there's talk of having the Ravenel Cup,
so to speak, for new drivers who come in.
So whether that's most
overtakes in the season, et cetera.
But yeah,
it's going to be something exciting.
I think Rob and Tom, I think,
have got more of the
details on that than I do.
Which one of you two want to
pick that one up then, guys?
Go on, Tom.
No, go on, you.
So what we're developing is
basically we want to bring
people from the cars to the grid.
So you buy a Mini,
you join our owners club,
then you get on the grid.
And we came up with the idea
that we would have the
Ravenel Cup for the novice driver.
And Ravenel very kindly
decided that they would
sponsor that as part of our package.
We will give a cup to the
novice of the season, but with
a special deal with a Ravenol for oil,
and also some extra prizes,
which we will develop
through the year and over the off-season.
But I think that it's going
to be quite exciting.
We want to bring in someone,
male or female,
who basically have never raced before,
come in here and they've
got something to race for
rather than having to pit
themselves against some of
the more experienced guys and girls.
So it's great.
For us, it's great.
I think for drivers coming in,
It gives them something to aim for.
We've all been in that situation.
Starting out is really difficult.
And sometimes you get lost
because you're left at the
back to find your own way.
This gives people the
opportunity to show their own skills.
Agreed.
Hence,
I've now put up on the screen
introducing the Ravenol Novice Cup.
I think
That's where it sat at the
moment as a title.
Say that again, Jordan?
Where's the confessor?
Well, sorry.
I should have, shouldn't I?
I should have had something there.
My bad.
My bad.
It's all over the floor of your car, mate.
That's where it is.
Along with empty packets of crisps.
Well,
and I probably could have done it
where we could have had a
big bit of applause music
going in the background, you know,
just suddenly, you know, play a bit of...
music or whatever, you know,
whatever it needs to be,
because it is a big deal.
There we go.
I've got a bit of music with it.
It's a bit late for that now, isn't it?
It's a bit late for that, isn't it?
I'll tell you what,
this is just so professional.
It's like a drinking club, isn't it,
for old people?
It's a community, mate.
You know about that.
It's a community.
No, I think, you know,
what Tom and I have talked about,
and when I spoke to you, Jordan,
you were quite excited.
We were talking about, you know,
introducing our own track
days and track evenings.
And part of that was
actually to get people to come along,
do an exclusive mini...
track evening with a view to
getting their odds test um
and then being able to race
and that and it's a
progression to bring people
in um you know motorsport
is it's such a difficult
thing to get into um but
actually when you're in
there it seems it seems so
easy but we want to just
make you know help bridge
that gap really don't we
tom yeah definitely um I
mean I remember I think I
don't know if you can
remember your first race
rob I can remember mine and
It takes a long time and a
lot of commitment to get on the grid.
And I think I wouldn't have
got there without a lot of
close friends of mine.
I've followed in their
footsteps of racing.
And now,
if you haven't got a direct connection,
it can be quite a big,
big wall to get over.
So we're trying to help the
people who do have minutes.
There's hundreds, if not thousands,
out there track daying now.
I think every track that
I've been to this year,
there's at least been one to two minis,
fifty sixes, fifty threes, a few coopers.
And what we want to try and
do is support those guys to
make that jump.
So we're in very early
stages of looking to run
track days at probably minimum of two,
maybe three of the tracks
that we're going to visit
in twenty twenty five.
We're also looking at those
events to be able to do
odds tests for people who
want to want to obtain
their race license.
um and then we're trying to
put them together with
people who you know if they
need support you know need
some help need some
guidance um a bit like a
mentor we're putting people
in there as well so we're
doing everything we can to
not only you know to
bolster our own grid but
also take people who aren't
on any grid um from you
know and support uk
motorsport no I think I'd
like to add to that actually
You know, I remember, you know,
having been in motorsport
for so many years now, maybe three,
four years ago,
I decided I might have a go at rallying.
And do you know what?
It was just,
I just didn't know where to go,
who to speak to, how to get into it.
And
I don't want that to be the
case in motorsport.
I think that, you know,
especially motor racing,
you want to be able to, you know,
have a clear path to be
able to get into it.
Because for me and for Tom,
it's just given us so many
years of enjoyment.
But sometimes you get scared
by what is involved to be able to get,
you know, directly involved with it.
And then you just walk away
and do something else.
So our job is to make it easier.
I think as well.
It's the unknowns, isn't it?
That's the challenge that
you've got to get over.
And it's given that if
they're going to track days,
that means that we know
that they've got the bug.
They're getting the
opportunity to go around
and to sort of incorporate
the getting their ARDS
license at that time.
And then you've got the
Ravenol Novice Cup that
could encourage them to come over.
Don't panic about the established people.
There is something that's
rewarding the newbies as well.
And it all joins together.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
we've always tried to
promote since we started
this was that even in the
way we grid the races up that, you know,
we start with open and then
we had the S class combined.
Then we had Cooper, you know,
next year we're splitting
the fifty three and the
fifty six class because as
hard as we've tried as
previous others have as well,
we can't equalize those cars.
