Araujo excited ahead of home rally

Armindo Araujo says he can’t wait for Vodafone Rally de Portugal to get underway in Lisbon on Thursday afternoon because he is feeling more motivated than ever.

Not only will the 34-year-old Porto-born driver be competing in front of his home fans on round four of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, he will be doing so behind the wheel of an uprated MINI John Cooper Works WRC, which he got to try during a test on Sunday when he covered approximately 100 kilometres.

“We tested with a brand new MINI John Cooper Works WRC which we will use this weekend and I’m very happy with it,” said the double Production Car world champion, whose car is lighter and faster than its predecessor. “We will start the rally with extra-motivation because it’s our home event and we’re aiming for another top 10 after the great result we achieved at Rally [Guanajuato] Mexico 20 days ago.

Araujo forms part of the two-strong WRC Team MINI Portugal outfit alongside Brazilian Paulo Nobre. On this event last year Araujo gave the Super Production version of the MINI its world championship debut but failed to reach the finish due to a mechanical fault.

He is hoping for better fortune this year: “I’m so happy to be in Portugal in front of my own crowds, this weekend I have the support of my fans and I’ll do everything I can not to let them down. We are very happy to be at Rally de Portugal, it’s our home event and we feel really confident for this weekend.”