The Mini John Cooper Works WRC is a World Rally Car debuted by the Mini WRC Team during the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It is the first rally car to bear the Mini label in top-level rallying since the 1960s.[2] The car was entered in a limited campaign for 2011, with a view to a complete championship from 2012 and was run by Prodrive,[3] who previously had success with the Subaru Impreza WRC.
 | |
| Category | World Rally Car |
|---|---|
| Constructor | Prodrive |
| Technical specifications[1] | |
| Suspension | MacPherson type |
| Length | 4,110 mm (161.8 in) |
| Width | 1,820 mm (71.7 in) |
| Engine | 1.6 L BMW Motorsport I4 turbocharged |
| Transmission | Xtrac 6-speed sequential manual transmission Front and rear mechanical auto-locking differentials |
| Weight | 1,200 kg (2,645.5 lb) |
| Tyres | Michelin |
| Competition history (WRC) | |
| Notable entrants |  Mini WRC Team/Prodrive WRC Team Brazil World Rally Team Motorsport Italia WRC Team Mini Portugal Lotos Team WRC Ascania Racing |
| Notable drivers | Valeriy Gorban Mait Maarend Dani Sordo Kris Meeke Daniel Oliveira Armindo Araújo Chris Atkinson Paulo Nobre Pierre Campana Patrik Sandell Jarkko Nikara Michał Kościuszko |
| Debut | 2011 Rally Italia Sardegna |
The WRC is based on the Mini Countryman and features a direct-injection 1.6 L turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine.[4] The WRC's engine was developed by BMW Motorsport for use in a variety of motorsport series, including the FIA World Touring Car Championship.[5]
Accolades
editWins
edit- 2011 Rallye Mont-Blanc (Pierre Campana)
- 2012 Tour de Corse (Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2012 Qatar International Rally (Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Killian Duffy) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2012 Lurgan Park Rally (Kris Meeke and Gerry McVeigh)
- 2013 Spanish Rally Championship (Luis Monzon and José Déniz)
- 2013, 2014 Czech Rally Championship (Václav Pech and Petr Uhel) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2014 Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Václav Pech and Petr Uhel) (with S2000 1.6T)
Runners-up
edit- 2011 Rallye de France (Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio)
- 2012 Monte Carlo Rally (Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio)
- 2012 Rally of Lebanon (Abdo Feghali and Marc Haddad) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2013 Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Václav Pech and Petr Uhel) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2014 Internationale Jänner Rallye (Václav Pech and Petr Uhel) (with S2000 1.6T)
- 2015 Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Václav Pech and Petr Uhel) (with S2000 1.6T)
Gallery
edit-
John Cooper Works WRC shown in Paris in 2010
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-
Dani Sordo heading to third place in the 2011 Rallye Deutschland
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Valeriy Gorban at the 2018 Rally Estonia
-
Yağız Avcı with Super 2000 in Rally Bulgaria 2014
See also
edit- X-raid
- Mini All4 Racing
- Andros Trophy, a non-WRC event won by a vehicle based on the Mini Countryman
- 2013 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, a non-WRC event entered by a 900 bhp vehicle based on the Mini Countryman.[6]
- 2013 Global RallyCross Championship, having events won by a Mini Countryman JCW
References
edit- ^ Mini John Cooper Works WRC
- ^ "The Oxford-built Mini makes World Rally come back". BBC News. BBC. 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ "Inside The Mini WRC". octanereport.com. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ Auto Express September 2010
- ^ Mini WRC website
- ^ "MINI Countryman getting ready for Pikes Peak [video]".