In 1964, a Mini tuned by John Cooper won the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. The brand repeated that performance in 1965, 1966 and 1967. The cars were disqualified from the 1966 edition, but the podium finishes nevertheless established the tiny econobox’s reputation as a formidable rally car.
In October of 2010, MINI confirmed that it would return to WRC racing with a Countryman prepared by UK-based Prodrive. The automaker wished to compete in a few races in 2011 to fine-tune the car, and go on to participate in the entire 2012 season.
Those plans are now up in the air as MINI has reportedly missed last Monday’s deadline to sign up for next year’s season. Neither Prodrive nor BMW commented on what caused the delay.
Both parties are involved in negotiations with the FIA, WRC’s governing body, over a possible extension of the deadline. The FIA is not known to be particularly flexible, but Prodrive is confident that the extension will be issued.
“We have made two podiums already in the [2011] development year, we can’t fail but to be very happy with what we are achieving,” said the team. “There are a few things to talk about and time has beaten us on the deadline, but the cars will be in Monte Carlo – we couldn’t miss the Mini’s return to that rally.”
References
1.’Mini misses deadline…’ view
