MTGF 2022
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That was a fun trip; and oddly enough, it looks like our next outing is also an Audi event, this time back at Ahvenisto on 10th September, followed by the trad season ender with Mini Club on 25th September, although now over at Alastaro. It's all back-to-front.
In other news, the developers of the fancy new FIA approved circuit at Kymiring went into bankruptcy, so there's a big cloud over that project...
That being said, I did notice over the weekend that the Alastaro circuit is being extended, apparently by 1½km or so, which is exciting news, as it's been quite a familiar layout for a while; and apparently it could even be ready next summer!
In other news, the developers of the fancy new FIA approved circuit at Kymiring went into bankruptcy, so there's a big cloud over that project...
That being said, I did notice over the weekend that the Alastaro circuit is being extended, apparently by 1½km or so, which is exciting news, as it's been quite a familiar layout for a while; and apparently it could even be ready next summer!
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Our 'next outing' was in fact the annual Mini Club Flying Finns trackday on Sunday 25/09- but this time after much kerfuffle, it was at Alastaro, which is becoming very familiar.
From a numbers perspective, I'd say it was a success as far more cars (including a number of BMW MINIs and race cars of all ages) showed up; presumably because Alastaro is seen to be a more friendly track than Ahvenisto which is far less forgiving (or more dangerous). A few other British motors showed up, including some Austin Metros (not anything I ever liked...) and a TVR Cerbera with the in house 4.5 V8 (I think). It sounded good but didn't lap quickly.
MTGF only managed to put 3 cars in the paddock, with one ringer, Swedish Björn in his BRG R53, so let's call it 4. Mechanic Micke's exhaust flexi let go earlier in the week, and Juice JKo's car is down to 3 cylinders, so we were down two this time. Fucken Minis.
The Quiet Man (DTR) squeezed out a 1.39 which was I think a PB, as well as a great time; it turns out he's a bit of a dark horse. Fuckin Mahoosive Brembos seemed to have given him some confidence. DoublePs car puked out some coolant again but it seemed to be just an airlock. If it wasn't I suspect he would have taken an axe to the car... I brought my son and we went out a few times (with a couple of brave lines) and basically managed to burn a tank of fuel and a set of brake pads, so a good day was had.
The night before we had our traditional sauna night, and some BBQ, and we also did some proper go-karting in East Helsinki at "FormulaCenter"; JKo took 1st by about a second which was impressive given it's a new circuit to him - thanks Micke for the GP session, it was very generous of you! I'm too fat and old for a good time anymore.
From a numbers perspective, I'd say it was a success as far more cars (including a number of BMW MINIs and race cars of all ages) showed up; presumably because Alastaro is seen to be a more friendly track than Ahvenisto which is far less forgiving (or more dangerous). A few other British motors showed up, including some Austin Metros (not anything I ever liked...) and a TVR Cerbera with the in house 4.5 V8 (I think). It sounded good but didn't lap quickly.
MTGF only managed to put 3 cars in the paddock, with one ringer, Swedish Björn in his BRG R53, so let's call it 4. Mechanic Micke's exhaust flexi let go earlier in the week, and Juice JKo's car is down to 3 cylinders, so we were down two this time. Fucken Minis.
The Quiet Man (DTR) squeezed out a 1.39 which was I think a PB, as well as a great time; it turns out he's a bit of a dark horse. Fuckin Mahoosive Brembos seemed to have given him some confidence. DoublePs car puked out some coolant again but it seemed to be just an airlock. If it wasn't I suspect he would have taken an axe to the car... I brought my son and we went out a few times (with a couple of brave lines) and basically managed to burn a tank of fuel and a set of brake pads, so a good day was had.
The night before we had our traditional sauna night, and some BBQ, and we also did some proper go-karting in East Helsinki at "FormulaCenter"; JKo took 1st by about a second which was impressive given it's a new circuit to him - thanks Micke for the GP session, it was very generous of you! I'm too fat and old for a good time anymore.
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It was a great weekend even if it did not go as planned for me. The exhaust gave me some issues as the bushes for that broke and took out some welds, unfortunately.
Looking at the action on track I was a bit jealous not to be able to drive, hopefully that feeling will stay until next spring. It’s always nice to ser the bunch and talk crap and tell stories about a stress banana 😁
Looking at the action on track I was a bit jealous not to be able to drive, hopefully that feeling will stay until next spring. It’s always nice to ser the bunch and talk crap and tell stories about a stress banana 😁
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8,321 Posts
Pleaase keep those stories off-line
no track time this year for me so far but have a few laps planned before my tyres pass road limits for Mot
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It was a great event, even though my Fucken Mini melted a spark plug in cyl #1 (and by the looks of it something else too... already bought an engine stand for the next step) the other day, and I had to attend with the Exclusive WRC Xsara. Teaches me not to do high speed races on the highw... on my private road. I'm suspecting a faulty injector was the root cause. I did take the Xsara on a few laps on the track day, it did a 2:06, which is about half a minute slower than my PB with the R53. @DTR was really on fire on the track. He just needs to perfect a couple of corners and he'll easily beat my PB, with way less horses under the hood.
The go-karting was fun, many thanks to Micke for arranging the race! The track was underground in one of the gazillion cold-war-era nuclear shelters we have built here in Finland for obvious reasons. Noise from the engines was nicely amplified by the rock walls, and the lovely smell of gasoline certainly did not flatten the mood. The race itself was a bit boring, me being so much faster than rest of the field. But what can you do.
The go-karting was fun, many thanks to Micke for arranging the race! The track was underground in one of the gazillion cold-war-era nuclear shelters we have built here in Finland for obvious reasons. Noise from the engines was nicely amplified by the rock walls, and the lovely smell of gasoline certainly did not flatten the mood. The race itself was a bit boring, me being so much faster than rest of the field. But what can you do.
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