More progress for MINI in Germany

MINI WRC Team driver Kris Meeke has said the squad’s four-day asphalt test in Germany marked another successful step in the development of its John Cooper Works WRC.

Briton Meeke and Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo covered approximately 1000 kilometres during the test, which finished on Monday evening and was described as being “relatively trouble-free” by the Anglo-German outfit.

“I was really happy with where we got to in [a previous test in] Sanremo and we’ve continued to refine the car from there,” said the 31-year-old Meeke. “Friday, Sunday and Monday were very different, both in terms of the weather conditions and roads. Friday was a bit cooler on the tight and twisty roads through the vineyards, while on Sunday we drove the faster military roads of Baumholder in much hotter conditions and on their more aggressive road surfaces.”

The test was in preparation for MINI’s first sealed-surface WRC event, the Trier-based ADAC Rallye Deutschland in August, plus the two other Tarmac rounds in France and Germany later in the season.

Sordo and Meeke have both performed well on Rallye Deutschland in the past, winning the Junior World Rally Championship section of the event in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Sordo also finished runner-up in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Before Rallye Deutschland Meeke will be back behind the wheel of a John Cooper Works WRC this weekend when he appears at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom. He is also scheduled to contest the non-championship all-gravel Rally Estonia from 15-16 July. The event uses similar roads to those found on Neste Oil Rally Finland where MINI will make its next WRC appearance from 28-30 July.

Sordo and Meeke will be among six drivers competing on the Jyvaskyla-based event in the Prodrive-developed John Cooper Works WRC, which made its world championship debut on Rally Italia Sardegna last month.