MINI closes on WRC debut with Spanish test

MINI’s all-new John Cooper Works World Rally Car has run in its final specification with Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo sampling the machine during a recent test in Spain.

Briton Meeke and Spaniard Sordo both drove the Prodrive-developed challenger, which has been refined in recent months ahead of its long-awaited competition debut on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna next week.

“The car is now to full WRC specification,” said Dave Wilcock, the MINI WRC Team’s technical chief following the test near Girona. “It was [therefore] important that Dani and Kris tested under similar conditions to those expected in Sardinia. An extensive shakedown will provide the finishing [touches] to our preparations.”

Wilcock continued: “It was an accelerated development programme during which we constantly pushed our limits. We will find out how good we are when we take on the competition in Sardinia.”

Meeke, whose outing on Rally d’Italia Sardegna will mark his first appearance in the WRC since October 2008, said: “I’ve been with the team pretty much since the start so I’ve seen everything coming together and I have to say I’m really excited about it all.

"Nobody knows where the car’s going to run against the Citroen and Ford, how can we? All we know is that we’re not going to be a second a kilometre faster or a second a kilometer slower - we’ll be somewhere in the middle.”