Kelly Rogers Racing
Rounds 4 and 5 of the Mini Miglia Championship were held at the Mini 45 event at Silverstone.
This special two day event saw a very large field of competitors qualifying on Saturday and then competing in two races on Sunday.
Qualifying was at 11.50am, not a good time for the drivers and the tyres as the heat was intense registering a massive 34°c. After testing at Silverstone the week previous Kelly had a head full of settings and good knowledge of the circuit to impress the watching crowds. With the session only 15 minutes long and in a serve heat, after scrubbing in new tyres, a perfect lap and a semi clear piece of track was the aim. As the session started Kelly was totally focused on pushing the car to the furthest limit possible to set a good time to claim a good grid position. His first few laps were perfect and very smooth but too much heat in the tyres was causing a problem. A couple of slow laps got the tyres back to perfect temperature and on lap 6 Kelly pulled out all the stops. As he crossed the line to start lap 7, the pit monitor showed a time of 1: 08.631, pole position! With time still left, Kelly tried a few more laps to better his time but with over heating tyres and a lot of traffic there wasn't another opportunity.
Sunday Morning - Race 4
The Miglia's had an early start on Sunday with their first race at 9.25 am Luckily the sun wasn't fully blazing in the sky due to low cloud so the mood was relaxed and not too heated.
All the 28 strong field of mini's rolled up to the start line after completing their green flag lap, the lights went red and quickly went out. Kelly was a split second late as the lights changed and the car bogged down but he was able to go into Copse in 2nd position. The race was set for 15 minutes then the drivers would be shown the last lap board, with this in mind to be in the lead or very close to the leader was the only way forward. Lap 2 saw some of the most exciting and close racing with an average of 5 - 7 cars challenging for the lead. By lap 5 Kelly had an impressive fast line into Copse carrying so much corner speed into Maggotts that he was able to clinch the lead from Baldwin braking into Becketts. Laps 6, 7 & 8 saw the lead change another 4 times with some great driving from all the front runners. With the lead changing so often over the next few laps the second bunch of battling cars were able to catch the leaders and tag onto the back of this titanic battle. As the cars streamed into Woodcote completing lap 12 the last lap board was shown. The race was on, with Baldwin leading, Kelly second and a gaggle of Miglia's all chasing the hare. Kelly tried his wide sweeping entry to Copse but as he was approaching Maggotts Nicky Swift pulled up the inside as Kelly was trying to make a move for the lead. Coming out of Becketts Kelly was pushed back to 3rd, with only a few more corners left the pressure was on. With the front 2 holding tight lines into Luffield there was no way round the outside and as they made a dash for the line Kelly came home in a gallant 3rd place podium position.
Sunday Afternoon - Race 5
Race two of the day was at 13.25 pm, the sun was shining but the temperature wasn't so intense so everyone was looking forward to another showdown. Grid positions for race two were set on the racer's second fastest qualifying lap so Kelly was still in pole position.
All the cars lined up on the grid, the lights went out and a streaming pack of cars went rushing up to the first corner. Baldwin in front, Kelly tucked neatly in behind as the cat and mouse games started all over again. As the pack came rushing into Brooklands for the first time an incident mid pack involving four cars brought out the red flag.
The remaining racers who were fit enough to race lined up on the grid for the restart, once again as the lights went out Baldwin nicked the lead from Kelly. As the race progresses the top 3 strung a gap of about 5 seconds over the rest of the gaggle of cars. Kelly was half a cars length behind Baldwin but he couldn't pull back the gap. The laps slowly rolled on with more incidents in the lower half of the field but the top 3 kept a stagnant gap with no one gaining any advantages. After lap 12 the last lap board came out and a depleted group of cars started their last lap. Crossing the line, Baldwin takes his second win of the day, with Kelly still chasing hard, he finishes a great second place with Chandler in third.
Round 4
Silverstone
Round 5
Silverstone
