MINI makes its debut in the WRC

The WRC's third 2011 event in Portugal is well under way and sees the first of the WRC Super 2000 MINI Countrymans competing. Official MINI driver Daniel Oliveira is piloting a JCW Super 2000 version of the WRC MINI for the Brazilian team before joining Kris Meeke and the official WRC MINI team in Italy in May. While Portugese driver Armindo Araujo has also entered in the same car for the Motorsport Italia team

In the ceremonial special stage through the crowd-lined streets of Lisbon yesterday, Oliveira set the sixth best time of the Super 2000 cars through the 3.27-km run, with a time of 3mins 11.4secs. to came 13.8secs adrift of class leader, the local hero Armindo Araujo.

Today the drivers are tackling six more stages, covering 132.41 kilometres of gravel roads, and this time there will be no ceremony as Oliveira and Araujo try to get to grips with new MINI under competitve conditions for the first time.

You can follow the WRC in many ways. Here are some links

www.wrc.com
www.facebook.com/WorldRally
http://twitter.com/OfficialWRC


In the meantime, for those of you who know of Ken Block, who competes in the WRC, here's a pretty nasty roll he had yesterday.

Share this: