Richards wants to show MINI pace in Germany

MINI WRC Team boss Dave Richards has said that his two drivers are under orders this weekend to show the true competitiveness of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, after two events of restrained performances.

“We have high expectations going into Rally Germany. The MINI has shown a great deal of promise in recent Tarmac tests in Germany and Italy and both drivers have told me how much confidence they have in the set-up. Dani, in particular, very much likes this rally and I know that he and Kris have traded times on these stages in the past. Unlike Finland, where our number one priority was to get valuable competitive mileage on the car, in Germany we will be looking for both drivers to begin to demonstrate the true performance of the MINI.” he said.

Richards ruled out a victory, owing to a lack of development on the engine, but he is sure that both cars can run closer to the works Fords and Citroens. But, after some serious testing mileage in Germany and Italy, Meeke and Sordo are both confident in the car's capabilities.

Both drivers have good experience and histories on the German event, with Sordo taking three second places, behind Sebastian Loeb, who is seemingly unbeatable here. Meeke, too, has shown promise here, with victory in the J-WRC category in 2006 and second the year before.

Sordo is looking forward to returning to the event, saying he likes all the different parts of the rally: “This is a rally I am really looking forward to,” he said. “I like the stages in all three areas - the vineyards, the military training ground and the normal roads. It has lots of hairpins, which are very different to the tight corners we get in Spain. I particularly enjoy driving in the vineyards as these roads are narrow and fast.”

Meeke, however, has echoed Richards' sentiments about the engine. The Northern Irish driver says that particularly at junctions they'll be slowed, but it's nothing too concerning due to the facts that it's only their third rally and first tarmac rally.

“The engine is one of the areas we’re working on as part of the ongoing development. We could be exposed in Germany because of all the junctions - there are 80 on the Arena Panzerplatte stage alone - but at the same time we have to remember this is only our third rally and our first on Tarmac.”

Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio will start at No. 10 whilst Meeke and Paul Nagle starts at No. 15. They will be joined by a further four John Cooper Works WRC's, driver by Patrik Flodin, Armindo Araujo, Daniel Olivera and Pierre Campana. The rally kicks off at 9:30AM Friday morning before crews tackle 359 competitive kilometres.