Last January MINI pulled off perhaps the biggest win in it’s Motorsports resume since the 60′s with the a first place at the epic Dakar. Sure MINI did it in a dedicated off-road race car (the only real way to win Dakar for many years) but the effort and results speak for themselves. A race like Dakar is not easily finished much less won. And for experienced X-raid Motorsports it could just be the start of a long run of successful MINI Dakar campaigns.
You can check out the video after the break. And make sure to go full screen and turn the volume up. It’s well worth it. continued →
The MINI All4 team has won Dakar. No it’s not an actual Countryman like the WRC rally car is but this is the Dakar. Something much more serious is required to not just race but survive. Therefore the X-road Countryman is a tubular framed off-road race car that was designed by the MINI Design team and is powered by a BMW Motorsport engine. And now we can also call it a Dakar winner.
Official Release: Stéphane Peterhansel (FR) and his co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret (FR) have made it. At the end of the last of 14 demanding stages, the duo and its green MINI ALL4 Racing was confirmed as the winner of the legendary Rally Dakar in a time of 38h 54m 46s. This was Peterhansel’s tenth victory at the “Dakar”. He had already claimed six titles on a motorcycle, and now has four wins in the car category to his name. continued →
Stephane Peterhansel clinched his 10th Dakar Rally win today and the first for Mini as a brand in the car category. Peterhansel lead much the event in the category.
The Frenchman battled American Robby Gordon’s Hummer team for most of the way. However a combination of car issues and possible sanctions over a tire inflation system dropped the American back to 5th. continued →
[Via MINI Motorsports] Five MINI ALL4 Racings in the top six places after a challenging fifth stage of the Dakar: it doesn’t get much better. Krzysztof Holowczyc takes the stage victory, while Stéphane Peterhansel remains the overall leader. continued →
MINI is proving its racing chops this year in the Dakar Rally in Argentina, leading the race overall going into Stage 3. More than just the lead, MINIs held five of the top ten rankings. Looks like it’s going to be a shoot-out with Hummer, which couldn’t be more entertaining. Video recap of stage 2 after the jump. continued →
[Via: MINI Motorsports] Nine victories at the Rally Dakar are on Stéphane Peterhansel’s impressive score card for the most challenging rally in the world. As ambitious as the 45 year old Frenchman is while in action, privately he is a laid-back, sometimes even shy person in his hometown Montana, Switzerland. But as the Dakar 2012 approaches he becomes increasingly focussed again.
Before Peterhansel and the X-raid Team are on their way to South America shortly after the holiday season, the winningest Dakar driver spoke about the upcoming tasks at hand.
Official Release: The X-raid Team is well prepared for the toughest rally in the world as it lines up with five crews at the 2012 Dakar. The ten men are all old hands who have already proven themselves at this level.
Left to right: Nani Roma, Stéphane Peterhansel, Krzysztof Holowczyc, Leonid Novitskiy and Ricardo Leal dos Santos
The time on the clock ultimately determines who wins the Rally Dakar. However, speed is not the only thing that counts on the individual stages leading up to the final time check. Teamwork between the driver and his co-driver is required on the difficult stages that make up the 8000 kilometers plus route – and experience. The ability to read the diverse route and to react to any obstacles without losing time is just as important as speed itself. continued →
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Sections: Countryman Dakar, Motorsports, Video Mar 25th, 2012 11 Comments 
