Yes the list of major sponsors for MINI WRC grows again! What do rally teams need? Tires, fuel. Awesome to hear BP is doing this!

(announced from Munich, 29th July, 2011.) The MINI WRC Team is proud of being associated with premium brands, so its sponsorship from BP Ultimate fuels fits perfectly into this category. As the two MINI John Cooper Works WRCs compete on day two of Neste Oil Rally Finland, the distinctive logos can be seen prominently displayed above the front wheel arches of car number 37 driven by Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and number 52 driven by Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR).

“Our association with BP joins two great British brands as the MINI WRC Team builds its portfolio of like-minded, top level partners. We look forward to working with BP, whose Ultimate products are recommended by MINI Motorsport,” said David Richards, Team Principal.

“BP is delighted to sponsor the MINI WRC Team and is looking forward to the remaining rallies in 2011, and the full slate of rallies in 2012,” said Michael Ulmer, BP Global Account Manager MINI.

Stay tuned to Miniology.com for more continuous coverage of MINI WRC! You read it here first

Neste Oil Rally Finland
28th – 30th July
8th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship

Rauno Aaltonen supports MINI WRC Team on his home rally.

Jyvaskala , 30th July, 2011. With the World Rally Championship visiting his home turf, it would have been inconceivable that Rauno Aaltonen would not be on the Neste Oil Rally Finland to give support to the next generation of MINI drivers. He was there to repay the compliment after Dani Sordo (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) went to see him on the Historic Monte Carlo Rally in January.

A very happy Aaltonen explained his role with MINI: “As a representative of MINI I have the honour to be here for both the road going MINI for the normal people and, as you know the rally people are not quite normal, so for them we have this MINI John Cooper Works WRC car. I think this is fantastic as in Finland the word MINI is synonymous with the word winning, and now, of course, the whole of Finland is expecting the MINI to win. However, we have to be realistic and understand that no car has ever won a world championship rally during its first year. I think we are doing very well indeed and the spectators say it is so nice and it is going well and they are all very pleased.”

Aaltonen has spent the three days of the rally both in and around the event’s headquarters in the central Finnish town of Jyväskylä, and in the Lahti region for Saturday’s remote service. He is no stranger to the rally as when he was rallying a Mini in the sixties he has been on the podium on this event that was then known as the Rally of the 1000 Lakes.

His packed schedule has included wishing the two MINI WRC Team crews – Sordo and Carlos del Barrio (ES) with their no 37 MINI John Cooper Works WRC and Meeke and Paul Nagle (IR) in no 52 – good luck when they left the service park each morning. He has also featured on tv and radio as a real expert on everything about MINI in rallying and the sport in Finland. Today he presented a MINI Countryman to two of his fellow Finns, Arttu Pihlainen, the world’s fastest downhill skater who won the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship, and Peetu Piiroinen, a successful snowboarder who won the Burton Global Open Series. They won these cars, which were given by BMW Suomi Oy, in races last winter and both have been customised according to the winners’ designs.

Rauno Aaltonen was born in Finland in 1938 and started his rallying career in 1956. In a long and illustrious career he has been famous for not only winning the European Rally Championship in a Mini Cooper S in 1965, but also going on to win the third Monte Carlo Rally victory with the car. The first win on this famous event for the team was in 1964 for Paddy Hopkirk (GB), then the next year it was Timo Mäkinen (FI) and Aaltonen’s win came in 1967. They were known as the ‘Three Musketeers’ and Aaltoen the ‘Rally Professor’.

Neste Oil Rally Finland. 28th – 30th July. 8th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship. Day 2.

Jyväskylä, 29th July, 2011. Day two of Neste Oil Rally Finland was successful for the MINI WRC Team with the drivers, as planned, gaining valuable knowledge of the MINI John Cooper Works WRCs and bringing them to the overnight halt in Jyväskylä without a scratch on either of them. Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) were seventh in the number 37 car, and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) were eighth in the number 52 sister car after over 170 kilometres of competitive driving since the start.

For Meeke there was one small problem when he was about to start stage eight. He had stopped just before the stage, but when he went to fire up the MINI it would not start. The delay in starting it cost him two minutes, and this translated into a 20 second penalty. Meanwhile for Sordo it was an overshoot at the first junction on stage 11 that lost him some time, but he was soon back in the right direction despite losing ten seconds to Meeke over the 12 kilometres.

Tomorrow is the last day of the rally. There are another six stages with the first one starting at 07.58 and the final one, which is the power stage, at 19.11. There are still another 140 kilometres of competitive mileage left in the overall total of 314 kilometres.

Dave Wilcock, Technical Director:

“Today we are particularly pleased with Kris, who is driving very well. His plan is just to learn the roads, get through the rally and go home with experience. He is over achieving above our expectations, and driving within himself and taking no risks. We had a small problem when his car would not start, and so he booked in two minutes late. It seems to have cured itself, but then problems are never isolated, so we need to have a good look at that. Dani is driving well, but nobody knows these stages from today. He is happy with the car, the tyre wear seems to be good, but on the stages he knows tomorrow we are expecting him to go well and up the performance to show what the car can do.”

