Jan 5th, 2013
Official MINI Motorsport Announcement. The X-raid Team is ready to defend its title. From Saturday on, Stéphane Peterhansel and his team-mates in the MINI ALL4 Racing will be in the hunt for the 2013 Dakar crown.
Ollanta Humala politely shook record Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel’s hand at the opening of the paddock, but the Peruvian president did show signs of nerves ahead of the start of the toughest rally in the world on Saturday. After all, the Dakar is starting in his country for the first time, and the tension is rising every minute. The teams have pitched their tents and set up the so-called “Dakar Village” on a 15,000 m² area in Lima. Here, in the capital of Peru, the vehicles are being prepared for Saturday’s start. From 08:00 local time (CET -6 hours), the cars, trucks, bikes and quads will roll over the official start ramp on the Playa Magdalena, before setting out on the first stage towards Pisco in the afternoon.
continued →
Jan 3rd, 2013
It seems like yesterday that Travis Pastrana was lighting the world on fire doing the first back flip on a motocross motorcycle. He later did a double back flip. Apparently MINI, with the help of french crazy person stunt driver Guerlain Chicherit are attempting the world’s first unassisted back flip in a car. That car, by the way, is what appears to be a custom built MINI Countryman made just for the task. Video after the jump.
continued →
Dec 6th, 2012
Official Release: Having dominated the 2012 Dakar, it now comes face to face with its biggest challenge once again: to master the toughest rally in the world.
When the 2013 Dakar Rally gets underway on 5th January, Nani Roma will be making his 15th appearance at the toughest rally in the world, making him one of the most experienced drivers in the field. The Spaniard’s biggest success at the Dakar to date came in 2004, when he won the motorcycle class. One year later he switched to cars and immediately finished sixth at the first attempt. continued →
Nov 20th, 2012
[Official Release] Countdown on for the Dakar Rally 2013 – Champions perfectly equipped to defend their title with the MINI ALL4 Racing, 2012 winner Stéphane Peterhansel and Original MINI Accessories.
continued →
Oct 23rd, 2012
Last year MINI shocked the motorsports world by not just winning, but dominating Dakar. With the 2013 Dakar Rally coming up in January, MINI ALL4 Racing and X-raid want to defend that title. Using Rally Morocco as a warm up, things are looking good.
continued →
Jul 24th, 2012
Official Release: Dakar expert Stéphane Peterhansel usually covers just over 500 kilometres of special stage in a day, not a complete rally. Although the Baja Spain is more of a sprint than a marathon, however, Stéphane was still delighted by his overall win at the fourth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies. After all, it was his first start in a MINI ALL4 Racing since his victory at the Rally Dakar in January of this year – a successful comeback to kick off preparations for the 2013 Dakar, which will take place in Peru, Argentina and Chile from 5th to 20th January next year. continued →
Mar 25th, 2012
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 →
