Better late than never. Just 3 days before the start of the US rally season, Mini has announced that it is in.
The brand will run two very different vehicles in the American Rally Association series for 2026. While it made a few entries last year, this time it will be the full season.
JCW Race Team Brings 2 Cars to Dirt & Snow
Mini is calling its efforts in the U.S. the John Cooper Works Race Team. Mini will write the checks, and LAP Motorsports will run the team. LAP was in charge of Mini’s rally efforts last year and runs Mini teams in on-pavement racing.
The first of two Mini entries is a Countryman All4. The four-door Mini SUV will run in the Limited 4 Wheel Drive class, and Mini will run a Cooper S in the Open 2 Wheel Drive class.
Mini says that aside from safety modifications — you don’t want to rally without a serious cage and proper seats — the two are nearly stock. ARA’s classing only allows small changes from stock, which should be a better showcase of the street cars and their abilities, without having highly modified competitors blow their doors off.
Small Power for a Small Champion
A John Cooper Works Countryman, with its 312-horsepower 2.0L turbo-four, makes sense for the series. The two-door Mini is a bit more of a surprise, though. Instead of the JCW Mini with its 228-horsepower turbo-four, Mini is using the 201-horsepower Cooper S.
It’s a small number, but the Mini is a small car. And if we’re looking back, the original Minis won the Rally Monte Carlo three times with a 1.0L engine that only made 90 horsepower.
The race team will give a few Mini mechanics some fun weekends, too. Mini will recognize four of its top dealer techs ahead of every race weekend, letting them join the crew at that weekend’s event.
Mini U.S. Rally Team a Father–Son Driver Pairing
LAP team owner Luis Perocarpi will be behind the wheel of the Countryman. Luis is a former winner of the Baja 1000 and the Sonora Rally. His son Cristian will be behind the wheel of the front-drive Cooper S. Cristian has been a pro racer in touring cars since 2021. Are we looking at the next Sainz racing dynasty family?
The Mini drivers will be fighting against the likes of Travis Pastrana and Lia Block in the L4WD class. There aren’t any other factory efforts in the O2WD class, but there are plenty of national competitors.
Mini’s effort kicks off this weekend at the American Rally Association’s Sno*Drift Rally in cold Atlanta — the one in Michigan, not Georgia. There are seven more rally weekends after that, with the season wrapping at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in October.
Read the full article here