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MINI WRC in Spain – Day Two.

Miniology continues our ongoing MINI WRC coverage to bring you the 12th of 13 rounds in the FIA World Rally Championship (Oct. 20-23), Day Two.

Salou, Spain – 22nd October, 2011.

As the cars returned to the Spanish coastal resort for the end of day two of Rally RACC – Rally of Spain the MINI WRC Team cars of Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) were lying fourth and sixth respectively. It had been a day when the Citroen of Sébastien Ogier (FR) lost time with a puncture and dropped behind Sordo, while the Spaniard chased after the third placed Ford of Mikko Hirvonen (FI) and set the fastest time on stage 11 in the process. Meeke was again in new territory, but remained on the pace of the front runners while learning the stages without taking unnecessary risks.

The drivers were more than happy to leave the dramas of dust and darkness behind them on day one, for the all tarmac stages of day two. In hot and sunny conditions they completed another 142.54 kilometres over six stages without any major mishaps to the top crews. The biggest test of the day was on the 45.97 kilometre El Priorat stage that, along with the other stages, was run twice, but while Riba-roja d’Ebre and Punta de les Torres at 12.27 kilometres and 13.53 kilometres respectively were much shorter, they were both completely new to all the competitors. Tomorrow they have the final six stages and 102.62 kilometres of competition before an early afternoon finish.

Dave Wilcock, Technical Director: “Generally it has been a good day for us. It was the first day of Tarmac and Dani set off with the intention of catching Mikko Hirvonen. On the first loop of stages it was all looking good and he managed to pull 22 seconds back from him, and the target was to do the same in the afternoon. We nearly had a stage win on the second stage of the morning, and then we finally got it on the second one of the afternoon, so we are very happy with that. We were disappointed to drop some time to Mikko at the end of the day, and it now puts pressure on Dani to pull back 0.37seconds per kilometre on the remaining stages going into tomorrow. As for Kris, he has been neat and tidy and shown he is developing very well. Comparing his times to Mikko, we are very, very pleased with his pace. Clearly he is doing a good job, the obvious intention is to get him to the end of the rally and he is very much focused on that. It’s a big day tomorrow so let’s see what happens.”

Dani Sordo (MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 37): “It has been a really good day, there have been no problems and I am very happy to have a fastest stage time. The battle with Mikko for the podium is very tough, as he is a bit far away in terms of times and the gap is now 37 seconds. However, my plans for the final day are to push Mikko really hard and fight him for the podium. It would be really nice to be on the podium here on my home rally, but I am realistic about what I have to do.”

Kris Meeke (MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 52): “I can’t complain at all about today. Probably the most important thing for me is the times relative to the top guys got a lot better on the second pass through the stages, so I am very happy about that. I wasn’t trying any harder, but it just shows how it comes together when you subconsciously learn the roads. The Michelin tyres were mega consistent, particularly on the long 46 kilometre one, and on the tarmac there was maximum grip.”

And of course, as always, here are a bunch of photos delivered to you fresh from the day’s event:

[Source: BMW Group PressClub Sport]

Rally RACC – Rally of Spain. 20th – 23rd October. 12th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship. Preview.

For its fifth event of the 2011 World Rally Championship the MINI WRC Team is heading to home turf for Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) for the Rally RACC – Rally of Spain.  If the Spaniards in MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37 were happy after Germany, they were delighted after their last event in France as they moved one place higher on the podium to second. This event in the Tarragona region of Spain will be where Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) will be looking to finally achieve a good finish in their number 52 MINI.

The team’s Technical Director, Dave Wilcock, is very keen for the drivers to test immediately before every rally, and this tactic has certainly worked well. Therefore on Sunday and Monday both drivers will be testing on roads near to where the rally is being held.

David Richards, Team Principal:

“Germany and France exceeded all our expectations. This early in the development of the new car, we were not expecting to be challenging for a win and I think it is a real testament to the engineering team that they have managed to produce such a fast and reliable car straight out of the box. As for Spain, it is Dani’s home event and I am sure he will be looking for a third straight podium, while I know Kris is determined to finish this rally and I am sure with the pace he has shown, that he too will be in a strong position.”

Dani Sordo:

“This rally is obviously very special for me, as it is my home event. Many friends and fans will be there to watch. That is fun and gives me that extra motivation to get a good result. Since the organisers moved away from driving purely on gravel, the average speed of the rally has increased significantly. Despite this, you have to bear in mind that the weather in this part of Spain can be very variable when the rally is held at the end of October. If it stays dry you can be very quick. If it rains, the speed may drop but you have to remain just as focused, as the surface becomes very slippery.”

