MOTORSPORT: MINI and Prodrive stay in strained marriage

While Spaniard Dani Sordo, second in the recent Monte Carlo Rally, will keep driving Prodrive's main entry, Motorsport Italia-run two-car WRC MINI Team Portugal will be the manufacturer entry in the remaining 12 rounds of this year's championship, starting from this week's Rally of Sweden.

The Prodrive entry will be called a "works-supported private team". The new manufacturer team's drivers are Portugal's Armindo Araujo and Brazilian Paulo Nobre. Two other MINIs are to run in this week's event for Swedish drivers -- a Prodrive entry for Patrik Sandell and a customer car in the hands of touring car racer Richard Goransson.

While BMW-owned MINI has painted the changes announced last night as setting its direction for long-term participation in the WRC and underwriting the homologation of the MINI in the championship until 2018, it is a fiasco -- and no way to go about beating WRC mainstays Citroen and Ford.

MINI appears to be trapped in an unhappy marriage it can't escape. It talks of motorsport's world governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), helping it find a "constructive solution" but hasn't acknowledged the problem.

That problem appears to be financial arguments between MINI and Prodrive, which ran Subaru's WRC team until it folded in late 2008, runs Ford Performance Racing in Australia's V8 Supercar Championship and has fielded Aston Martin in sportscar racing.

Richards' comments after the MINI announcement have only added to the farce.

"Fundamentally, the nature of the relationship between Prodrive and MINI will not change," Autosport quoted Richards saying. "We will still be working very closely with them on the test program for the car and, in fact, the development of the car will be enhanced by this news for reasons which will soon become clear.

"There will be more resource for the development of the MINI, which will further improve the performance of the car in the future."

Despite the obviously difficult relationship, Prodrive's MINIs have notched three podiums in seven events since the marque's entry to the WRC in the middle of last season. But, announcing that "the direction has now been set for a long-term MINI presence in the WRC" in Europe last night, the car maker said:  "On Thursday, February 2, the FIA accepted a two-car manufacturer entry by WRC Team MINI Portugal into the 2012 WRC for Manufacturers.

"As a consequence MINI will complete the homologation for the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The WRC Team MINI Portugal -- consisting of Armindo Araujo and his co-driver Miguel Ramalho (of Portugal), as well as Paulo Nobre and co-driver Edu Paula (of Brazil) -- will contest the remaining 12 events of the 2012 WRC.

"This long-term homologation ensures that the MINI John Cooper Works WRC can be used in the premier league of rallying, and other series in accordance with FIA regulations, up to and including 2018. The co-operation with Prodrive will be put on a new basis.

"Prodrive remains responsible for the construction and support of MINI John Cooper Works WRC customer vehicles, and will continue to work with the BMW Group on the further development of the car. The WRC team run by Prodrive will from now on start as a works-supported private team."

Dr Kay Segler, MINI's senior vice-president of business co-ordination and brand management, said: "I am delighted that the future of MINI in the WRC has been secured on a long-term basis.

"We remain convinced that the sport of rallying is perfectly suited to our brand. The situation we now find ourselves in means the MINI Motorsport family can, and will, continue to grow on the rally scene. With three podiums from just seven starts in the world championship, the MINI John Cooper Works WRC has already emphatically proven its potential.

"I am confident that our customer teams around the world will continue to thrill MINI fans with this car over the coming years... The FIA was just as interested in the long-term presence of the MINI brand in the WRC as we were, and was actively involved in finding a constructive solution.

"We are grateful for the good co-operation and the understanding it has shown us. With its great enthusiasm and hard work, the Prodrive team has played a major role in the remarkable sporting success we have achieved on our initial outings with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

"On behalf of MINI Motorsport I would like to thank everyone at Prodrive for their efforts so far and we look forward to working with them in support of our MINI John Cooper Works WRC customers in the future."

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at the carsales mobile site