Kris Meeke and Mini out of WRC

Earlier this month, Mini John Cooper Works WRC team failed to sign-up for upcoming season of rallying which commences in the third week of January with Rallye Monte Carlo. Managed by rally gurus Prodrive, who previously run Subaru’s rally team, failed to make an application of the team before the set deadline.

Absence of sufficient funds was quoted as the reason for not applying for the 2012 championship. Even though, parent firm BMW backs the team, lack of sponsorship has left the team skint for funding. Consequently, Irish driver Kris Meeke has been released from his three-year contract after just one year of rallying with Mini. Meeke was called to drive for Mini after he won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2009. The vacancy created by Meeke will be filled by a driver that already has a lined up sponsor backing. Meanwhile, former Citroen WRC driver Dani Sordo, may carry on with the team with the assumption that he will have a secure seat in the upcoming season.

What really surprises us is that despite being backed by parent company BMW, Mini has found itself without adequate funding for the 2012 season, maybe it’s a chain reaction of BMW’s expensive entry into DTM.