Prodrive

[Gordini]

Do we know more on what partner Prodrive will choose for their WRC campaign?

[MJW]

Nothing confirmed but jigsaw pieces are coming together to suggest Mini based on the following :-a) road car version of the rally car is a "new" car with the launch due at Geneva show. Mini Countryman an SUV variant is due for launch then. b) Prodrive sources suggest it will be driven by a British driver to keep the theme. Its quite well known that DR likes all things British, Range Rovers, Astons, and English countrylife, so having a Mini WRC car would give an ideal marketing perspective, reliving the Mini works days, especially when you consider Banbury is near Abingdon, and the whole Mini car set up is in the Oxford area of England. IF I was a betting man I would put a lot of money on it being a Mini.

[noel157]

Nothing confirmed but jigsaw pieces are coming together to suggest Mini based on the following :-a) road car version of the rally car is a "new" car with the launch due at Geneva show. Mini Countryman an SUV variant is due for launch then. b) Prodrive sources suggest it will be driven by a British driver to keep the theme. Its quite well known that DR likes all things British, Range Rovers, Astons, and English countrylife, so having a Mini WRC car would give an ideal marketing perspective, reliving the Mini works days, especially when you consider Banbury is near Abingdon, and the whole Mini car set up is in the Oxford area of England. IF I was a betting man I would put a lot of money on it being a Mini.

A British driver? Who? There are only 2 capable at present and nobody else on the immediate horizon.
Mini or a Japanese brand?

[milly]

Latest I heard was that the deal is not done at all, and that it's all smoke and mirrors.

Prodrive are actively out shoppping themselves to other manufacturers for an S2000 / new WRC car programme.

[MJW]

[quote="milly"]Latest I heard was that the deal is not done at all, and that it's all smoke and mirrors.
QUOTE]

According to British motorsport press MN and Autosport this week, Prodrive say theyt will announce the name of the manufacturer in the of the next few weeks. With the prototype shells due to be delivered to Banbury soon and testing of the built car to commence in summer 2010. That suggests to me that things have moved on and we are just awaiting an announcement.

[bennizw]

From what I've heard, Prodrive have built all parts for the car, and are now just waiting for a bodyshell to install them into.

[Sulland]

Read that they were in talks to get Mazda back into rally in 2011.

[milly]

Latest I heard was that the deal is not done at all, and that it's all smoke and mirrors.
QUOTE]

According to British motorsport press MN and Autosport this week, Prodrive say theyt will announce the name of the manufacturer in the of the next few weeks. With the prototype shells due to be delivered to Banbury soon and testing of the built car to commence in summer 2010. That suggests to me that things have moved on and we are just awaiting an announcement.

Maybe I should correct myself - they have a shell and development project, but it isn't a confirmed competition program. They've taken a punt on doing the development to try and get Mini to bite....

[Simmi]

Motorsport news said this week that it seems like the money is coming from Mini UK and not from parent company BMW. Hence the hope for a British driver.

All signs point to Mini from reports this week from the noises Prodrive are making.

[Micke_VOC]

I think they are building a Mini S2000 car...

[Mirek]

Read that they were in talks to get Mazda back into rally in 2011.

I heard that Mazda project ended before it even started properly. Now it's BMW, probably their Mini brand. For BMW it would be quite reasonable to enter WRC since new rules are very similar to WTCC where they've been in already for several years. I heard that the project is quite far but no program is approved by BMW leadership.

[alterdaxter]

I've heard only a couple of engineers are working on the project after closed doors. They can't even say a word about it to their colleagues that aren't involved.
Actually it's very quiet at Prodrive.

[RICARDO75]

]I heard that Mazda project ended before it even started properly. Now it's BMW, probably their Mini brand. For BMW it would be quite reasonable to enter WRC since new rules are very similar to WTCC where they've been in already for several years. I heard that the project is quite far but no program is approved by BMW leadership.


I agree with you and also, Mazda belongs to Ford group. Mazda 2 wrc and Ford Fiesta wrc copeting in the same class and championship, doesn't make sense from the beginning

[AndyRAC]

Motorsport news said this week that it seems like the money is coming from Mini UK and not from parent company BMW. Hence the hope for a British driver.

All signs point to Mini from reports this week from the noises Prodrive are making.

