With 215,000km of road testing and a win at the Brass Monkey under its belt, the 2KCUP MR2 was entered in the Hampton Downs 6 hour. With all 4 drivers being late we managed to qualify 7th in the dark (33rd overall with all the 1/3/6/12 hour entries on same grid).
When the morning came it was the MR2’s time to shine, not it’s performance but in terms of it’s reliability. James was first in the seat and while a 1:24.9 could be attained, it was found that by pushing any harder the gear changes started to crunch, something you really don’t want in the first of a 6 hour race.
90 Minutes came and went and now it was Ashkan’s turn in the seat, with a slow and steady start he was soon right on the pace. Following a safety car restart he was able to produce some respectable 1:25’s but at the cost of rear tire pressures. Complaints were also received from Ashkan when he failed to get any reception on the car stereo.
At the 3 hour mark it was time for Ollie to take over. The rear tyres were dropped 5psi to keep it within the sweet spot for traction. With no safety car during the entirety of his drive he had the the odds stacked against him to make it last, this is because it was calculated he would only have 3-5L in the tank when it was time to pit. Fortunately he pulled through by doing incredibly consistent 1:27’s and had a brief flirt with some 1:25’s.
4.5 Hours in and we were only 3 laps behind the Seat Leon Supercopa in 4th (A true endurance car), now it was Dan’s turn to bring it home. Right away he was thrashing the crap out of it, managing to bring in some respectable 1:24’s (also managing to set the teams personal best in lap 210 – a 1:24.3). After hounding a RX7 for a few laps a Mexican wave was given (via the crowd in the apartments) when he finally made the pass.
At the completion of 6 hours the finishing order ahead was:
- Juno SSE – 266 laps
- Porsche 997 GT3 – 261 laps
- BMW E36 – 242 laps
- Seat Leon Supercopa – 230 laps
- Toyota MR2 – 223 laps
The car is still going strong and will be at Hampton Downs in September to contest the first championship round of the 2KCUP.
From left to right – Ashkan, James, Dan, Ollie
