Valence (FR), 18th January 2012. At the end of a challenging day one of the Monte Carlo Rally the MINI WRC Team crews of Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Pierre Campana (FR) and Sabrina de Castelli (FR) were second and eighth respectively after 134.70 kilometres of competition over four stages. The weather was cold and dry with a little snow and some icy patches on the stages. The story of the rally was always going to be about tyre choice and so there was a lot…
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WRC – Makinig Sense of MINI
What a whirlwind the last couple of days have been in regards to the MINI/Prodrive WRC team. While the world’s attention was focused on Ford and whether or not they would join again with M-Sport, a situation was developing with the Banbury based team that came to the public eye this past week. Initial reporting had made it out to be a blunder of such when MINI failed to show up on the manufacturer entry list. After all, when the team was announced last season, it was said that a…
Read MoreWRC – MINI Fails to Register for 2012
The more things change, the more they stay the same for some people. During Subaru’s dying days in the WRC, Prodrive was the subject of much criticism in how they performed and worked with the Japanese marque. While the prospect of Prodrive leading the BMW backed MINI was almost too good to be true, a major mistake has occurred and MINI are not in the 2012 championship fight at the moment. 19 Dec 2011 was the final day for teams to register. This date was presented by the FiA after…
Read MoreWRC – MINI WRC Team – Rally RACC – Rally of Spain – Day Three
Salou, 23rd October, 2011. The MINI WRC Team was in a celebratory mood at the end of Rally RACC – Rally of Spain. Not only did Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) finish fourth and fifth respectively, but the MINI John Cooper Works WRCs were also first and second fastest on the Power Stage. While it was Sordo’s home event, it was Meeke who took the honour and the three points for being fastest on this final stage. This was…
Read MoreWRC – Update After Day 1 for Rally Spain
Just a brief recap here of the events of day 1 for Rally Spain. Keep it to OpenPaddock as the teams post indepth reviews of their first day for the penultimate round of the championship. Conditions were the name of the game for the gravel stages today. Loeb would start first on the road and usually that is an issue, but conditions actually favored the French ace as dust would cause the cars running behind massive problems. The gravel stages were very dry and there was not much of a…
Read MoreRally – MINI WRC Team – Rally Germany Preview
FROM: MINI World Rally Team Munich, 12th August, 2011. With two FIA World Championship Rallies behind it, the MINI WRC Team is now ready for its next test and that will be on the asphalt stages in next week’s ADAC Rally Germany. This will be the first WRC event of the year on this surface for not only Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37, and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) in the number 52 car, but also…
Read MoreRally – MINI Withdraws from Estonia
The MINI WRC team has withdrawn their car driven by Kris Meeke for Rally Estonia. While not a World Rally event, the national rally will be used as a test bed for some teams heading into the legendary round in Finland. The entry list has a lot of talent as Markko Martin looks to defend last year’s title. Mads Ostberg will also be participating in a Ford Fiesta WRC. The team was forced to withdraw the entry after a testing crash caused severe damage to the John Cooper works machine.…
Read MoreRally – MINI WRC Team is officially launched in Oxford
FROM: MINI WRC: Oxford/Munich, 11th April 2011. The return of MINI to one of the biggest stages in motorsport is approaching ever closer. On Monday, the MINI WRC Team was officially presented to the public at the Team Launch, which took place at the MINI Plant in Oxford (GB). This season, the team will contest six rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The car will be tested against its rivals for the first time at the Rally d’Italia Sardegna from 5th…
Read MoreRally – OFFICIAL: Sordo to MINI
Well the news has finally been made official. Dani Sordo will now compete along Kris Meeke in the new Prodrive MINI WRC. The team is not 100% sure when they will make their debut, but the fit of Sordo at the team is the best Sordo could hope for. News had broken previously that a deal was done, but no official announcement was made due to Sordo’s Citroen contract. Now that the contract has expired, the announcement could be made. For Sordo, this is the best he could have hoped…
Read MoreRally – Sordo Looking at Ford or MINI
While we have known for sometime that Dani Sordo probably would not return to Citroen, the real question we had to ask ourselves is where IS he going? The Spanish driver appears to be on the verge of a deal with either Ford or Prodrive MINI. Autosport ran a story this morning that had Prodrive technical director David Lapworth talking about a potential future for Sordo at the team. It does look at this moment anyways that Marcus Gronholm will not be making a return to competition full time this year.…
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