Cars Motoring news
The big brother of the original Mini-Cooper S, which rocked the establishment when it won the Monte Carlo Rally is going to have a bash at rallying too, following the news that from next year MINI will enter the World Rally Championship.
The brand will compete at selected rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and will go on to contest the entire season from 2012 onwards. This involvement is planned for several years.
The car charged with this task is the MINI Countryman WRC, which is being developed by Prodrive, in close cooperation with MINI, and is based on the production model, with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-charged engine from BMW Motorsport.
The car will run in the new Super2000 regulations which stipulate the use of turbo engines with 1 600 cc displacement and four-wheel drive combined with an increased emphasis on road relevant technologies. The result is a significant 25 per cent reduction in overall costs.
The first test drive for the MINI Countryman WRC, which will also be available to customer teams, is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
More at Ananzi Motoring.
