From www.wrc.com
The iconic MINI name will return to the World Rally Championship stages next year after its parent BMW group announced a multi-year comeback for one of the most charismatic names in the sport’s history.
From 2011, MINI will compete at selected rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship and will go on to contest the entire season from 2012 onwards. BMW says this involvement is planned ‘for several years’.
MINI’s first-ever World Rally Car will be based on the new Countryman production car and is being developed in partnership with Prodrive - the British firm which masterminded Subaru’s WRC programme from 1989 to 2008.
The MINI will be fitted with a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport.
The first test drive for the MINI Countryman WRC, which will also be available to customer teams, is planned for autumn 2010. There is no news yet regarding the driver line-up, although long term Prodrive customer Mads Ostberg had been linked to a car.
Today’s announcement ends months of speculation linking MINI to a WRC programme, and continues one of the most exciting stories in the world of rallying. In the 1960s, the MINI Cooper S caused a sensation with giant-killing victories on WRC rallies, making stars of drivers like Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno Aaltonen and Timo Makinen.
The iconic MINI name will return to the World Rally Championship stages next year after its parent BMW group announced a multi-year comeback for one of the most charismatic names in the sport’s history.
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From 2011, MINI will compete at selected rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship and will go on to contest the entire season from 2012 onwards. BMW says this involvement is planned ‘for several years’.
MINI’s first-ever World Rally Car will be based on the new Countryman production car and is being developed in partnership with Prodrive - the British firm which masterminded Subaru’s WRC programme from 1989 to 2008.
The MINI will be fitted with a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport.
The first test drive for the MINI Countryman WRC, which will also be available to customer teams, is planned for autumn 2010. There is no news yet regarding the driver line-up, although long term Prodrive customer Mads Ostberg had been linked to a car.
Today’s announcement ends months of speculation linking MINI to a WRC programme, and continues one of the most exciting stories in the world of rallying. In the 1960s, the MINI Cooper S caused a sensation with giant-killing victories on WRC rallies, making stars of drivers like Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno Aaltonen and Timo Makinen.