MINI will return to rallying next year with a automobile based on the new Countryman crossover. It will be built by Banbury-based specialists Prodrive and powered by a highly tuned 1.6-litre turbo engine made by BMW Motorsport in Germany.

The engine will drive all four wheels as per the WRC’s latest 2011 regulations, and will take the fight Citroen’s new DS3 and Ford’s Fiesta rally cars.

But MINI’s rallying history stretches much further back. The original Mini is synonymous with giant-killing performances on the Monte Carlo rally in the 1960s, taking overall wins in 1964, ’65 and ’67.

BMW is no stranger to rallying either, winning the Austria rally in the first year of the World Rally Championship in 1973. However the firm hasn’t taken the top spot since 1987. But that win for the M3 was taken using a automobile built by Prodrive, who will look to win again from 2011.

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