Below please find a link to the interview we did with Jacques Andres of Bay Bridge Bimmers & Minis at the second test session, Sonoma Raceway CA. This took place yesterday July 1st. Miniology TV: Testing The Twin Engine Mini – July 2013 | MINIOLOGY - Mini Cooper News, Events, Clubs, TV, Radio, and Community Podcast!
Great interview, especially with Jacques' tour of the car. My R52 was in his shop just last week to replace the power steering pump. After dropping off my car, Jacques drove me to the BART station and we chatted about the twin engine MINI. He noted that he will be the first to race a twin engine car, and it is coming not from a big budget race team but from a small shop in Oakland.
Sorry but that guys seems like a pompous A$$. If you offered to pay $2,500 to any real race engine builder they would laugh you out of the shop. His ideas are ok and he did pull it off (for 20 laps) but that thing is a death trap. I would never sit beside a fuel cell that big and never used wood in a race car. One bad wreck in that car and it R.I.P.. Yeah he can pass a Porsche and BWM's costing 3 times as much but I bet he pull into the pits for fuel and tires twice as many times as they do.
Looks like we have some drivers that thinks its worth the try! TWINI the twin engine MINI Cooper endurance car - YouTube
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA JULY 11 2013 Bay Bridge Bimmers and Minis and the TWINI Team are excited to welcome Scottish driver Chris Knox, winner of the MINI Challenge UK in 2011 and a veteran of Randy Smalley’s RSR MINI Racing Team here in the States. Chris will join drivers Jacques Andres and Steve Romack behind the wheel of TWINI, the twin engine MINI Cooper race car at the daunting 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race held annually by the National Auto Sport Association at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA. Thunderhill in winter is always cold and often wet. Knox has demonstrated his talent as a raindancer in races at Castle Combe in the UK and at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. Jacques Andres, co-owner, builder and driver of TWINI said, “I am very pleased to have someone on the team as excited about racing in the rain as I am.”
:cornut: Controversial or not, Good Luck to y'all and especially Chris. We have a fondness for him at MA. Jason
What a great story on Jaques and his remarkable project Norm. All the best of luck! I hope you guys are successful and have a blast! We'll try to make it up for the race.
TWINI Test Day 3 "Havin' Some Fun" Enjoy the short videos 15 July 2013 Here's a little clip from the top of Turn 2 at Sonoma Raceway. It's a prelude for what happened next. You won't believe it. [ame=http://youtu.be/nrnhPSTG0k8]Prelude - YouTube[/ame] Back Stretch Closing [ame=http://youtu.be/9A7lVx7MI7w]backstretch closing - YouTube[/ame] So what happened? In the previous video you can see the rainbow colored car leading TWINI up through Turn 2. The video below shows them going through Turns 8 and 9 on the back stretch The lead car is a quarter million dollar TRG racing Aston Martin driven by a professional racer who runs a BMW in Grand AM. Racing verity: one driver on the track is a test. Two drivers is a race. Jacques was hunting him down. The rear brakes on TWINI are too strong. Jacques found himself going sideways in Turn 7 under heavy braking as the rear end tried to come around. The Aston driver bobbled Turn 10 and TWINI closed the gap. Drama ensued at the entrance to Turn 11. Getting on the binders hard going in, Jacques felt the rear end of the MINI stepping out and the car started to spin. It turned 180 degrees and was quickly heading backward toward the wall. Jacques flicked the transmission into first gear, mashed the throttle and popped the clutch Both engines shrieked and all four tires lit up as he did a burnout of Biblical proportions and got back into the corner. Thumbs up were hanging out of all the garage windows when he pulled the car around into the pits intact. The corner worker in Turn 11 said, "That was the greatest save I have ever seen." Jacques credits the 100 mile ride on his big KTM dirt bike the day before for his quick reaction. "Back country dirt biking is the best driver training ever. Things happen so fast on a motorcycle. In the car, time seemed to slow down. I had plenty of time to make my decision and put it into action. That was an amazing polar moment!" Later we found out from the AM driver that he looked in his mirrors on the back stretch and saw TWINI closing. He was so surprised that he missed his apex on Turn 10.
Chris Knox wrote: Excited to announce I will be driving "TWINI" later this year in the 25 hours of Thunderhill! Twin engined, 500+hp, 4WD with aero. I predict some giant killing fun! Please visit the TWINI page and click like and follow the development of this unique car! Jacques Andres Norman Nelson Ian Rae Jerry Bradbury FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA JULY 11 2013 ... Bay Bridge Bimmers and Minis and the TWINI Team are excited to welcome Scottish driver Chris Knox, winner of the MINI Challenge UK in 2011 and a veteran of Randy Smalley’s RSR MINI Racing Team here in the States. Chris will join drivers Jacques Andres and Steve Romack behind the wheel of TWINI, the twin engine MINI Cooper race car at the daunting 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race held annually by the National Auto Sport Association at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA. Thunderhill in winter is always cold and often wet. Knox has demonstrated his talent as a raindancer in races at Castle Combe in the UK and at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. Jacques Andres, co-owner, builder and driver of TWINI said, “I am very pleased to have someone on the team as excited about racing in the rain as I am.”
Love this thing, would love to see some in-car video. Also donuts, he needs to do some smokey donuts.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THRUXTON CIRCUIT, HAMPSHIRE, UK 21 JULY 2013 TWINI TEAM DRIVER CHRIS KNOX WINS AT THRUXTON TWINI Team driver Chris Knox again displayed top form with a victory at Thruxton Circuit over the weekend. Driving the sweetbuzzards.com backed Intersport MINI, Knox took the checker for the win well ahead of the field in the Britcar Production Car Championship race. The win established the Intersport MINI as points leader in Class 4. Knox is scheduled to join Jacques Andres and Steve Romack behind the wheel of TWINI, the twin engine MINI Cooper designed and built by Bay Bridge Bimmers and Minis of Oakland, CA, at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race held annually in December by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA.
Here is what NASA (National Auto Sport Association) the sanctioning body had to say about TWINI after a two hour tech inspection: TWINI stood NASA tech last week. It was a 2 hour scrutiny. The punch list is so minor (a few labels for some switches, a little more padding on the roll cage and new seat belts) that Jacques has decided to wait until December's race to complete it. Afterward, the NASA tech inspector said, "This car is super trick. I think I'd rather drive this than a Ferrari."
Here is some video footage from Friday 8/2 test session at Sonoma Raceway (aka Infineon/Sears Point). TWINI ran all afternoon without a hitch They have added a fan to help cool the rear engine and now matches temps from the front engine. Well within normal even running at 90F+ temps, which we will not see at Thunderhill in December. Increased the rear wing for additional downforce and that works great. It also helps draw in the air for cooling. Put a new set of front stock MINI brakes on the rear and the braking is very balanced. Engines, clutches, transmission, shifting all working in sync. This video gives you views from around the track and shows how it handles, accelerates, and brakes. A video is worth 2000 words. Pardon my shakey hand, the wind was blowing and TWINI was moving very quickly. [ame=http://youtu.be/EGQnVvvwBCw]TWINI Test Day Aug 3 2013 Race Sonoma, Sonoma CA - YouTube[/ame]