Minis return to race in the World Rally Championship
Minis will compete in the World Rally Championship next season marking its return to the sport after 44 years, it was announced today.
The Mini Countryman WRC will feature in selected races next year but will take part in full from 2012, said owners BMW, adding that the move had been planned for several years.
The car will be developed by British-based Prodrive, who ran Subaru's world champion team.
Prodrive chairman David Richards said: "This is a very exciting new motorsport programme. I believe our new Mini will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world."
The cars have not been seen at rallying's highest level since 1967 when the Mini Cooper won the Monte Carlo Rally and the Acropolis Rally.