Kris Meeke :

“I am looking forward to this rally, especially as it is also a home event for Dani. He is always extremely quick there. The organisers’ decision in 2010 to no longer run the event on the traditional tarmac when the WRC regulations were changed is good for me, as I like gravel stages. I have a lot to learn as the last time I was there was in 2005 in the JWRC and so it is more or less a new event for me so I shall make completely new notes. As it takes place at the end of October, the weather can also play a major role. When it rains, the surface quickly becomes slippery. If it remains dry, you can be very quick here.”

History and Background:

In 2005 the Spanish WRC event moved from the Costa Brava to the Costa Daurada, and its base is now the seaside resort of Salou, with the PortAventura theme park being the location for the permanent service park on an event which has no remote service.

It was in 2010 that the organisers decided to use mixed surfaces on this event, so there is an extra challenge for the crews with some stages being a mixture of both gravel and tarmac. However, this didn’t stop the Sébastien Loeb (FR) steamroller as he won his fifth event in Spain last year.

After a ceremonial start on Thursday at 20.00 the action starts on Friday with the cars leaving the PortAventura service park in Salou at 07.00. There are six stages on day one with stages one and four gravel and two, three, five and six a mixture of gravel and tarmac. The stage mileage the drivers will cover before heading back to Salou, where parc fermé in is 21.53 is 160.36 kilometres. Day two is just tarmac and starts from Salou at 08.30. There are another six stages with numbers seven and ten being the longest of the rally at 45.97 kilometres. The total stage distance before the overnight halt at 18.21 is 143.54 kilometres. On the final day, which is again only tarmac, the cars leave parc fermé at 06.00 and compete on another six stages over 102.62 kilometres before heading back to Salou, where the first car is due in parc fermé at 14.51. The total rally distance is 1589.90 kilometres with 406.52 kilometres being on stages.

[Source: BMW AG, Munich]

ADAC Rally Germany. 18th – 21st August. 9th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship. Preview.

[Source: BMW AG, Munich, 12th August, 2011]

With two FIA World Championship Rallies behind it, the MINI WRC Team is now ready for its next test and that will be on the asphalt stages in next week’s ADAC Rally Germany. This will be the first WRC event of the year on this surface for not only Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37, and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) in the number 52 car, but also the rest of the competitors in the championship.

The drivers have put in many kilometres of testing in readiness for this asphalt debut, and this is even continuing this weekend in the UK with the team competing on the Richard Burns Memorial Rally, at RAF Marham in Norfolk. Also contesting the event in Norfolk, in preparation for Germany, in a customer MINI John Cooper Works WRC is Pierre Campana (FR). The 26-year-old has just been given backing by the FFSA, the French motorsport federation. This means the driver from Corsica will be following in the footsteps of his two very famous rallying countrymen, Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, who also received this support early on in their careers.

David Richards, Team Principal:

“We have high expectations going into Rally Germany. The MINI has shown a great deal of promise in recent tarmac tests in Germany and Italy and both drivers have told me how much confidence they have in the set up. Dani, in particular, very much likes this rally and I know that he and Kris have traded times on these stages in the past. Unlike Finland, where our number one priority was to get valuable competitive mileage on the car, in Germany we will be looking for both drivers to begin to demonstrate the true performance of the MINI.”

Dani Sordo:

“This is a rally I am really looking forward to. I like the stages in all three areas – the vineyards, the military training ground and the normal roads. It has lots of hairpins, which are very different to the tight corners we get in Spain. I always remember the military training area of Baumholder, as there are some very big rocks there so you have to be careful not to get punctures. I particularly enjoy driving in the vineyards as these roads are narrow and fast. The fans who come to watch us in their thousands are really nice. Obviously rallying is very popular in Germany, and so it will be good for us to have some ‘home’ support this year for the MINI.”

Kris Meeke:

“I think it is a fantastic rally. I have done it three times before, and all of these have been good experiences. The stages are demanding and, because of the different surfaces, it is more like three rallies in one. You have the vineyards, Baumholder and the Saarland region. The weather can also be very changeable there, so this is another challenge. The year I remember best was in 2005 in the junior category when I was fighting with Dani, and after three days with two stages to go we were just six seconds apart. Unfortunately I then had a puncture, but it was a fantastic battle. I also like the event because it is very popular with the fans. It is based in central Europe so it is easy for the spectators to get there. I know I shall have lots of support as many of my friends from home are heading there.”

History and Background:
This rally joined the WRC in 2002 and since then it has been won every year by the reigning world champion, Sebastien Loeb (FR). However, this rally actually started back in 1982 and then was based in Frankfurt am Main. Since then it has moved several times and has been at its current location of Trier, Germany’s oldest city based in the Mosel wine growing region, since 2000. It is the first asphalt rally of the 2011 season, but over the three days there are three different types of sealed surfaces for the stages. On Day 1 it is the vineyards, on Day 2 it is the normal roads in the Saarland region and the military training ground of Baumholder, where there are large boulders on the side of the roads and these are known as hinkelsteins, while Day 3 sees the crews returning to the vineyards and the Power Stage on Sunday afternoon is at the famous Circus Maximus in the centre of Trier.

