The MINI WRC Team was officially launched at the MINI plant in Oxford yesterday, marking the return of the brand to the motorsport discipline that made it famous.
This season, the team will contest six rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, developed by Prodrive and based on the Countryman production model. For 2012, the team is set to do the entire season of the WRC.
The MINI will go up against its rivals for the first time at the Rally d’Italia Sardegna next month, on May 5-8, with 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge winner Kris Meeke (and co-driver Paul Nagle) and former Citroen works driver Dani Sordo (with co-driver Carlos del Barrio) at the helm of the factory cars.
The four-wheel drive John Cooper Works WRC is powered by a 1.6 litre four-cylinder direct injection turbocharged engine as found in the production Countryman – developed by BMW Motorsport to FIA Super2000 regulations, it retains the road car’s cylinder block and heads, but everything else has been extensively re-engineered for competition.
The mill is virtually identical to that used by BMW in its World Touring Car programme, except in the MINI rally car it’s fitted transversely in the engine bay and the ECU remapped for rallying. Under FIA regulations, the performance of the engine is limited by a 33 mm air restrictor and a maximum turbo boost pressure of 2.5 bar (absolute).
The lump is mated to an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and AP Racing sintered twin plate clutch, with the driver selecting gear via a manual shift mounted on the steering column. The car has no centre differential, and has a passive limited slip plate and ramp differentials on the front and rear axles.
Kit items include three-way adjustable Ohlins dampers and AP Racing brakes – in tarmac specification, with 18-inch wheels, the car has 355 mm four pot disc brakes on the front and rear, while in gravel specification with 15-inch wheels, the brakes are 300mm front and rear. Unlike the production Countryman there is no ABS on this one.
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The next generation rally car will unveiled later by this year or early 2012 is none other than Volkswagen Polo.