PressClub United Kingdom · Article.
6000 MINI fans party in Italy
Tue Nov 01 16:15:00 CET 2005 Press Release
MINI United, 28-30 October 2005. The first international MINI United festival took place this weekend in Italy and 6000 MINI fans attended from more than 40 countries.
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Author.
Barbara Brailey
BMW Group
MINI United, 28-30 October 2005.
The first international MINI United festival took place this weekend in Italy
and 6000 MINI fans attended from more than 40 countries.Most people made the
journey in their own car meaning nearly 2000 new MINIs and classic Minis
crowded the Santa Monica racetrack in Misano.
Over 250 MINI owners travelled the 1000-mile journey from the UK joining owners
from Thailand, Japan, Australia as well as their European counterparts. The
award for the longest drive went to Dimitri Kotov from Moscow who drove 2200
miles to be at MINI United.
The three days of entertainment started on Friday 28 October, and included
stunt shows, karting, helicopter rides, blading, live music and dance acts that
kept the party going until the early hours of Sunday morning. Yet, the main
focus was on the track. Whether owners took to the circuit in their own MINIs,
experienced a lap with a professional racing driver or watched the MINI
Challenge races.
The fastest drivers from the national MINI Challenge Series' went head-to-head
in four different disciplines to find the inaugural world champion. Drivers
from ten countries including the UK, USA, Germany, Finland and Bahrain competed
in a challenging few days of karting, slalom, off-road trials and MINI racing
to achieve the highest points overall.
The first MINI Challenge world champion title went to Maxime Martin from
Belgium. Swedish and Austrian drivers finished second and third place, while
the winner of the Scottish MINI Challenge managed to get in the top ten taking
seventh place out of 20 competitors. The top English competitor came twelfth.
Another highlight of the weekend was a special sneak preview of the new MINI
Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP Kit and the chance to speak to the designers
about the lighter, more powerful MINI. Only 2000 will be built and will go on
sale next July.
The final race of the weekend saw ex-Formula One drivers, Touring Car champions
and Monte Carlo winners line up on the grid in identical 210bhp MINI Cooper S'
with the John Cooper Works Tuning Kit. Despite the casual remarks before the
race, the inherent competitive spirit of racing drivers filled the atmosphere
and FIA World Touring Car Champion Alessandro Zanardi took a close finish,
happy to win in his home country.
Ends.