Dani Sordo:

“It was not bad, but we are waiting for a little bit more – not from the car but from me to be a little bit faster and more confident. It is always very difficult here in Finland, and then we had all the new stages today. We also made a mistake on the last stage and had a spin after missing the braking on the first junction. However, I had a lot of fun and did well in stage ten where two cars start side by side and so have a race to the finish. ”

Kris Meeke:

“It has been going pretty well. I probably have not been trying much harder than yesterday, but the more you get back into rally speed the more you get a feel for these roads and the more it just comes to you. On the long stages we are about half a second a kilometer behind the likes of Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, which I think in this territory is pretty good. It shows we still have a bit of work to do, with both the driver and the car. I can’t complain for my first full rally back in ten months, and it is nice to have got really good mileage in over the last couple of days and we have another day tomorrow. ”

Source: BMW Press Release, Oxford, United Kingdom – July 8, 2011

Celebrations were under way today at Plant Oxford as the first MINI Coupé rolled off the production line. Andrew Smith MP and Oxford City and County councillors joined plant managing director, Jürgen Hedrich, and members of the plant’s project team to welcome the new model.

The Coupé is the fourth member of the five-strong MINI family to be manufactured at Plant Oxford and will be built on the same production lines as the Hatchback, Clubman and Convertible. A two-seater Roadster will complete the line-up early next year.

Jürgen Hedrich said: “The car has a unique and strong design but still retains MINI’s exciting and distinctive go-kart feel.

“The aim with the MINI Coupé is to give its new owners the most thrilling MINI driving experience possible. Every aspect of the car – from the engines and chassis set up to the weight distribution and aerodynamics – is focused on delivering the optimum dynamic performance”

The Coupé is MINI’s first two-seater, since BMW Group developed the new MINI at Oxford, and has already seen strong interest and a healthy order bank developing.

Andrew Smith, MP for Oxford East, said: “This is a great day for the Oxford plant. To see yet another model join the line-up shows just how strong demand is for MINI in the 90 markets around the world where MINIs are sold.

“This new model, along with BMW Group’s recently-announced £500m investment into UK manufacturing, demonstrates the company’s commitment to a long-term future for Plant Oxford.”

The Coupé will see a range of new features, including the sport stripes on the body work, and increased boot space. The unique spoiler is housed in the bootlid and reduces lift at the rear axle to improve aerodynamic balance and road grip. As with all MINIs, a wide range of accessories and personalisation choices will be available.

The MINI John Cooper Works Coupé has the fastest acceleration and top speed of any Oxford-produced MINI to date.

And while the orders for Coupé are stacking up, customers will have to wait until 1 October to take delivery of their cars.

Miniology producers Rob “Califzeph” and Chris “StarLord” (or is his rally name Udødelig now?) were there onsite to drive the first car off the line and join the release party, but.. I WISH! This is just a photoshopped pic, don’t get all excited..! We’re sure MINI UK will send us a proper invite next time

Members of Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts visit the Carvalho Family Winery in Clarksburg.

http://www.vimeo.com/26583865

Miniology TV Don’t Pay The Ferryman from Miniology Podcasts on Vimeo.

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Date: Season Opener Saturday April 9, 2011

VIP DAY AT THE RACES

You and the Shasta Minis will be guests of the SFR SCCA for a fun-filled, action-packed day at and on the racetrack!

*Paddock Tour * Wander around the paddock and meet the people that put on the regional races including Grid, Impound, Timing and Scoring, and Race Control.

*Meet and Greet Drivers * Feel free to stop and talk to race teams within our paddock, ask them about their cars and their hobby of amateur racing. The only thing racers like to talk about more than they are their cars… (Make sure to have a lot of free time if you ask questions)J

*Racetrack Tour* Go on a rarely seen no-public access tour of the racetrack itself, including the Cyclone (turn 5), the control tower with timing & scoring, or stand in the flagging box at Thunderhill on Turn 11.

*Guided Laps on Track in YOUR car(s)* Follow the Safety Car out of Grid and onto Pit lane to enter the racetrack for your personal laps at lunch. You can choose to drive your own car, or ride shotgun in the pace car for hot laps. Note for pace car rides you must be 18 years or older as these laps are during actual “hot lap” conditions. Children are able to take guided laps during lunch.

* Access to Starter’s Box* See the action from the Start/Finish box –perfect for photo opportunities – feel the wind in your face as the cars race by..

*Hand out Checkered Flags *be the real winner as YOU stand in the pit lane and hand out checkered flags to racers before they take their victory lap!

*Afternoon Social* after the last flag has dropped, join the SFR SCCA at the afternoon social, meet the people who run the races and enjoy snacks and adult beverages.

This is offered at $25 per person and includes lunch and the necessary insurance for your car on track.

Please email Norm Nelson:pooper@wildblue.net so that I can get your name of the list.

The success of MiniThunder II this past week at Thunderhill Speedway has prompted it’s organizers to schedule the next MiniThunder.

Norm Nelson, of Miniology and the Shasta Mini’s, announced today that MiniThunder III will take place on February 19th 2012.

Stay tuned to Miniology for more information on this developing story.

MINITHUNDER

Watch for the new Miniology TV episode coming out this week… featuring these lovely ladies!

Mini has cancelled plans to host Mini United this Summer in the South of France.

Many disgruntled Mini drivers who have invested thousands of dollars in non-refundable airline tickets, hotel rooms, etc. have decided to organize their own gathering tentatively titled “We Are United”. A FaceBook page has been set up to facilitate this idea.

You can go HERE to find out more.