Two different drive concepts will be used for the first time:
all-wheel drive on the MINI John Cooper Works Rally and rear-wheel
drive on the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy. Edition 40 of the world’s
most demanding long-distance rally begins on 6 January 2018 in Lima/Peru.
Munich. The British car manufacturer MINI and the
German X-raid Team have launched into the final preparation phase for
the Dakar Rally 2018 with the presentation of their current racing
cars. For the first time MINI and X-raid will face the challenges of
the most demanding long-distance rally in the world using two
different types of drive. In addition to the further advanced version
of the all-wheel drive MINI John Cooper Works Rally, which, at its
debut appearance, came in sixth overall at the 2017 Dakar Rally, the
rear-wheel drive MINI John Cooper Works Buggy will head into the
opener stage on 6 January 2018 in the Peruvian capital of Lima.
More determined than ever before, MINI and X-raid are aiming to
continue their joint success story which brought them four consecutive
overall victories from 2012 to 2015. “With these two cars we have the
most powerful MINI family that ever raced at the Dakar Rally”, said
Sebastian Mackensen, Senior Vice President of MINI, at the
presentation in Paris.
The reason why a second vehicle concept was developed lies in
the specifics of the Dakar Rally rules, which, in their current form,
give two-wheel driven cars certain advantages. X-raid Team Manager
Sven Quandt gave the go-ahead for building the MINI John Cooper Works
Buggy in February 2017. “This has been the biggest project in our
company’s history so far and we have worked extremely hard at it”, he
said at the vehicle presentation.
The MINI John Cooper Works Buggy is powered by a 3.0 litre
inline 6-cylinder diesel engine generating and output of 250 kW/340 hp
and a maximum torque of 800 Nm. The transmission and drivetrain as
well as the engine’s turbocharging technology, which is based on the
BMW TwinPower Turbo, have been completely newly conceived. The MINI
John Cooper Works Rally uses the same engine. The specially designed
tubular steel frame provides maximum protection for driver and
passenger in extreme situations. A specifically designed body made of
carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) and Kevlar is stretched over
the frame. The authentic buggy-look exterior has been designed in
close cooperation with MINI Design and aerodynamically optimised.
The new MINI John Cooper Works Buggy has already undergone an
intensive test programme over the past months which took it over
different types of rally terrain for example in Hungary and Morocco.
“During this time the buggy never had to stop once due to a technical
problem, which is really quite remarkable”, reported Team Manager Sven
Quandt. “Despite all the euphoria, we must definitely not forget the
MINI John Cooper Works Rally”, Quandt added. “There are tracks and
types of terrain where an all-wheel drive has advantages. What is
more, our car is extremely reliable.” The targeted advancements for
the MINI John Cooper Works Rally, which Argentinian Orlando Terranove
raced to sixth place in the overall rankings of the 2017 Dakar Rally,
includes a new chassis construction featuring greater suspension
travel and weight reductions among other things.
The MINI
and X-raid range for the Dakar Rally 2018 will comprise seven cars and
an experienced team of drivers and co-pilots. The three
MINI John Cooper Works Buggies will be piloted by Mikko Hirvonen
(FIN), Bryce Menzies (USA) and Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA). The driver seats
in the MINI John Cooper Works Rally will be occupied by Orlando
Terranova (ARG), Jakub Przygonski (POL), Joan “Nani” Roma (ESP) and
Boris Garafulic (CHI).
With this driver line-up and the crew of experienced organisers
and technical and medical specialists, the X-raid Team will be
perfectly equipped for the endurance ordeal awaiting man and machine
at the 40th edition of the Dakar Rally. The anniversary edition of the
long-distance rally, which is taking place in South America for the
tenth time, will take the rally participants from Peru to Argentina
via Bolivia. The 2018 Dakar Rally incorporates extended desert stages
as well as rock and boulder fields and asphalt tracks which take the
cars up to an altitude of 4000 meters in the Andes. The final stage
will be completed on 20 January 2018 in Córdoba, Argentina.
In case of queries please contact:
Matthias Schepke, MINI Motorsport
Communications
Tel:+49-89-382-78416
Fax:
+49-89-382-23927
Email:matthias.schepke@bmwgroup.com
Andreas Lampka, Head of Communications MINI
Tel:
+49-89-382-23662
Fax: +49-89-382-28567
E-Mail: andreas.lampka@mini.com
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