I find that quite interesting - almost as if BMW don't really want to be connected to the project.

[HaCo]

I find that quite interesting - almost as if BMW don't really want to be connected to the project.

How well was the BMW M3 E30 supported by BMW in the past, also ran by ProDrive?

[Simmi]

I find that quite interesting - almost as if BMW don't really want to be connected to the project.

They probably just dont want to foot the bill if at all possible. BMW seem to have a lot of projects they give their blessing to but don't give their full support to as a factory (Dakar, ALMS etc).

One benefit of this would be it gives Mini/Prodrive more freedom to go and get a UK driver for example and not having to refer every decision to Germany before they can get the green light. The question really is how good is the funding of this project? Are they looking to be world beaters or just hoping to get a car out there to sell to privateers and try to do some good business. I'd hope the answer is both.

[Tom206wrc]

Motorsport news said this week that it seems like the money is coming from Mini UK and not from parent company BMW. Hence the hope for a British driver.




OK...we risk to have another Opel situation then(Corsa S2000 being developped by privateer not factory, with the problems we know) :rolleyes:

[Simmi]

OK...we risk to have another Opel situation then(Corsa S2000 being developped by privateer not factory, with the problems we know) :rolleyes:

With the greatest respect to the development team behind the Corsa. I don't think MSD are in the same league as Prodrive. Prodrive may as well be a factory effort in terms of their knowledge and experience. It is simply a question of budget IMO to determine how competitive they will be.

[Rally_Rocks]

As I understand it, Prodrive are looking at a commercial deal with Mazda UK to build and sell the next generation WRCs. The funding for any race programme will come from the sale of customer cars, and as David Richards says, they will have to sell in excess of 40 cars to make this viable.

This is by no means a done deal. Prodrive and Mazda UK require Mazda in Japan to approve the programme and this means Mazda in Japan having to give away certain commercial rights to Prodrive and Mazda UK.

[JAM]

OK...we risk to have another Opel situation then(Corsa S2000 being developped by privateer not factory, with the problems we know) :rolleyes:

You can look at X-Raid on Dakar and imagine the diferences between X-Raid / BMW and MSD / Opel.

These are diferent things, and a eventually Prodrive / Mini is closer to X-raid / BMW than a MSD / Opel.

[OldF]

Is the staff that was working with Subaru WRC still at Prodrive? I mean is the skills and knowledge still there.

[JFL]

yes

[MJW]

Is the staff that was working with Subaru WRC still at Prodrive? I mean is the skills and knowledge still there.
Not all - there were a lot of redundancies. Prodrive is a lot "smaller" than it was

[JFL]

but they still have service/maintenance and supplying parts to customers.. Offcourse they have redused their staff.. A lot of people were involved with SWRT.

[Sulland]

When did they say the news on this project would come out with a launch ?

If they get it homologated in 2010 and wanted to do test rallies in WRC, what class would they run in, A8 ?

Or are they planning to test with a S2000 or a R3T engine, just to get mileage on the chassis and tune the team ?

[noel157]

When did they say the news on this project would come out with a launch ?

If they get it homologated in 2010 and wanted to do test rallies in WRC, what class would they run in, A8 ?

Or are they planning to test with a S2000 or a R3T engine, just to get mileage on the chassis and tune the team ?

Supposed to be a WRC example at Geneva next month.

[gravelman]

Sounds like you know something we don't Noel?!!!

[Huima]

http://www.rallybuzz.com/mini-wrc-on-target/

[ProRally]

Any news from Geneva Show, it opened today so the Mini WRC should be there ? :D

[serial jeff]

Lots of pictures of the Mini Countryman http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/02/geneva-2010-mini-countryman-breaks-cover/ but no mention of WRC that I noticed.

[milly]

Maybe there wasn't a deal in place at all - maybe a smokescreen......

[milly]

Or maybe the problem is the financial situation with Investment Dar, which owns 40% of Prodrive (and 50% of Aston Martin) and is in major difficulty regarding repayments on its borrowings.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EA0B6O0.htm

[noel157]

Is there any solid evidence or press release etc that Prodrive's partner is actually Mini? Or is it simply a case of rumours somehow turning into what now is perceived as fact?

