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By David Evans Tuesday, July 27th 2010, 09:48 GMT



Mini has confirmed the existence of the Countryman World Rally Car for the first time - and that the Prodrive-built machine will run on selected rounds of next year's World Rally Championship before starting a full programme of events in 2012.

A statement, which came from Mini in Munich, Germany, ended months of speculation linking the BMW-owned company with a rally development project being run by British-based motorsport firm Prodrive.

As expected, the Mini Countryman WRC will run with a BMW-developed 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, with the first test expected in the autumn.

Factory Minis have not been seen at rallying's highest level since the car won the Monte Carlo 1,000 Lakes Rally and Acropolis Rally in 1967. That will all change next season, however, when the Banbury-built car takes to the stages.

Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, said: "I am delighted Mini will be represented on one of the most popular stages in international motorsport. The success enjoyed on the rally circuit has made a vital contribution to the image of the brand. Mini customers have always shown great interest in motorsport.

"I am convinced we will add a few more chapters to our success story in rallying. The Mini Countryman provides an excellent basis, from which to create a competitive racing car for the world championship. In Prodrive, we have a strong and experienced partner. We will work hard together over the coming months to ensure we get the project on track right from the word go."

Prodrive chairman David Richards added: "This is a very exciting new motorsport programme. I believe our new Mini will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world. We already have a significant number of confirmed customer orders for the new Mini rally car with the first deliveries scheduled for the start of the 2011 season."

No mention has been made of precisely when the car will start testing or competing, although the Rally d'Italia-Sardegna is widely tipped to be the launch event in May next season. As for drivers, Marcus Gronholm, Kris Meeke, P-G Andersson and Mads Ostberg are the names most regularly being linked to a deal.

I stopped reading when it said "Mini Countryman"

It's a f.cking SUV "styled" Mini. Cars like that have even less purpose than a normal SUV. And I can't think of anything "real" SUVs are good for. They can't handle terrain, the aren't really handling wonders on the streets, most of them are ridiculous small inside compared to the huge dimensions of the car from the outside. And they guzzle petrol because they have the aerodynamics of a brick. Raping the heritage of Mini in Rallying with such a stupid car is just gross.

Just for the record, the Mini Countryman goes back a bit further than that.



Good really to see manufacturer interest in WRC still, now bring back night stages...

Quote from 5haz :

Good really to see manufacturer interest in WRC still, now bring back night stages...

Would be nice

Quote from 5haz :

Good really to see manufacturer interest in WRC still, now bring back night stages...

Watch the IRC, night stages and the Monte Carlo.

Quote from spookthehamster :

Watch the IRC, night stages and the Monte Carlo.

Perhaps I should, and I hear Brits Kris Meeke and Guy Wilks are up the front too, I've been following it in the magazines but not on TV.

Still unless IRC can really grow to replace WRC then WRC really needs to improve.

Quote from 5haz :

Just for the record, the Mini Countryman goes back a bit further than that.



Good really to see manufacturer interest in WRC still, now bring back night stages...

Yes, I know, but the old Countryman was still a small car. The new one is just a SUV with Mini design elements. I mean, look at the size of it. The new Countryman is acutally wider than a new 3 series BMW. What's "Mini" about that?

The whole "new Mini" thing with the pretty ugly Clubman and now the even worse Countryman is just a sellout of the old Mini aimed for "trendy" people. And that's what I dislike about the new Mini.

Yeahhh I know, but when you look at them as being BMWs and not Minis then they're actually pretty good cars.

Quote from ATHome :

Yes, I know, but the old Countryman was still a small car. The new one is just a SUV with Mini design elements. I mean, look at the size of it. The new Countryman is acutally wider than a new 3 series BMW. What's "Mini" about that?

The whole "new Mini" thing with the pretty ugly Clubman and now the even worse Countryman is just a sellout of the old Mini aimed for "trendy" people. And that's what I dislike about the new Mini.

But there are still plenty of people paying a hefty premium for the new mini, which is probably the more important thing.

PS. for the new S2000 machine, does these cars still need to be at least 4m long? I remembered Peugeot was running massive bumpers on their 206WRC to stretch it to 4m.

New driver in Mini is Mr. Bean

Quote from JCTK :

But there are still plenty of people paying a hefty premium for the new mini, which is probably the more important thing.

PS. for the new S2000 machine, does these cars still need to be at least 4m long? I remembered Peugeot was running massive bumpers on their 206WRC to stretch it to 4m.

The Countryman is 4,11m long in the stock version

Quote from Zdenek CZE :

New driver in Mini is Mr. Bean

Just imagine if the Reliant came along to race with him

Quote from speed1230 :

Just imagine if the Reliant came along to race with him

I'd like to see a Robin or a Regal built by Audi to go head to head with the Countryman...with its Clarksonian front support wheels.

Quote from Senninha25 :

I'd like to see a Robin or a Regal built by Audi to go head to head with the Countryman...with its Clarksonian front support wheels.

the four wheel version, the reliant kitten, won it's class at monte carlo one year

Quote from tinvek :

the four wheel version, the reliant kitten, won it's class at monte carlo one year

there's another 4-wheeled Reliant other than the Scimitar? That's a shocker, let alone the Monte Carlo class win. Now I'm just itching to know what class the kitten won...

Just in case no one saw what it'll look like it yet. http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/mini-wrc-2010-12-08

anyone else see the picks of what the next "smaller" "lifestyle" range rover will look like ? they put it against the 4WD mini and the mini's bigger FFS !!

what part of the word mini don't BMW understand? i'd hate to think what their idea of raunchy clothing's like as i'm pretty sure any mini skirts will start at the shoulder and have 3ft of material dragging along the floor

mini with fwd will own imho, though the cars needs Alot of work to suit racing...

which is ironic... its a mini...

either way, loeb got a FF xsara to win so cmon the mini, get mitzi back in with the evo/colt combo...

Yeah .