Filed under:
Motorsports,
Hirings/Firings/Layoffs,
Mini
We were pretty surprised to find out just a few days ago that
Mini's new rally team had, for some reason,
failed to sign up for next year's
World Rally Championship. "Inexplicable" is what we called it at the time, but the latest reports coming out of the UK where the team is based could serve to cast some light on the situation.
Not only has the outfit - run by the rally gurus at
Prodrive (who have, in the past, run Subaru's rally team, as well as
Aston Martin and
Ferrari works efforts at
Le Mans) - missed the filing deadline, but they'll also reportedly let their best driver go. The reason? Funding, apparently. Although the team supposedly benefits from factory backing, a lack of sponsorship has reportedly left the team strapped for cash.
As a result, Northern Irish driver
Kris Meeke - who was called up to the
WRC team after claiming the 2009 title in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge - and his co-pilot have reportedly been released from their three-year contract after only one year. Meeke's seat will reportedly be auctioned off to the highest bidder - that is, whoever comes with sponsorship dollars, pounds or euros already lined up. Former
Citroën WRC driver Dani Sordo, however, will reportedly carry on with the team, assuming it can secure its entry for the upcoming season.
How a factory-backed team like Mini's could find itself without enough funding has us scratching our heads, but our compatriots over at
Autocar point to parent-company
BMW's costly new entry into
DTM next season as a potential answer.
Mini dumps rally driver due to budget issues originally appeared on
Autoblog on Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:29:00 EST. Please see our
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