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Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
Mario Fornaris worked with Ralliart Italy until recently. Ralliart Italy has experience in assisting cars in the WRC.
X-raid has Sven Quandt that is not an unknow person on the WRC scene.
If BMW will fund the project as VW is doing, then any of these teams could make a good work. With money, if you don't have the technicias, you hire them.
+1 I agree.
I was thinking X-Raid could be a good option (of course BMW taking it in-house like VW is probably the safest now they can't work with Prodrive). After all they basically are just using reformatted BMW SUV's for dakar and are using their engines so they are already quite well versed in the way BMW does business.
It will also be interesting to see if BMW allows Prodrive to run the cars for the rest of the year.
In last couple of years Fornaris was also working for Škoda.Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM
And your evidence for this is?Quote:
Originally Posted by danon
Skoda Motorsport CZ or Skoda Itália? I think it was in 2010 he was involved with Skoda ItáliaQuote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Škoda Motorsport as well. I'm not sure if he is still involved but for sure he has been providing some kind of technical consultancy for Fabia S2000 project since its beginning.Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM
In 2009 he still was Ralliart Italy shareholder and woking with the team as technical coordinator. After that don't know what he did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
About the changes at Mini, if there's money from Mini, there are some good structures that could do the job. But i look and X-raid by obvious reasons
he worked for R4 kits for evo too.Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM
Statement from the MINI World Rally Team
http://www.minimotorsport.com/en/new...in_the_fia_wrc
"After Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) finished second on the return of the brand to the legendary Monte Carlo Rally, the direction has now been set for a long-term MINI presence in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC): On Thursday 2 February, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) accepted a two-car manufacturer entry by WRC Team MINI Portugal into the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship 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 Araújo (PT) and his co-driver Miguel Ramalho (PT), as well as Paulo Nobre (BR) and co-driver Edu Paula (BR) - will contest the remaining 12 events of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship.
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 cooperation 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.
“I am delighted that the future of MINI in the WRC has been secured on a long-term basis,” said Dr. Kay Segler, Senior Vice President MINI Business Coordination and Brand Management. “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 cooperation and the understanding it has shown us.”
Segler added: “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.”
So what does that mean? Is pro drive getting more support from mini now?