Tag Archives: Rally

MINI WRC @ Wales Rally GB, Day Four in the 13th round FIA World Rally Championship

The MINI WRC Team’s drivers were fighting to the very end of Wales Rally GB to give the team a great result on the last event of its first year in the World Rally Championship. Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) finished the event in fourth, while Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) set the second fastest time in the final test of the day, the Power Stage at Monument, ending up finishing 20th overall.

That may not sound too impressive, but when you look at the 2011 FIA Drivers’ Championship Standings, we find Sordo in 8th, Meeke in 11th. Co-drivers Carlos del Barrio took 7th and Paul Nagle 15th, not too shabby out of 32 eh?

Let’s not forget Brazil’s entry this year – the Brazil World Rally Team (BWRT) ran 11 events using a Prodrive-developed Super 2000-version of MINI’s Countryman-based World Rally Car, then switching to a MINI WRC on Rally d’Italia Sardegna in May. We don’t know why BMW’s press sites have barely (if any) mention of this or other MINI/Mini rally teams and events, perhaps it was just too much news to cover in one sitting, who knows? Just to be fair, let us recognize MINI Motorsport is still covering the MINI Challenge events along with endurance, Dakar, and some other news, though I didn’t see any info on Brazil’s MINI there, so we had to go direct to the WRC site for that. Yeah okay, they did retire 5 out of the 11 events and finished half of the remaining runs without a top 10 placement, but, I do like to give props that they were driving a beautiful MINI instead of another one of those Citroen eyesores ;-)

Back to our report though..

Meeke left Cardiff in the early hours of the morning 45 seconds behind the third placed Ford of Henning Solberg (NO). From the first stage of the day Meeke was determined to do everything he could to snatch a podium on his home event, and by the start of the final stage of the day the gap was down to 1.8 seconds. Unfortunately (sigh!!!!) he hit a rut, did a half spin, and that was that …

Team Principal David Richards remained optimistic for next year, and said, “This event, like so many others, has had its ups and downs. Kris I am sure will reflect on that half spin on the last stage and what might have been, but there have been so many other occasions on the event when we could have also done a little bit better or had a bit better luck. At the end of the day when I look back on this rally and think where we have come in six months – Dani and Kris have achieved five top five positions in only six events – quite honestly the team has come of age and this is only just the beginning for the MINI WRC Team.”

Head of MINI Motorsport Dirk Hollweg was also pleased by this year’s trial runs, stating, “We are overwhelmed by the success of the team, which is much better than expected. We are very happy with the performance of the whole team and the drivers and we have a great spirit. This is of great benefit to the MINI and the John Cooper Works brand. This is exactly what we wanted.”

Technical Director Dave Wilcock summed up day four’s happenings by saying, “It has been a good day. Kris had a big challenge to make up the ground between himself and Henning Solberg , with 45 seconds to find which averaged to just over half a second a kilometre. He was completely on track with that until the Power Stage when he had to find 1.8secs to match Henning’s time and take a podium..”

( yeh, and we know how that went.. but we still love Kris anyway.. )

“..Still we are very happy with fourth and Kris’ performance on the event. Dani’s very uncharacteristic mistake on Friday meant he was in the SupeRally. We wanted to build his confidence for the future in these conditions and did this, as he was setting competitive times and second on the Power Stage is something we are very pleased with. We got both cars to the finish, they are in reasonable shape, and we have learnt an awful lot. For the drivers it was difficult physically, as there were some very long road sections to contend with, but they came through it very well. It was a tough rally for the car and we are very pleased with its general reliability. This has been a testing year for us, it has been a good rally to finish on and overall we are very happy with the result as the team has worked extremely hard. Also important to what has happened this year has been our partnership with Michelin. It is a very good relationship and we work together very well. We share all our information with them in order to maximise the performance of our tyre, and the results have proven that the partnership is working very well.”

Dani Sordo (MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 37) said, “I was pushing a little bit on the Power Stage but Sébastien Ogier was going really fast. I enjoyed the second run through the stages today. However, after the first day it is difficult to push when you have nothing to fight for. Despite what happened on Friday, I am happy and now I have a lot more confidence in the car, in the conditions we have had here in Wales. Although the sun was shining, today many parts on the tarmac with gravel tyres were slippery. The season has been interesting because the car has become better and better. Obviously we now need to develop it more.”

Kris Meeke (MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 52) agreed, saying “All in all we had a pretty good weekend. We had a few issues during the rally, which perhaps cost us about three minutes. Still I am very disappointed with the Power Stage, as when it came to producing the goods we didn’t, made a mistake and paid the price, but that is the way it goes. Hopefully there is a bigger future for us than fighting for third overall, as in a year’s time we want to be able to fight for a win. I feel very positive about the season, as for a new car and a new team, to be in there challenging for podiums is fantastic.”

We couldn’t agree more, and hope you’ve been enjoying Miniology’s continuous coverage of MINI WRC this year.

 

[Source: BMW Group PressClub Sport, Wales, Wales,13th November 2011.]

