WRC
21 June 2012Five, ten, eleven: MINI in the midst of it.
At the heart of the action: The three MINI crews have chosen their starting positions for the opening day of the Rally New Zealand.
In the thick of things: The three MINI John Cooper Works WRC will take the start of the Rally New Zealand in positions five, ten and eleven. The so-called Qualifying Stage, after which the top 13 crews choose their starting positions, saw Dani Sordo/Carlos Del Barrio place seventh and best MINI team. Thus: Lucky Seven for Dani? The Spaniard has chosen P5 for the Rally New Zealand’s Friday start.
That could prove decisive in his quest for a self-targeted podium finish, for over half the total competitive distance (209,6 kilometres) will be contested around Auckland on the opening day. “We will try to end the rally on the podium,” Dani said. “We plan also to fight with our opponents, and put them under pressure. That is why we are here – to score the best possible result.”
The two crews representing WRC Team MINI Portugal have similar aims. Armindo Araujo/Miguel Ramalho placed 12th on the Qualifying Stage, and selected P10, while Paulo Nobre/Edu Paula, the 13th qualifiers, chose the eleventh starting position.
The Qualifying Stage afforded a taster of the upcoming rally days: The 5,06 kilometre, all-gravel stage took in the Inland Road in a southerly direction, and provided crews with an elevation change of 68 metres.
Special Stage "Te Hutewai 1" (11.18 kilometres) will kick off the Rally New Zealand on Freitag 08:28 am local (CEST +10). As always, you can find all the latest information on the MINI teams at the Rally New Zealand at Twitter.com/MINImotorsport and Facebook.com/MINImotorsport.
