Dan eyes Scottish Mini Cooper Cup championship

A DUMFRIES racing driver is aiming to take home the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup trophy after making an impressive start to the season. Daniel Patterson sits second in the standings as the championship nears the halfway point. Out of eight races finished he has stood on the podium five times, with four first place prizes, and he trails the overall leader by a mere six points. In May the 36-year-old picked up two wins at Knockhill in the circuit’s 50th anniversary of car racing weekend. And last month at Cadwell Park Patterson scooped a second and a first place finish. But claiming the big prize will be no easy task with a number of drivers still in with a shout. Patterson, who runs his own electrical engineering business alongside his racing, started his motorsport journey as a youngster via the karting route: he was on the national circuit and attended meetings across the length and breadth of the UK. But at 18 he stopped racing and a decade long break from the sport ensued. That was until 2019 when he purchased a race car and entered into the coveted Scottish Mini Cooper Cup. Explaining the championship, Patterson said: “Only the 1.6 Mini Cooper model built between 2001-2006 is eligible. “The championship regulations are designed to ensure that cars are built to the same specification; the cars use identical Yokohama tyres and run the same ECU. “This puts more emphasis on a driver’s skill by keeping the car’s performance as equal as possible. “On most tracks we can reach speeds up to 115/120mph. “The race day format is qualifying followed by three 12/15 minute races. “Race One positions are done based on your best lap times during qualifying – Race Two positions are based on where you finished during Race One and Race Three is a reverse grid drawn from a ball which can reverse the top eight cars, it’s the same as the British Touring Car format. “Some rounds are timed and others are a lap count down.” He added: “There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at my dad’s workshop leading up to race days. “Everything from getting the car prepared with setup/corner weighing/alignment and cosmetic repairs (Minis serves up a good bit of contact with such close wheeled racing). “My dad puts in lots of hours at the workshop creating and maintaining a championship winning car.” On recent successful weekends at Knockhill and Cadwell Park, Patterson said: “Knockhill was a massive weekend for the team, picking up two wins on such a huge day, in the sunshine and with several big names in attendance such as John Cleland and Jimmy McRae and several of the British Touring Car drivers Gordon Shedden, Aidan Moffat and Dexter Patterson, to name a few, and there was huge crowds over the weekend as well.” He added: “Cadwell was another good weekend for us, Race One didn’t go to plan with car issues and not having the pace to challenge for the lead later on in the race. “But we managed to get the car fixed and finished P2 in Race Two and took the lead on the last lap in Race Three to take the win while nursing ABS issues and overheating.” Despite the great results, neither of these tracks are the Dumfries driver’s favourite. He said: “Knockhill is a fantastic track to drive but my favourite has to be Croft in Darlington. It’s super fast and flowing with lots of overtaking opportunities. Cadwell Park is another one which I enjoy which is very technical and demanding on the car.” Remaining race weekends include a visit to Oulton Park this Saturday, Croft, in August and Knockhill twice, in September and October. Patterson said: “I’m looking forward to Oulton Park. It’s a track I’ve never driven on but I’ve done a lot on the simulator to learn the track and will be testing the full day prior to the Saturday to get the car dialled in and shave my lap times down.” Winning the championship is the aim but it will be no easy feat. Patterson added: “Last year we started the season off strong but after a lot of bad luck/incidents and a lot of mistakes myself near the end of the season we finished third. This was still great achievement overall. “My eyes are fully on winning the championship this time which would be a huge achievement for myself and my family. “The pedigree of the drivers is huge, and it isn’t going to be an easy task. Anyone in the top ten can challenge for the win. The Scottish Mini Cooper Cup is recognised as one of the best single-make racing series in the UK. “It has been a proving ground for many top drivers, including British Touring Car Championship stars Rory Butcher, Aiden Moffat and Chris Smiley, and also my good friend Ross Wylie.” Thanks are expressed to all family and friends for their help and support. You can follow the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup on Facebook or on its website smrc.co.uk/championships/scottish-mini-cooper-cup