Prodrive WRC Team

Prodrive

Full name	Prodrive WRC Team
Base	Banbury, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	David Richards
Drivers	Kris Meeke [1] Dani Sordo [2]
Co-drivers	Paul Nagle [1] Carlos del Barrio [2]
Chassis	Mini JCW WRC
Tyres	Michelin
World Rally Championship history
Debut	2011 Rally Italia Sardegna
Last event	2013 Rally Finland
Manufacturers' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Rally wins	0

The Prodrive WRC Team, formerly known as the Mini WRC Team was the name given to the World Rally Championship (WRC) team run by Prodrive. Prodrive developed the car, the Mini John Cooper Works WRC, in cooperation with MINI. ^[3]

Mini in rallying

Timo Mäkinen driving to victory in the 1965 1000 Lakes Rally

Mini's history in international rallying dates back to the 1960s, when the Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally on three occasions, in 1964, 1965 and 1967, as well as wins on the Acropolis Rally, RAC Rally and 1000 Lakes Rally, ^[4] and the European Rally Championship in 1965.

Previous Mini rally cars includes the Mini 850, which was first driven to victory by Pat Moss. ^[5]

Formation

Reports began emerging in mid-2009 that Mini, now owned by BMW, was planning a return to rallying. The reports went even further when Prodrive said that it would not field an entry for the 2011 Formula One season, in order to focus on a return to rallying. ^[6]

On 27 July 2010, Mini ended months of speculation by confirming its rally programme in cooperation with Prodrive. The team, the factory-supported Mini WRC Team, would compete at six rounds of the 2011 World Rally Championship season, ahead of a full season from 2012 onwards. The team set a target of winning the World Rally Championship in 2013. ^[7]

Team

Mini World Rally Car

Main article: Mini John Cooper Works WRC

Dani Sordo heading to a third place at the 2011 Rallye Deutschland

Reports had emerged before the rally team was founded that the car was being planned. When the rally team was confirmed BMW confirmed that the car would be used on a limited schedule in the 2011 World Rally Championship. Prodrive confirmed that work on the Mini WRC started in late 2010.

Operations

The team was based at Prodrive's facilities in Banbury, previously the base of the Subaru World Rally Team. ^[5] The team principal was David Richards, along with co-principal Glen Coates.

History

2011

The team signed Kris Meeke, a former IRC rally champion, as one of its rally drivers. ^{[8] [9]} In January 2011 the second driver was announced and Dani Sordo signed up for the season. ^[2] The team competed at six rounds with both drivers, achieving two podiums in Germany and France with Sordo.

2012

Almost since the team launch in 2011, there was unease between BMW and Prodrive concerning the financing of the programme, to the extent that Mini WRC Team had to shelve plans to run two official drivers in 2012. ^[10] Dani Sordo was confirmed, while Kris Meeke was replaced by Pierre Campana. At the 2012 Monte Carlo Rally Sordo managed a second place overall.

In February, after only one race, BMW terminated its contract with Prodrive. The team had to change its name in Prodrive WRC Team. A new works-team was formed as WRC Team Mini Portugal from the merger of the Mini entries of Armindo Araújo World Rally Team and Palmeirinha Rally, which were both run by the Motorsport Italia firm. Team Mini Portugal was registered as a manufacturer entry, while the new Prodrive WRC Team was demoted to a works-supported private entry. ^[11] The team reduced its programme to seven rounds with Sordo, while the second car was entered in some events by different drivers.

WRC results

Year	Car	No	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points	WMC	Points
2011	Mini John Cooper Works WRC	37	Dani Sordo	SWE	MEX	POR	JOR	ITA 6	ARG	GRE	FIN Ret	GER 3	AUS	FRA 2	ESP 4	GBR 20	8th	59	-*	-*
		52	Kris Meeke	SWE	MEX	POR	JOR	ITA Ret	ARG	GRE	FIN Ret	GER Ret	AUS	FRA Ret	ESP 5	GBR 4	11th	25
2012	Mini John Cooper Works WRC	23	Jarkko Nikara	MON	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	GER	GBR	FRA	ITA	ESP 5	16th	10	-	NC
		37	Dani Sordo	MON 2	SWE Ret	MEX	POR 11	ARG	GRE	NZL 6	FIN	GER 9	GBR	FRA Ret	ITA	ESP 9	11th	35
		52	Pierre Campana	MON 7													21st	6
			Patrik Sandell		SWE 8	MEX	POR Ret	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	GER	GBR	FRA	ITA	ESP	27th	4
2013	Mini John Cooper Works WRC	23	Jarkko Nikara	MON	SWE 25	MEX	POR	ARG	GRE	ITA	FIN Ret	GER	AUS	FRA	ESP	GBR	-	0	-	-

• Mini entered in 2011 season as development entry, therefore they could not score points as a team.

See also

• Citroën World Rally Team
• Ford World Rally Team
• Subaru World Rally Team

References

1. Cary, Tom (30 September 2010). "IRC champion Kris Meeke set to drive Mini WRC in World Rally Championship". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
2. "MINI has ended weeks of speculation by confirming that Dani Sordo will drive for its new WRC Team in the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship". WRC.com. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
3. "Mini to compete in the World Rally Championship". The Guardian . London. 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
4. "Welcome back to MINI!". World Rally Championship . International Sportsworld Communicators. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
5. "The Oxford-built Mini makes World Rally come back". BBC News . BBC. 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
6. "Prodrive not submitting 2011 F1 entry". GPUpdate.net. GPUpdate. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
7. "Mini aim to win world title within three years". Eurosport . TF1 Group. 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Meeke signs for Mini WRC programme". Autosport.
9. "Meeke: Mini drive a dream come true". Autosport.
10. Evans, David (2 February 2012). "BMW set to terminate Prodrive contract to run the Mini WRC team". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 19 December 2016.
11. Evans, David (6 February 2012). "Prodrive loses status as MINI's factory World Rally Team". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 6 February 2012.