Posted on by Stuart McLaren

With it being the 60th anniversary of the mini and the 50th anniversary of the Italian Job the MINI Festival at Brands Hatch 2019 was set to be one to remember. It’s always an essential part of the mini owner and lovers calendar as the racing is non stop and is always guaranteed to thrill and this year was no exception.

mad4mini motorsport were busy running cars in all three Cooper classes of MINI Challenge and the drivers kept them on their toes. Running this weekend: Andy Ringland #66 – Cooper Am, Morgan Wroot #38 – Cooper Pro and the legend – my hubby – Stuart McLaren #12 – Cooper S.

It was a tough weekend with some fantastic competition making the trip around paddock hill bend and druids all that more exciting. Stuart landed 3x P3 finishes which were nobly won. Some great driving from the others at the front of the pack.

As if the trophies weren’t enough the amazing marshals and Rhea from MINI Challenge got Lewis our boy up to the podium to hand out the trophies for Race 2. Amazing moment for Dad and Son. Thanks to those who made it happen.

Andy took some damage in Race 1 and those in the paddock rallied around to get parts for mad4mini motorsport to get it fixed. Thanks a million to all that made such a great job possible.

As ever there we couldn’t do this without our sponsors and partners. Thank you to all of them for an amazing weekend. Also sorry to those who stood anywhere near me whilst I was watching the racing – my apologies for your ear drum damage with my excited screams. Love it!

You can see some the action from Day Two of the festival on facebook:

MINI Challenge Cooper S – Race 2
MINI Challenge Cooper S – Race 3

Hybrid Tune Arrive and Drive Package

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

Race with a Championship Winning Team in 2018 with Hybrid Tune

Mini Challenge Cooper Am/Pro Arrive and Drive Package.

Go racing in one of the best single make series in the UK from £1700 per round.

We have our multiple race winning Mini Challenge Cooper available for rent in 2018. Freshly built for 2017.

Testing can be arranged for serious applicants.

Any questions please email sam@hybridtune.co.uk

MINI Challenge 2017 – Cooper Am Class Winner!!!

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

If anyone ever needs 5 months of intense, action packed, adrenaline injected fun then they need look no further than the MINI Challenge. Alongside the JCWs MINI Challenge run 3 classes giving lots of opportunity for different budgets to enter a thrilling single series championship. Stuart ran in the Cooper Am Class with the Hybrid Tune team in an R50 Cooper. Hybrid Tune is directed by Sam Weller who drove this season in the Cooper Pro class. Good team support is essential in racing and Hybrid Tune built and ran a fantastic car that had great pace and phenomenal grip even on the most challenging of circuits. A special thanks goes to Matt Willgoss #1 mechanic.

For a rookie, the season was a solid and really exciting one. MINI Challenge holds 18 races spread across 7 meetings at some of the country’s best lov20171017_185947ed motorsport circuits. The diary both starts and ends at Snetterton with the final meeting round the Snetterton 300 with its fast straights and some technical corners in the in-field.

During the season Stuart made it to the podium 16 times with 11 of those visits being for 1st Place. There was great pace too with Stuart securing fastest lap in 9 races and taking overall fastest driver of the weekend in class 4 times with the Sunoco trophy. Proving your worth as a racing driver is also part of getting qualified to teach others and during this season Stuart gained his ARDS Instructor qualification under his sponsor Pete Edwards of the Motorsport School.

So what does 2018 hold in store? Well MINI Challenge has been too much fun to just run for one year so look out for Stuart in Cooper Pro next season. He will be run again by Hybrid Tune and they have a second place available. If you are thinking about racing then a place with Hybrid Tune would be highly recommended. To find out more about the team email sam@hybridtune.com or see the team web page www.hybridtune.com

Hybrid Tune

If you wish to hire Stuart as a Driver or Coach then email stuart@mclaren0260.com or see his web page www.mclaren0260.com

A huge thanks to all of our sponsors: Hybrid Tune, MINI Challenge, ZVLine, beatSCAD, jerseyliteSponsors_2017

 

 

Hybrid Tune Prepare for more Podiums at Oulton Park

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

Hybrid Tune Logo

After the excitement of the MINI Festival at Brands Hatch Hybrid Tune are preparing for the next Festival at Oulton Park: Saturday 19th August 2017

Its been a fantastic start to the MINI Challenge season for this team taking home a total of 16 podiums between the two drivers and 6 of these are P1. When not preparing for race weekends Hybrid Tune run a successful commercial garage providing ECU bespoke and calibration services. Also there’s a brand new rolling road to test it all out on!

Click here to find out more about Hybrid Tune

Its not too late to sponsor either of the drivers. Please use the contact form to speak with Stuart or Sam about opportunities for 2017 or 2018.

 

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Rockingham ISSC – MINI Challenge – Round 3

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

6 days until MINI Challenge Round 3 at Rockingham on the ISSC (24th June)

Come and support Stuart and Sam and the Hybrid Tune racing team as they seek some more podium finishes.

Buy Tickets

The action starts for Am and Pro at 11:20 with qualifying. – Timetable_24_25_June_Rockingham

Hybrid Tune Finish the Weekend with 1st Place for Stuart McLaren and Sam Weller

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

The final MINI Challenge Cooper race at Silverstone was action packed. Both Stuart and Sam had recovered from a bad day on Saturday and finished 3rd in race 2. The first 5 places were flipped on the grid so they both started in 3rd. The racing was really close and a crash just before the end saw Sam and Stuart in P1 when the red flags came out.

This has been a great weekend for the Hybrid Tune racing team. Well done to Stuart and Sam and a huge thank you to the team (Mattie, Rob, Lee, John) for all their hard work.

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Hybrid Tune Racing Team at Silverstone

 

Testing @ Silverstone – Round #2

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

Arrived at Silverstone to start testing for Round #2 of MINI Challenge. Tickets for the event are on sale at the gate.

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Saturday 3rd June

Qualifying – 9:55am

Race 1 – 1:25pm

Sunday 4th June

Race 2 – 9:40am

Race 3 – 3pm

http://www.minichallenge.co.uk/the-mini-challenge/driver-standings/

 

The rookie gets a hat-trick!

Posted on by Stuart McLaren

The weekend has been amazing and we have three wins under our belt already.  Started from pole in Race 1 and Race 2  but a flipped grid for Race 3 meant starting in 6th.

 

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Well done Dad!

 

To get three wins out of three races takes a good driver but it also takes the team who have built the car and were awesome this weekend. Thanks to all of you from Hybrid Tune (Sam, Mattie, Jack, Rob, and all the names that I have forgotten) for being the best.

Take a look at Sam Weller’s website to find out more about Hybrid Tune and the services that they offer. Highly recommended.

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