The Sound of Music was the highest-grossing film, the war in Vietnam continued to worsen and Swinging London was at its peak. 1965 was a mixed bag then, but it did also bring us the Mini-Cooper ‘S’ that is in GT Sport.
Stripped out to save weight, a roll cage for added structural rigidity and a belt buckle to keep the bonnet closed, this 64bhp ripsnorter is lithe, agile and cheeky.
Exactly 40 years later, BMW re-invented the cultural icon to deliver the R53 Cooper S. This time, it used a 1.6-litre engine with additional supercharged-propulsion and is, in my mind, the best-looking era of modern Minis. A future classic, mark my words.
But, how could these two possibly compete? The 2005 model is significantly quicker, right?
Well, for one of this week’s ranked online races, the 1960s Mini has been given a bit of a fettle, tuned all the way up to the heady heights of 144bhp. Weighing just 650kg, the battle is on…
Race A sees the two Minis duking it out, and the venue is both suitably British and diminutive: Brands Hatch Indy. Just six laps of the 1.21-mile venue, will you take the classic Mini or the modern interpretation?
Things take a considerable step up for Race B, with any Gr.4 car of your choice for three laps around the Nürburgring Grand Prix layout. There are no Minis in the category, but there is the BMW M4 and that means a distinct lineage.
With that in mind, we’ll take one of the two BWM M6 GT3s for the longer Race C. Held at one of our favourite tracks in GT Sport, Mount Panorama, a 20-car field and nine laps around this legendary venue will be a stern test – made all the more challenging by the addition of a mandatory pitstop with a tyre compound switch.
Full details of each race are below, and the playlist will next reset on Monday 2nd August 2021. Don’t forget to watch our 10 best tracks in GT Sport video, embedded below.
Race A
Car: N100 – Mini-Cooper ‘S’ ’65 or Mini Cooper S ’05
Track: Brands Hatch Indy Circuit
Laps: Six
No. Of Cars: 12
Duration: 15 Minutes
Tyres: Sports Hard
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Grid Start
Race B
Car: Gr.4, any
Track: Nürburgring GP
Laps: Three
No. Of Cars: 16
Duration: 15 Minutes
Tyres: Racing Medium
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Rolling Start
Race C
Car: Gr.3, any
Track: Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit
Laps: Nine
No. Of Cars: 20
Duration: 25 Minutes
Tyres: Racing Medium and Racing Soft, mandatory use of both
Fuel Consumption: 7x
Tyre Wear: 2x
Start Type: Rolling Start