So we're going to let people
battle for their own race.
Now, you know, with a novice,
it gives somebody something to go for.
It gives them an achievement
at the end of the weekend and,
um rather than just sort of
having to keep you know
rather than about you know
you but when you start out
it's a case you have to
pick yourself up each
weekend and keep going it's
a real game of perseverance
to get when you get to the
front that then it's a huge
drug and you want to keep
going um but what we're
going to try and do is keep
those people interested
engaged and give them
something to go for and
also a bit of a shine of
acknowledgement at the end
of the weekend absolutely I
mean the classic example
jordan is when we spoke the
other week the other day about it and um
You know,
we said that we were looking at this and,
you know, with a view to do track days.
And your immediate reaction,
I know you've done a bit of karting, was,
yeah, I'd love to do that.
I'll come along.
And that's, you know, that's the thing,
isn't it?
You know,
to be involved with it and get in
there and become part of
the racing community is ideal.
Yeah.
I think it's one thing to do
track days and kind of go
at your own pace,
but then to step into a
racing environment is so
much more fun because it's just,
it's insane.
It's crazy,
but it's so rewarding at the end of it.
It's, yeah, I love it.
Like with karting, it's brilliant.
I've got a feeling you're
going to be on our grid within two years,
Jordan.
I might ask my mum if I can take her JCW.
Well, Paul Sawyer, obviously,
DJ Paul Sawyer is on your
grid and he says definitely
daunting when you start,
but completely addictive as
the series progresses.
And for me,
I'm almost sat there thinking
it's such a perfect thing
for Ravenol to be getting
involved with because it's about,
you know,
we were saying about not knowing
and it's getting rid of that not knowing.
Well,
your whole website and everything
else that you do is that if
you don't know what fuel,
what oils you need, sorry.
we're able to direct you so
it's kind of like it's
keeping the philosophy of
ravenol within the the you
know the trophies that are
available as well yeah
definitely I mean
information is key for
anything so it'll kind of
it all comes as a part of
it if you don't know what
oil you're using in your
car you know fine we'll
tell you what it is but if
you want to go a step
further and talk about
motorsport then you know we
can put you in the right
direction as well
everything's easy when you know how that's,
that's the thing, isn't it?
Well,
even Claire McInnes is saying that
it's certainly a hard challenge,
but I think there was a
message that was cut off,
but it was almost as if she
was saying that she can
relate to that as well.
So it resonates with people.
So well done.
And thank you to Ravenel for that.
The novice cup sounds brilliant.
Well done you guys for the, the whole,
you know,
the track day and the odds and
all of that,
and then going into the novice,
there's an obvious progress.
And as a commentator,
I pick up on championships
where they've got those
rungs of the ladder because
of someone trying to get into it.
There's so much choice that you go, well,
where do I go?
What, you know, ignore the unknowns.
You're even there going, well,
which is an obvious way to go.
I want stepping stones.
I want to know where I can go with this.
Definitely.
And I think, you know, as I said,
huge amount of minis out
there already doing track days, um,
And then the daunting thought of, oh, well,
I've got this car.
The natural progression is
if they want to go and race,
it's to race that car.
And that's what we'd like to
do and give them as much
assistance and help as they can, really.
Well,
let's round up this show with a big one.
I know we've already had
Liam Stapleton that said,
what are the dates for next season?
So should we have a look at that, guys?
You all right with that?
Are we allowed?
Yeah.
you've been working hard on
this so let's let's have a
look uh just quickly before
I go into that david tell
us it certainly is hard to
get into racing but until
you have all the parts uh
car suit safety equipment
license and all that jazz
becomes a lot easier and I
agree I'm I think I'm going
to get into racing soon as
well much to my wife's chagrin but
Let's have a look at this calendar.
Now, I will come to you, Rob,
because we were speaking
about this beforehand,
is that you wanted to go to some, like,
real, you know, blue-ribbon circuits,
but you've even got things
like Asterix against three
of them where it's having
the garages at them as well.
Well, I'm afraid that calendar's wrong.
We start at Monte Carlo in May.
Yes.
Then we're straight off to, where was it?
I can't remember.
It was a spa.
That's it, yeah.
No,
we've seriously got a fantastic calendar.
I cannot describe to you how
difficult it is to get a
calendar together,
especially with what we
need in terms of our format,
which is basically with the free practice,
qualifying, and three races.
It is so difficult.
And I think we've done a great job.
I agree.
I mean, that looks brilliant.
So you start on the Silverstone National,
the seventeenth, eighteenth of May,
and you'll be in the garages for that.
Back to Thruxton, fifth, sixth of July.
Can I just add there that
actually we've got Thruxton
for the trucks and we've
got Snetterton for the trucks.
They are twenty five
thousand people plus there.
Silverstone International,
It's a completely different
circuit to Silverstone National,
and we get to use the Grand
Prix garages there.
But the big one for us is Brands Hatch.
Brands Hatch is the mini festival.
