The Mini name will be echoing in the rallying world once again after the iconic brand made a return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) with the debut of their Mini Countryman WRC at the Rally Sardinia last week.
Although the marquee, which has tied up with Prodrive for their rally team, will only be participating in some of the rounds of this year’s calendar as a refinement step before going for the full season next year, the two Countryman WRC machines made some impressive progress and could just have the rest of the field taking notice.
Kris Meeke was running as high as fourth in the early stages before a glitch with the throttle sent him veering off the road. His teammate, Dani Sordo, had almost no trouble whatsoever as he cruised to a sixth spot finish.
“I think we have shown the performance of the car. We have proved what we can do and I think it has set the mark and set the standard,” said David Richards, the team boss.
He also couldn’t help but ponder on the possibilities had Meeke’s car been as trouble-free as Sordo’s, “If he had carried on like that I think we would have been in a very strong position, but that is life, this is testing and we are learning as we go along,” he added.
Richards also dismissed the notion that the throttle problem on Meeke’s car was an ongoing issue as it resurfaced when the driver restarted on Saturday, “We know what the problem is but we didn't have a solution to it here, and anything we did would have been compromised and may have resulted in a recurrence of the problem. I just didn't believe it was worthwhile taking that risk.”
The team head added that the problem has been identified and will be easily fixed with the right components in a few weeks time, with more than enough time to spare before their next rally.
Source: Autosport
