Take a “Ride for her Life”
February 19th at Thunderhill Raceway, Willows 9:30AM-3:00PM
Shasta MINIs, O2 Motorsport and MINI Thunder III will be giving rides in race cars on February 19th at Thunderhill Raceway, Willows to raise money for baby Kamila Marie Sandoval who was born with VSD – Ventricular Septal Defect. Come make a donation and get a ride in a race car, on a race track with a High Performance Driving Instructor.

It’s been an emotional roller-coaster for Lorena Sandoval and Gustavo Perez after their twin girls were born more than a
month premature last September. But nothing prepared them for the news that one of the girls was born with a heart
defect.

Baby Kamila was diagnosed with VSD, or a Vetricular Septal Defect. She has two holes between her two heart
chambers that need to be repaired. The six hour open heart surgery was performed on January 23rd at the Sutter
Memorial Hospital in Sacramento where she’s been living since she was born.

But the struggle to get young Kamila healthy is more than just emotionally draining, it’s also expensive. Between the
multiple trips per week to Sacramento, and taking time off from work, the family is struggling. “It’s been hard you know,
especially during these times”, Sandoval said.

The family is receiving some financial support from the American Heart Association. If all goes well, Kamila should be able to come home seven to 10 weeks after her surgery. “I just want her to be a normal little girl after all this is done”, explained Sandoval.

Come and support the cause. Make a donation and get Hot Laps on a Hot Track in a race car.

We give you the latest Mini news, upcoming events, bitch about cell phone laws and, in general, wreck havoc in the studio.

Enjoy!

It’s here! It’s here! The newest episode of Miniology TV! This time we get an exclusive tour of the all-new Mini of Marin in Corte Madera! It’s a peek at the “peak” of perfection!

Miniology TV – Mini of Marin Sneak Peak from Miniology Podcasts on Vimeo.

Go Forth. Go West. Go MINI. MINI TAKES THE STATES 2012 Confirmed To Kick Off July 4, 2012

The biggest official MINI road rally is scheduled to take place again this summer. The bi-annual MINI Takes the States (MTTS) rally will kick off on the east coast Wednesday, July 4th and will make the cross-country trek to the Pacific Ocean concluding on Sunday, July 15th.

“MTTS is perhaps the brand’s greatest demonstration of our commitment to the MINI community,” Jim McDowell, VP of MINI USA told Miniology, “During MTTS, MINI USA acts on its promise to deliver a motoring experience unlike any other brand, engaging owners and their families and ensuring they enjoy their MINI to the fullest extent possible.”

As MINI celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year in the US, thousands of MINI owners and enthusiasts will join the cross-country rally, or a leg of it, dotting the horizon with a gleaming caravan of MINIs.

Along the way, MINI USA will provide its loyal owners and enthusiasts with genuine, once-in-a-lifetime motoring experiences.

The 2010 event included a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats and laps on the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in addition to other engaging daily activities.

MTTS 2012 route details and adventures are still being finalized; full details will be provided in the coming weeks.

Some of the stuff you can bet Miniology will be covering:

- Sneak peeks and early test drives of all-new MINI vehicles and technologies.

- Interviews with MINI executives and owners for unique feature stories
Autocross experiences demonstrating MINI’s performance and handling.

- Immersion in the festive, cheeky MINI culture and the lifestyle the brand offers interaction with the charity partner chosen to receive net proceeds from the registration fee.

Participant registration begins in April, but owners and enthusiasts can sign up now to receive updates at www.miniusa.com/mtts.

If your Mini club has an upcoming event, let us know and we will post it!

• MINI USA’s Facebook Sweepstakes opens for Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship – runs from December 22, 2011 – January 3, 2012

• Winner receives two VIP tickets to next month’s series-opening extreme sport event
• Prize includes plane tickets, accommodation, and access to Red Bull After Party

MINI USA’s Facebook page has launched a competition with a prize so cool it will literally take the winner’s breath away.

The MINI USA/Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship Sweepstakes will give the lucky winner and his or her companion two VIP tickets to the opening event of the 2012 Championship in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on January 14. Entries can be submitted at www.facebook.com/MINIUSA.

This will be the first USA-based event in the world series for Ice Cross Downhill – a sport in which some of the world’s toughest ice-hockey players, downhill skiers, and speed skaters race on a steep downhill course. Jostling shoulder-to-shoulder at speeds of up to 45 mph, they have to negotiate chicanes, jumps, rollers and hairpin bends.

The chance to witness this icy sporting spectacle will include two round-trip plane tickets, hotel accommodation, meal costs, and VIP access to the Red Bull Energy Station and Red Bull After Party. But thrill-seekers who hope to enter will have to get their skates on as the sweepstakes closes at 4.00 PM EST on January 3.

The winner will be selected at random, with no purchase necessary. Entrants must be aged 18 or over; full competition rules can be found at www.facebook.com/MINIUSA.

MINI is the official partner of the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2012 and will present the Rookie Award at each of the series’ four events. After appearing at Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, MN, on January 12-14, competitors move on to Valkenburg, Netherlands (February 2-4); Aare, Sweden (February 16-18); and Quebec City, Canada (March 15-17).

For more information on Red Bull Crashed Ice, please visit www.redbullcrashedice.com.

[Source: MINI, Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 22, 2011]

Join REME for a holiday cruise through Sonoma County!

Happy Holidays from Miniology!

Click HERE for the skinny! amviv.com

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. (November 1, 2011) – The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) 25 Hours of Thunderhill has received another quality entry from RSR Motorsports with two of its BMW Mini Coopers. The Minis will compete in the ES class at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California, December 3-4.

Randall Smalley’s RSR Motosports, with support from Cruise America, US LED, Thor Motor Coach, Casetech, and Carbotech Brake Pads will run their Minis for the first time at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The team, from Orlando, FL, will have Ron Farmer, Jason Hart, B.J. Farmer, Mark Congleton, Dicky Riegel, and Owen Trinkler driving.
?
“I have raced in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, but this is the first time for me at the 25 Hour race and the Thunderhill circuit,” Trinkler, RSR driver said. “Jason Hart is the only one on the team that has raced in this event in the past. I have heard good things about the event so we are looking forward to running in the 25 hour this year. We will run in the ES class, we want to use this as a warm-up for the upcoming Grand-Am season so we can make pit stops and fuel the car like we would for those races. I’m for sure that we will not have the raw speed in that class, but if we can keep making laps we might be around at the end of 25 hours.”

“RSR Motorsports has had great success with their Mini Coopers,” Jerry Kunzman, NASA Executive Director, said. “They won the PTC Class at our NASA National Championships presented by Toyo Tires at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in September. They came back to Mid-Ohio two weeks later and were battling for the ST championship in the Grand-Am Series. They field great cars and will definitely be a factor when the sun comes up on Sunday morning.”

“NASA has also arranged for live timing and scoring to stream live, which can be found at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill web page once the action starts on December 3.”

The NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill will see a field of nearly 70 cars racing in six classes (ES, ESR, E0, E1, E2, E3) going twice around the clock plus an hour over the three-mile, 15-turn track located 90-minutes north of Sacramento. For entry and rules information, visit http://www.nasa25hour.com/.
For additional information, please contact NASA Media Director, Kyle Chura at kyle@kcapr.com or (248) 821-0468. More detail on NASA and the Thunderhill 25 Hour can be found at www.nasaproracing.com or www.nasa25hour.com.

Click the image to embiggen!