In the opening hours of this morning (2 February 2011), Finnish rally driver Rauno Aaltonen came to the end of the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique in a Mini from the 1960s. At the finish line to greet him were MINI's two new rally drivers, Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo, who are intended to revive the brand's rallying tradition in a new, Prodrive-prepared WRC car based on the Countryman.
Aaltonen won the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally in a works Mini, so not only were the old and new cars on a display, but the brand's past and present drivers too. For Meeke and Sordo, this event is part if a busy schedule leading up to the first appearance of the MINI WRC in selected rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2011 - prior to a full assault on the championship in 2012. However, before that they will be heading from Monaco to Spain to put the brand new test car through its paces. The launch of the new MINI WRC Team will then take place this April at the MINI plant in Cowley, Oxford.
Meeke and Sordo are both keen to start their rally programme. "It is great for Dani and me to be competing for MINI and taking up that legendary spirit. Everything is going extremely well and I think the fundamental DNA of the car is very, very good. At this early stage of the development everyone is really excited as it seems to be hitting all the targets that were set out in the development phase," said Meeke.