World Rally Championship
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With both MINI and Volkswagen already confirming their intentions to enter the competitive world of the World Rally Championship (WRC), an international race series once dominated by the likes of Subaru and Mitsubishi and still by Citroen, Fiat, more specifically Fiat’s Abarth performance and motorsport division, is now rumored to be joining the WRC arena as well. Fiat, through its Abarth division, previously competed with its Grande Punto Super 2000 model in the Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC) and started doing so as far back as 2006. The factory team competed in the IRC...
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MINI WRC Driver Sordo Sits Sixth After Day 1
MINI's return to the World Rally Championship is already underway this weekend in Sardinia, Italy, and so far--aside from a few hitches--it's going well. Dani Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio are currently in sixth place after the first eight stages, with an eye toward a fifth place finish...
Nelson Ireson -
MINI WRC Team Gets Official Launch In Oxford
Since the first hintings of the return of the MINI name to the world stage of rallying last July, right up through to the testing stages and constant teasing, we have longed to know what form MINI’s efforts for the World Rally Championship (WRC) would take, and now we finally know. The new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
MINI Wins On Debut At Italy’s Rally dell’Adriatico
You already know MINI will be back in WRC this year, testing at a limited number of events ahead of a full push for the 2012 season. One of these events was this past weekend’s Rally dell’Adriatico in Italy where the John Cooper Works backed MINI S2000 rally car stormed to victory at...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Report: Volkswagen To Announce WRC Entry With Polo Hatchback
Expected to do battle against the likes of the MINI Cooper and Ford Fiesta as well as a throng of French models in next year’s World Rally Championship (WRC) will be Volkswagen with its stylish Polo. The German automaker is reportedly set to announce plans by the end of this month to enter...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM eyes World Rally Championship return
General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] is looking at making a return to the World Rally Championship after a hiatus of more than 20 years. The move is being considered as just one strategy to boost the performance credentials of its Opel division, which remains unprofitable in Europe. The information was...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tiny, American (sort of), ridiculously fast, and dedicated to rally competition, the Ford Fiesta RS WRC is a gravel-to-pavement lover's lust item. And it just made its global public debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. Built around a 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the Fiesta RS WRC likely milks something north of 400 horsepower from its tiny displacement, though Ford hasn't announced the official output specs. The jump to the smaller engine is driven by the WRC's adoption of Super 2000 rules for 2011, which mandates a maximum displacement of 1.6 liters. Design by Ford of...
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2010 Paris Auto Show: World Debut Of 2011 MINI WRC Racer
MINI chose the Paris Auto Show to pull the wraps off its all-new FIA World Rally Championship car, which is based on the new 2011 MINI Countryman and signals the brand's reentry into world-stage rally racing. The WRC, which has been under development for two years, gets a 1.6-liter turbocharged...
Bengt Halvorson -
2011 Subaru WRX STI: Still Racy And Rugged, Post WRC
Few, if any automakers strike quite the same balance of ruggedness and raciness as Subaru.
Bengt Halvorson -
Video: 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Attacks The Nurburgring
Subaru has released footage covering advanced research and development carried out at the Nurburgring in Germany, in which a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Sedan has set a new record at the legendary circuit. The latest addition to the ever-growing Impreza lineup has achieved Subaru’s fastest-ever...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Subaru And Suzuki Pull Out Of WRC
Following Honda’s surprise announcement earlier this month that it was pulling out of Formula One, we now have news that both Subaru and Suzuki will be withdrawing from competing in the World Rally Championship (WRC) next year. Once again, the global economic crisis is being blamed for the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Citroën C4 WRC HYmotion4 Hybrid Rally Car Concept
Billed as the first WRC rally car to be equipped with a hybrid energy recovery system, the Citroen C4 WRC HYmotion4 features an advanced adaptation of the HYmotion4 AWD hybrid system found in a number of Peugeot and Citroen concepts at this year's Paris Motor Show. This particular implementation of...
Nelson Ireson