The event’s ceremonial start is on Thursday, 18th August in Trier at Porta Nigra at 20.00. However, the competition doesn’t start until the next morning. The first car leaves the service park at 09.30 and the first of the day’s six stages is at 10.13. The first day of action is over 133.14 kilometres and the first car is due back at the service park at 18.18. Day two starts at 07.00 from Trier and after eight stages, covering 150.14 kilometres, returns to service at 20.17. Then for the third and final day of action the start is at 07.00 and then there are five stages over 76.31 kilometres before the cars are due into service from 14.29, with the podium ceremony at 16.45. The rally was the longest last year in the WRC in terms of competitive mileage and this year there are 359.59 kilometres in a total route of 1,245.96 kilometres.

MINI WRC Team – Neste Oil Rally Finland – Day 3

Miniology.com coverage of the MINI WRC Team continues with the 8th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship; Neste Oil Rally (Day 3) in Jyväskylä, Finland.

So, today we have some sorta bad news.

30th July, 2011.

The MINI WRC Team cannot pretend to be satisfied that neither of its MINI John Cooper Works WRCs made it to the end of Neste Oil Rally Finland, but this doesn’t mean it has been an unsuccessful outing. The first retirement was of car number 52 for Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) after 19 of the 22 stages, while Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) only missed out on the very last stage.

Both retirements were precautionary after a lot of sand and dirt was sucked into the cars’ cooling system, which could have caused damage to the engines.

The problems started on stage 17, Leustu 2, when Meeke suffered from a puncture and then overheating. At that stage he had been lying ninth, but the loss of over a minute and a half to the leaders dropped him to 14th. It was soon obvious how rough the stages were proving on the second run through, and on the next stage, Surkee 2, Sordo, then seventh, also had problems with the sand blocking the air intake and lost 45 seconds to the leaders. The team’s engineers knew they would learn nothing more from cars limping through stages, although Sordo was able to go quicker than Meeke. After Urria 2 the team decided to retire Meeke’s car, and then after Isojärvi 2 Sordo was told to drive back to Jyväskylä and not attempt the Power Stage to avoid engine damage.

David Richards, Team Principal said: “There is obviously a great sense of disappointment throughout the team that the rally should end for both Dani and Kris within sight of the finish. However, we have to take heart from the performance of the cars throughout the event, with their pure speed and the fact we were close to the pace right from the word go. We now go to a very different surface, with the asphalt rally of Germany which will present further challenges and another step in the learning curve for our new team.”

Next up, Technical Director Dave Wilcock stated: “The first loop of stages today was very good, and these were stages Dani was familiar with. Here he showed us that the pace of the car on certain splits was very, very good. This was encouraging for us, so in general we were very happy with his performance. Kris was surprised by the speed of the others this morning, but, as we have always said, for him it was just about getting experience and getting through the stages. On the second loop it all started to go wrong for us. The stages had cut up far worse than expected and, even though we had raised the car for the second pass, we ran into some problems with collecting sand into the cooling and air intake systems, which eventually made us call an end to our rally and retire the cars rather than suffer any damage. This was mainly because we didn’t want to damage the engine with dirt getting into or through overheating.”

Dani Sordo chimed in to say, “I am a little disappointed as it would have been really nice to finish here in Finland, but motorsport is like that. We have had some small problems, but this helps for us to understand our car and improve for the future. I am quite happy today as the stages in the morning today were very good and we were close to the top times. I enjoyed today as they were really nice stages. I would have liked to do the power stage, but it was best not to risk damaging the engine. ”

And from Kris Meeke, “It was good to get very nearly a full rally distance under our belts, as it has been a long time since we have done a full rally. I began to really get into the groove yesterday and start to really understand the car in rally conditions. I think yesterday afternoon we felt comfortable, and to get within half a second a kilometre of the top guys on this rally is something that I think we can be very encouraged with. Today we were back to the traditional type of stages, and this morning I was really having to learn them. I think anybody coming here for the first time is bound to be blown away by those stages, as the lines these guys take are impossible to do the first time. I am glad I have seen it all and I have video footage of the entire rally. I will be studying that very closely over the next few days, and will even start making corrections to our notes for next year. It is all an experience exercise, but with that we also proved the car is quite fast when the conditions are good, but we just have a bit more work to do when the conditions get rough.”

Stay tuned to Miniology.com for more MINI WRC action and reports as they are delivered fresh from the event.

BP sponsors MINI WRC Team

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 :)

Rauno Aaltonen supports MINI WRC Team on his home rally

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’.

MINI WRC @ FIA World Rally Championship. Day 2 (placed 7th and 8th!)

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. ”