The MINI World Rally Championship team was able to celebrate its first taste of victory over the weekend, finishing in 3rd place at Rally Germany and earning the young MINI team a podium finish.
Driver Dani Sordo posted some amazing times in the final stages to secure MINI’s 3rd place finish. The accomplishment is made more significant by the MINI team’s relative lack of experience; the team is less than a year old, with Rally Germany marking their 3rd WRC event. Sordo was also honored with the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally Award, the second such honor awarded to the MINI team in three events.
Dave Wilcock, Technical Director
“We can’t help but be satisfied with this result of only our third rally. Getting a podium here in Germany was something special for the whole team. A lot of work has gone into this project and we have realized this weekend it is 11 months to the week since we ran the MINI John Cooper Works WRC for the first time in Portugal. It seems a long time ago when you consider just what we have done in mileage, but it is a great effort in a relatively short time.”
Unfortunately, Kris Meeke was unable to finish due to a technical malfunction despite holding strong in 5th place for many of the event’s stages.
Said Kris, “The car started to cut out on me, eventually stopped completely and there was nothing we could do. It was quite clear it was an electrical issue as there was no power to the control box inside the car. It was traced to just a little wire that had come off and it was one of those things.”
Despite Kris’ setbacks, Dave Wilcock and the MINI Team remain optimistic.
“We know our strengths and also our weaknesses. We know where we have to work and we will do that as we have a clear plan. We will go away from here now and will work out a priority order and start attacking them. We are a small team but we are committed and will do everything we can to improve as much as we can. We have short term objectives with some performance and some reliability. However, we have a clear focus and that is on 2013 and we are now going to stick to that and work to our calculated development plan.”
Next stop. Rally France.
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