Introducing Todd Crooks, new love:mini Rallycross driver

Hello everyone and welcome to my first blog post for love:mini!

I'd like to start by thanking Craig and everyone else at love:mini for inviting me to write for their magnificent website. It's a real privilege to get this opportunity and I'm incredibly excited to be part of the team.

I've got two Mini race cars to my name, the R53-based Rallycross Super Modified car which I use to race in both the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross championship and the British Rallycross Championship, and a Classic Minicross car, based on a '91 Mini Flame which gets used occasionally in the Historic class of the BTRDA championship.


The R53
The R53 is a bit of a monster. For 2015 it ran the R53 engine, tuned to about 235bhp with a JCW head, reduced supercharger pully and Quaife ATB diff to name a few of the engine mods. In terms of chassis, it's a scratch-built spaceframe wrapped in fibreglass and kevlar bodywork, coming in at 950kg ready to race, with AVO front coilovers and Penske rear coilovers and Avon rallycross slicks on all four corners. 

For 2016 we're stepping up the game in the engine department, we're swapping out the Eaton-made supercharger for a Garrett GTX turbocharger, aiming for around another 100 horses. Last year me and the car won the Super Modified class of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship, so it's no slouch as it is, but with the turbo added it promises to really shift. 

Unfortunately the car isn't quite finished yet, but it should be for the British Championship at Lydden Hill at the end of March and I can't wait to get back behind the wheel of the one-off machine.

The Classic
I've owned and driven the classic for six years now, first as a 998cc Junior Rallycross car right up to its current state, which is tightly governed by the class regulations.

It's got a 1380cc with a single inch 3/4 SU carb and a Kent Minicross spec cam. The 105hp it does put out though is more than enough to make it a very exciting drive, given it's on 10-inch Revolution wheels and Yokohama street tyres. 

The little red Mini and I have been through a lot together; racing in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Belgium, Holland and all over England and loving every minute of it.

I'll be back shortly to give an update following on from the turbo R53's first outing at Lydden Hill with a bit of a race report and also a look back to the first round for the Classic Mini at Blyton Park with my Mum, Helen, at the wheel. In the meantime, there's more information about me and my racing available on my website, www.tcmotorsport.co.uk, or on my Todd Crooks Motorsport Facebook page, www.facebook.com/tcrooksmotorsport. In addition to that, if anyone has any questions you can tweet away to my twitter handle @maranello48 and I'll do my best to answer you!

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