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]

MINI WRC takes on 12th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship, at Rally Spain 20th – 23rd October, Day One.

Salou, 21st October, 2011.

The MINI WRC Team’s crews of Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) and Paul Nagle (IR) were lying fifth and sixth respectively at the end of what turned out to be a controversial first day of action for the Rally RACC – Rally of Spain. On a day when running first on the road was more advantageous than ever, bad dust on two of the six stages turned what could have been a good fight into a lottery as the crews battled with visibility that was often no more than a few feet.

Stage one was the first where this problem occurred, and this was not helped by no wind speed at all. Then on the final stage of the day run in the dark the dust was even worse, and many crews were openly critical of running in such conditions. However, Sordo and Meeke also suffered other problems, with intercom issues on stage five for the Spaniard, while for the Brit and co-driver Nagle it was dust getting inside the car and in their eyes. With the gravel stages of the rally out of the way the team is hoping for better results on the all tarmac stages over the next two days. Tomorrow there will be six stages covering a total of 143.54 kilometres.

Dave Wilcock, Technical Director said, “We started the day with great expectations, but clearly from the first split we could see the stages were going to be an issue due to dust. On the first stage our two drivers had notes called for sixth gear and they were having to drive through in third! It was not a level playing field for everybody. The three minute gaps put in by the organisers to combat this didn’t work, and we took the option to take a ten second penalty for Kris for checking in a minute late for stage one. He probably gained around 25 or 30 seconds on the stage time, so it was a 15 second gain. Also on the first loop Kris was carrying a small problem as he dropped into a small hole and slightly damaged the suspension, but was able to get back to service with no problems. When Dani got into service we found he had a small amount of damage that may have affected his handling on the first three stages. On the afternoon loop we hoped to claw something back, and the first stage was okay. Then on the next one Dani had an intermittent intercom problem and lost some seconds, but it was repairable for the final stage by replacing a lead. Going into the last stage the crews had four minute gaps, expecting dust, but like the first stage it was completely horrendous and was a complete lottery. We finished the day two minutes down on the leader and most of that is due to dust. We are not very happy, but tomorrow we start the tarmac rally and we shall try and recover.”

Dani Sordo (driving the MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 37) added, “Today the first stage, like the last one, was where we lost a lot of time – in fact over 40 seconds. On the second pass of the long stage today, which was 35 kilometres, the intercom to the co-driver was broken at the start of the stage and it kept cutting out. I didn’t hear Carlos very well so it was difficult to know where the corners were, and that was bad. Then the final night stage was really bad as we had all the dust and it was impossible to see. Today was really difficult because there were many problems. I need to try and push hard tomorrow to try to show everybody that the MINI is fast on tarmac, so do the same as I did in France. It is a new rally tomorrow, with just tarmac which is good for our car, so perhaps we can make up some positions. It should be an interesting day.”

In the MINI John Cooper Works WRC No 52, Kris Meeke gave his daily report: “I had a challenging day. However, if I had really pushed myself to the limit risking everything maybe I would have been on a similar time to Dani, but then I know he is going to pull away tomorrow as I don’t have the experience of the roads. I said for once use the wise head and try to relax and go out to learn the rally. Certainly the most challenging part of the rally is over and the last stage was the most difficult stage I have ever driven. Tomorrow is all about tarmac driving, finding the rhythm there and trying to find tenths of seconds as the stage times will be separated by a lot less. Today with the dust and the rocks falling onto the road it made it very, very difficult.”

We wish the MINI WRC great success and look forward to giving our readers continuous coverage here at Miniology.com!

[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]

MINI WRC continues in France at 11th of 13 rounds of the FIA WRC (Preview)

Rally France-Alsace. 29th September – 2nd October. 11th of 13 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship. Preview.

[Source: BMW AG, Munich 9/23/2011]

The MINI WRC Team will again be competing on asphalt when it arrives in Strasbourg for its fourth event of 2011, Rally France-Alsace. The team is keen to capitalise on its third place in Germany for Dani Sordo (ES) and the tarmac performance shown by the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

While the rest of the World Rally Championship competitors have been in Australia, the number 37 and 52 MINIs have been back in Banbury at the Prodrive headquarters.  Since Rally Germany, both drivers have been getting valuable time behind the wheel with Kris Meeke (GB) attending the Rallyday at Castle Combe, and Dani Sordo shaking the car down at Prodrive’s test track in Warwickshire as the team continues the MINI WRC’s development.  The team is also holding a one day pre-event test in France this weekend.

Continue reading →

MINI WRC TEAM Summary: Interviews, CVs, and Tech Specs

This is an absolutely HUGE article, containing several transcripts with our interviews with some of the key people behind MINI WRC including technical details about the JCW MINI WRC car, background on the management and drivers, a synopsis of Mini’s earlier rally heritage from the 1960′s, and so much more!  (special thanks to BMW PressClub Sport for all the great photos, presskits, and video footage!)

We’re using the “more” tag in this article so that it won’t take up pages and pages to scroll from on our main site.

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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.