Minis return to championship
Source: Agencies |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MINI will return to the world rally championship next season with the target of winning the title within three years, Prodrive boss David Richards said.
Owners BMW said in a statement that Mini, whose stylish Cooper model won the Monte Carlo Rally three times in the 1960s, would compete in selected events in 2011 before a full return from 2012.
"The target is clearly to be competitive from the outset and we have set a target with BMW and Mini of the world title within the next three years," Richards said. "We (Prodrive) have got six world titles to our credit already so we've been there before and know what it takes to do it. We are setting about that task very meticulously."
British-based Prodrive ran Subaru's world championship-winning team until the Japanese manufacturer pulled out at the end of 2008 and has been working on a Mini Countryman WRC for months.
Monte Carlo is not on next year's world championship calendar, instead forming part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and is not certain for 2012 either.
However, Richards said that event was not fundamental to Mini's return, despite the enduring image of Northern Ireland's Paddy Hopkirk battling through snow and ice to win in 1964.
"We are focused on the world championship and if Monte Carlo is on it, we'll be there," said Richards. "If it's not, then we are unlikely to be there.
"We expect to do half the championship next year," he added, saying that the car would not be ready for FIA approval before the start of the season anyway.
With Subaru, Richards turned the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns into British world champions and would like to bring on another young Briton to follow in their footsteps.
"Obviously our priority is to get the best drivers, whatever nationality. But I have always tried if possible to have one British driver in the team," he said.
Owners BMW said in a statement that Mini, whose stylish Cooper model won the Monte Carlo Rally three times in the 1960s, would compete in selected events in 2011 before a full return from 2012.
"The target is clearly to be competitive from the outset and we have set a target with BMW and Mini of the world title within the next three years," Richards said. "We (Prodrive) have got six world titles to our credit already so we've been there before and know what it takes to do it. We are setting about that task very meticulously."
British-based Prodrive ran Subaru's world championship-winning team until the Japanese manufacturer pulled out at the end of 2008 and has been working on a Mini Countryman WRC for months.
Monte Carlo is not on next year's world championship calendar, instead forming part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and is not certain for 2012 either.
However, Richards said that event was not fundamental to Mini's return, despite the enduring image of Northern Ireland's Paddy Hopkirk battling through snow and ice to win in 1964.
"We are focused on the world championship and if Monte Carlo is on it, we'll be there," said Richards. "If it's not, then we are unlikely to be there.
"We expect to do half the championship next year," he added, saying that the car would not be ready for FIA approval before the start of the season anyway.
With Subaru, Richards turned the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns into British world champions and would like to bring on another young Briton to follow in their footsteps.
"Obviously our priority is to get the best drivers, whatever nationality. But I have always tried if possible to have one British driver in the team," he said.
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