[bluuford]

This the closest information you can get: http://translate.google.ee/translate?hl=et&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rallye-magazin.de%2F

[noel157]

Thanks Blu, time will tell.

[milly]

German media say Prodrive definitely had a guy from BMW Mini inSweden with them.

He was Udo Mark, technical co-ordinator of the Mini Challenges worldwide.

http://www.rallye-magazin.de/r/wm/d/n/d/2010/03/10/prodrive-mini-projekt-im-plan/index.html

[Sulland]

Nice; http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3663316&id=168020983814

Speculations about Grønholms future.

[Langdale Forest]

A return with Mini will destroy Gronholm's reputation in the WRC, rather like Didier Auriol with Seat and then Skoda.

[serial jeff]

Nothing can destroy Gronholm's reputation in the WRC. He was a champion and has now retired... he can come back and rally again, but even if he never wins another stage we'll still remember that for a couple years he was the best driver in the world.

[Tomi]

A return with Mini will destroy Gronholm's reputation in the WRC, rather like Didier Auriol with Seat and then Skoda.

What makes you think he would like to return?

[Barreis]

He's retired.. In compare with payers I would rather take 65 Stig B. then sons of dadies.. xd

[Langdale Forest]

He's retired.. In compare with payers I would rather take 65 Stig B. then sons of dadies.. xd

:confused:




What makes you think he would like to return?

The picture of him looking at the Mini.

[DonJippo]

The picture of him looking at the Mini.

There is no such picture.

[Langdale Forest]

On the facebook link Sulland has posted, there was a picture of Marcus looking into a car, but I guess that it isn't a Mini.

[DonJippo]

I guess that it isn't a Mini.

You got that one right :up:

[Langdale Forest]

Was that picture of him looking into the car taken at Rally Portugal 2009?

[DonJippo]

Was that picture of him looking into the car taken at Rally Portugal 2009?

Ding ding another one right :up:

[jbmarcus21]

A great link where David Richards speak about Marcus & Petter ... will (MAYBE) drive the Mini-Prodrive WRC Project
http://www.totalrally.com/news.php

;)

[mjh]

A great link where David Richards speak about Marcus & Petter ... will (MAYBE) drive the Mini-Prodrive WRC Project
http://www.totalrally.com/news.php

;)

Not it isn't, it's a link where the totalrally radio show team speculate about who DR could choose to head up the team - if indeed there is a team!

[Barreis]

Not a word about mini WRC..
http://www.skiddmark.com/interview-with-dr-mario-theissen-director-of-bmw-motorsport/?utm_source#

[tmx]

Not it isn't, it's a link where the totalrally radio show team speculate about who DR could choose to head up the team - if indeed there is a team! Why haven't I checked out this podcast before. It's excellent coverage. I'm downloading and listening to all of them.

[Barreis]

They're really good..

[AndyRAC]

Not a word about mini WRC..
http://www.skiddmark.com/interview-with-dr-mario-theissen-director-of-bmw-motorsport/?utm_source#

A few possible reasons; 1) it hasn't been officially announced that Mini are joining the WRC, and 2) although BMW own Mini - it's Mini who are thought to be financing it and marketing it, not BMW. So I'm not sure whether Mario Thiessen would be hugely involved.

[RICARDO75]

Martin Holmes (to autosport.pt):
"I'm still waiting for information about the project Mini that probably only exist when it is known the definitive 2011 regulation. If the rules to encourage small teams, then the Mini project could have never had success as today. But we do not know if it will happen, or how serious is the operation Mini. "

"At the moment, it is easy to approve S2000 and the FIA hopes that the rules of the World Rally Cars 2011 to make the easy conversion of S2000 cars in the new generation Wolrd Rally Cars. Add a new WRC is easy. The hard part is the commitment to run on league and are not yet defined as important things you must first commit to enter the championship before approving a WRC and there must be a minimum number of events to attend in 2011. It was unclear how big is the calendar 2011, which of course increases the cost of the project. For now there are many questions and few answers., "

[bubbaontour]

...........

[bluuford]

More indications that prodrive is working hard on WRC return: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82877

[Josti]

More indications that prodrive is working hard on WRC return: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82877

I'm betting we're seeing a Mini back in top level rallying within the next two years. :up:

[jbmarcus21]

http://www.prodrive.com/p_releases.html?id=263