The Lotos Team WRC is a Polish
motor racing
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...
team that made its debut in the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
at the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
Rallye Monte Carlo
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...
.
Competition history
2013 season
The team was formed by Motorsport Italia team manager Bruno di Pianto from the remains of the
WRC Team Mini Portugal (which closed at the end of the
2012 season)
with the support of Polish oil conglomerate
Grupa Lotos. The team was scheduled to contest the 2013 season with a
Mini John Cooper Works WRC
The Mini John Cooper Works WRC is a World Rally Car debuted by the Mini WRC Team during the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It is the first rally car to bear the Mini label in top-level rallying since the 1960s. The car was entered in a lim ...
driven by Polish driver and 2012
Production Car
Production vehicles or production cars are mass-produced identical models, offered for sale to the public, and able to be legally driven on public roads ( street legal). Legislation and other rules further define the production vehicle within part ...
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
runner-up
Michał Kościuszko.
However, the team abandoned the Mini John Cooper Works WRC halfway through the season and withdrew their entry from the
Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally of Greece ( el, Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually duri ...
to focus on changing to the
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
The Ford Fiesta RS WRC is the World Rally Car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford Europe and M-Sport for use in the World Rally Championship 2011–2016. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Focus RS WRC, whi ...
, making their debut with the new car at the
Rally d'Italia in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
.
Although the team was recognised by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
as a manufacturer team for the 2013 season, only the team's best eight results from thirteen rallies will be counted towards the team's final points tally.
Ultimately, the team only contested seven rounds of the championship; after competing in Sardinia, Kościuszko skipped
Rally Finland
Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...
before returning for
Rallye Deutschland
The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier. Previously part of the Europ ...
in what would be his final appearance during the 2013 season.
The team finished the season in eighth and last place, with twenty points and a best finish of seventh place in the Rally d'Italia.
Complete WRC results
Notes:
* — Although the team is recognised by the FIA as a manufacturer team, only the best eight results from thirteen rallies were counted towards the team's final points tally.
References
{{2013 World Rally Championship season
World Rally Championship teams
Auto racing teams in Italy
Auto racing teams established in 2013