The development of MINI’s Countryman-based World Rally Car is already ahead of schedule, according to Richard Taylor, the business development director of Prodrive, MINI’s rallying partner.
Earmarked for a programme of at least six world championship rallies this season, the MINI WRC completed three significant tests in Portugal, Spain and Sardinia at the back end of 2010. It will return to mainland Europe for more testing in the coming months.
Throughout the extensive testing the MINI has not suffered any significant problems and Taylor said the Anglo-German team was delighted with progress.
“We are definitely ahead of where we thought we would be at this stage,” he said. “The car has come out of the box and worked perfectly. Not once in any of the tests has the car been unable to be driven back to service. Okay, we had a minor issue with the accident [when Markko Martin, who was testing the car, rolled], but the car was running again later that day and, like I said, it could be driven back from where it happened.”
Taylor would not be drawn on whether the positive progress with the car would bring forward the launch date for the MINI WRC.
“The launch is still on schedule for the second quarter of the year,” he said.
MINI’s WRC preparations received a boost earlier this week when Spaniard Dani Sordo signed up on a two-year deal with an option for a third term to join Briton Kris Meeke in the MINI WRC Team line-up.
Sordo took part in some of the development tests of the MINI WRC late last year and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the MINI fold after spending four seasons as a factory Citroen driver in the world series alongside seven-time champion Sebastien Loeb. During that time, Sordo sampled Citroen’s new-for-2011 DS3 WRC, which has given him an insight into one of MINI’s rivals.