The new John Cooper Works WRC and the MINI WRC team that will run it - read Prodrive - were launched at MINI's Plant Oxford this week (April 11). MINI's WRC car is based on the company's 'maxi-est' model, the Countryman. No tweed and wellies for MINI's 4x4 model here though, it's all fireproof Nomex and racing boots, as the WRC car will be taking on established teams from Ford and Citroen on some of the world's toughest rallies.
Taking on that challenge is Dave Richards and his Prodrive operation, the multi-faceted motorsport concern having many rally victories and championships nestling in its trophy cabinet. Prodrive was already working on a 'generic' World Rally Car to the new regulations when a chance meeting with the MINI people at the Goodwood Festival of Speed lead to a plan for the two to work together. The result looks pretty spectacular, even if seeing the new WRC car alongside Hopkirk's original Monte Carlo car does emphasise that it's not so mini anymore.
That history is seen as key to MINI's rallying exploits, with Hopkirk himself starting the proceedings by driving a re-creation of his 1964 Monte Carlo winning Mini Cooper S onto the stage in Oxford. Hopkirk's car was soon upstaged by the new WRC MINI, which has been built to the latest WRC regulations.
The Countryman's dimensions and existing four-wheel drive system are a good fit to the new regulations, with Dave Richards extolling the virtue of its super-stiff structure and wheel in each corner stance. The driver line-up for MINI's part assault on the 2011 championship is made up of ex-Citroen racer Dani Sordo, who brings WRC experience, and hot-shoe super 2000 rallying talent Kris Meeke.
There'll be a lot of interest in the new team when it takes to the stage for the first time. You wouldn't bet against it, with its impressive driver line-up, Dave Richards and other established WRC talent - like David Wilcock in the roll of Technical Director - as well as the BMW motorsport division's input into the WRC's 1.6-litre turbocharged direct-injection engine.
The MINI WRC will contest its first rally in Sardinia on 5-8 May, before taking part in five more events through the 2011 season and then contesting a full championship in 2012, MINI's making big noises about championship titles in 2013. Stranger things have happened.