The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33538
on the apex by Peter D. DuPre, Editor A Winter For The Record Books lthough our cover says that this is the February/March issue, which is true, it is also our first issue of the New Year and as I write this column, it is the third week of January in a winter that can only be described as one for the record books. As of this morning’s Weather Channel broad- cast, 49 of the 50 states have at least a partial blanket of snow, with only Florida escaping, for the moment, Mother Nature’s winter wrath. There is even snow in Hawaii! Winter is only five weeks old and New York City is buried feet deep in white stuff. As you read this, sometime in the middle of February, I hope that you are aware of the fact that winter still has another month or so before it is over, and I wouldn’t plan on an early reprieve brought on by the fact that some ground hog in Pennsylvania has seen his own shadow! With winter being a long, hard one, it is any wonder that many MINI-related business in some parts of the country are seeing an economic slow- down of sorts. Customers who have spent the budget on Chanukah or Christmas gifts have nec- Kris Meeke shows off his award winning form while driving for Peugeot. essarily cut back on spending during January, and harsh weather conditions have kept those willing from getting to MINI dealers, shops and acces- sory stores. Tough economic times, combined with unusually difficult weather conditions has meant that everyone in business has had to take their lumps, so to speak – even MC2, which has had to print an issue that is much thinner than usual. The good news here is that editorially, at least, we have managed to retain almost all our content, losing only a page or two to the winter blues. As has become our custom of late, the first issue of the year is reserved for racing news, stories and information and with this issue we offer a performance parts buyer’s guide to help 8 www.mc2magazine.com you get your street or track MINI imbued with improved performance. We also offer a piece on five inexpensive but effective things you can do to up your car’s performance and handling, plus there’s a great piece on switching out the harmonic balancer, or crank pulley. Carrying the racing theme forward, our Mini Heritage section is all about Neville Trickett’s custom Minisprint racers and how they were developed. The Minisprinat, a chopped down and lowered Mini was the hot ticket back in the mid-1960s and it is now available again, as Trickett is once again building cars to custom order. No racing issue would be complete with out stories on the current crop of MINI competitiors and we start out this section (page 18) with a profile of Kris Meeke, the up and coming British driver who has been signed as the first driver for MINI’s WRC effort and who will be aided by Spanish driver, Dani Sordo, signed onto the team in early January. We don’t have a full bio on Sordo, just yet, but a brief profile of him can be found in this month’s Mini News on page 14. The MINI WRC effort is not the only team racing a Countryman-derived rally car. The X-raid energy drinks team out of Germany is campaigning an ALL4 in the 33rd Personal Dakar, though we understand that their vehicle may be separately developed from the Prodrive cars. We follow up with more driver profiles includ- ing one on Per Olof Ezelius, who is currently run- ning the only MINI Challenge car on US soil and on Savannah Rickli, who at 16-years old is the youngest driver to compete at Pike’s Peak, driving her MINI to a third overall in the Time Attack 2Wheel Drive class. So even though it is still the dead of winter all over the US, and MINI/Mini driving may be somewhat curtailed across the land due to harsh conditions (unless you own an all-wheel drive Countryman model!), there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Take solace in the fact that as you read this, winter is just about two-thirds over. Hopefully, we’ve seen the worst of it, but even if we haven’t, you’ve got this issue of MC2 to see you through until spring. photo: KL DuPre C h ear from y on tact me at: edi ou. In cl ude y tor@mc2magaz i our ci tys n /tate i n y e.com. I’d l our m esg. sae ov e to A