It's the old days mini festival,
pre-'sixty-six, mini-Miglia, mini-seven,
fastest mini in the world,
and we are headlining that,
and we're in the garages,
and they're expecting
twenty-five thousand people to be there.
It is.
And I've been on the
commentary team multiple
times and hopefully I will
again next year for the mini festival.
And it is always a fabulous event.
So much atmosphere,
loads going on off track as
well as on track.
and it genuinely works.
And it's one of those ones,
sometimes you get two-day
events that you kind of go,
that could have probably
been squeezed into one.
Absolutely not.
That is a humdinger of a
two-day event at Brands Hatch.
They put on one heck of a festival.
So it's so obvious,
but really good to see you
guys there at Mini Festival.
No, I've never said this before,
but in two years,
I won all three races at
the Mini Festival.
I know, I covered it.
No, it's such a great event.
I mean, all the owners' clubs come down.
There's so much going on.
And, you know,
everyone loves Brands Hatch.
It's just great.
And I've got to say, even on the podiums,
you still pretended you
were grumpy after every win as well,
by the way.
I wouldn't have even pretended.
You can't have been.
You won, damn it.
Listen,
I've got to peel some spuds in a minute.
Yeah, it's fine.
But I think that was the one
where Stuart McLaren
actually raced with no
windscreen and back window as well,
with it raining as well
after a roll coming out of Paddock Hill.
Yeah, I might have tipped him off,
but sorry about that, Stuart.
Yeah.
Well, Jamie Ringer, he says,
where's Rob's sunglasses?
Cop out.
You know, that was when you were copying.
I put the Dennis Taylor on this.
Martin Ringer says, well done, boys.
Glenn Copeland says, superb calendar.
Genuinely, it looks super exciting.
Jordan,
that's got to motivate you to want
to get out and race, hasn't it?
Yeah, I mean,
let alone the fact I love
racing and cars and everything, but,
I mean, Silverstone twice is brilliant,
and down at Brands as well.
Some absolutely cracking tracks there.
And it is, and like Rob made the key point,
Thruxton, Snetterton,
supporting the trucks,
they'll always be a big festival.
Yeah, they're insane.
I do enjoy covering that, yeah.
And he's right,
it brings out a lot of people for it,
and I enjoy covering things like that.
So, seriously, guys,
fabulous job on that calendar.
I think that that really
wraps it up nicely.
Neil Clark is still in the background.
He's just put a comment saying, well done,
guys.
Awesome calendar.
So he's pleased with that, obviously,
from Norfolk Cars.
Anything else that you want to add, Rob,
before we go?
We've got more stuff to add,
but we'll bring it in October.
I think we've got enough for
people to chew over tonight.
I just want to thank
everyone for coming on tonight.
It's been such a great show.
And, you know,
I'd like to also just
finally mention all of our champions.
You know,
we've got Ross Alexandre who won
the Opens.
Him and Steve Berry had the
most fantastic races this year.
Andy Langley obviously we
spoke to Andy last time him
and Neil just did such
great battles we haven't
mentioned Zach him and
Charlie Newton Darby oh
yeah because he went to the
fifty threes and then Jamie
Ringer our sort of
DJ boy, what do you call him?
A sort of rapper boy.
He didn't do too bad, but honestly,
Freddie just wiped his arse in the end,
didn't he?
And that is right.
I did mean to turn around and say,
Ross Alexander, Open Class champ,
Freddie Hewitt, R-Fifty-Six champ,
Zach Blackwell, R-Fifty-Three champ,
Andy Langley, Cooper Class, and of course,
Freddie Hewitt,
the combined air tech as well.
Well done to all of you.
Tom and I are looking forward to
I'll do next week when we're
celebrating the year.
Glenn Copeland is going to
be buying both of his drinks all night.
We're all witness to that as well.
So David Taylor says, wow, Silverstone,
Snetterdon and Thruxton
tracks I've never raced at.
Wicked.
Tom messenger says,
love seeing the club
support package with the BTRC.
That's obviously the trucks.
So well done there.
Uh, Neil Clark.
I know you've seen this Jordan,
cause you've responded.
He has said, uh, Jordan,
we'll have a car to rent if you want it,
uh,
to join in.
So there you go.
There's a rental car
available for you as well.
Absolutely wicked.
I hope this gets everyone really excited.
Thank you to everybody
that's been on for this.
I know that multiple of you,
but it was well done.
Let's keep this community growing.
It might be the winter,
but that doesn't mean we're
going to stop chatting.
We've got so many people
that we want to speak to.
let's have this fun night
where we grab a couple of drinks,
we have a giggle, we enjoy,
we mutually enjoy the
championship that these
guys are putting on.
Seriously hard work.
But I came on board
instantly because I love
the spirit that they create.
And I'm sure that goes the
same with the likes of
Ravenol and Norfolk Cars,
people like that.
The reason they get involved
is not just another championship.
It's a fun place to be.
So on that note, guys,
thank you so much for tonight.
We'll see you next time.
Good night.
Take care, guys.
Good night.