The WRC Team Mini Portugal was Mini's factory-supported

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 ...

team. Established in February 2012 after the

Prodrive Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advanced technolo ...

-run

Mini WRC Team The Prodrive WRC Team, formerly known as the Mini WRC Team was the name given to the World Rally Championship (WRC) team run by Prodrive. Prodrive developed the car, the Mini John Cooper Works WRC, in cooperation with MINI. Mini in rallying M ...

had its support from parent company BMW reduced, the team debuted at the Rally of Sweden. The WRC Team Mini Portugal was formed out of the merger of the Mini entries of Armindo Araújo World Rally Team and Palmeirinha Rally, which were both run by the

Motorsport Italia 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 two ...

firm for drivers

Armindo Araújo Armindo Araújo (born 1 September 1977) is a Portuguese rally driver. He won the Production World Rally Championship in the 2009 season, repeating the accomplishment in the next year ( 2010 season), to become the first pilot to ever win this cup ...

and

Paulo Nobre Paulo Nobre (born 24 February 1968) is a Brazilian lawyer, rally driver and former president of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras. Palmeiras Election Paulo Nobre had the support of former Presidents Mustafa Contursi and Carlos Bernardo Facchina Nunes ...

respectively. Team Mini Portugal were registered as a manufacturer entry, while the

Prodrive WRC Team The Prodrive WRC Team, formerly known as the Mini WRC Team was the name given to the World Rally Championship (WRC) team run by Prodrive. Prodrive developed the car, the Mini John Cooper Works WRC, in cooperation with MINI. Mini in rallying ...

was demoted to a works-supported private team. The manufacturers points that had been scored by Armindo Araújo World Rally Team and Palmeirinha Rally at the Monte Carlo Rally prior to the change were removed. On 16 August 2012 it was announced that

Chris Atkinson Chris Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finish on an indi ...

and Stéphane Prévot would replace Armindo Araújo and Miguel Ramalho as the team's lead crew for the last five races of the 2012 WRC season. At the end of 2012 Mini withdrew its financial support and the team was closed.

WRC Results

References

External links

Team profile at WRC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrc Team Mini Portugal World Rally Championship teams Mini (marque) Auto racing teams established in 2012 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2012 Portuguese auto racing teams