MINI DROPS WRC EFFORT

MINI has officially become the first team to bite the European recession bullet by announcing its withdrawal from the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the end of the 2012 season. This was MINI’s second year at WRC under the BMW stable.

“MINI will abandon its works involvement in the WRC at the end of the 2012 season,” said Dr Kay Segler, Senior Vice President MINI Business Coordination and Brand Management. “By the end of the season WRC Team MINI Portugal will have competed in every rally in 2012. As such, in accordance with FIA regulations, we will have achieved the WRC homologation for the MINI John Cooper Works. In doing so, we would have achieved the prerequisites to allow those interested to continue to run the car in the WRC on a customer rallying basis.”

Segler says MINI will continue working with Prodrive, its WRC partner, to develop its 1.6-litre turbo engine.