The Mini/Prodrive divorce explained
The terms of the divorce between Mini Motorsport – owned by BMW – and its factory team Prodrive, which runs the two works cars on the World Rally Championship, were finalised today, with the announcement that Prodrive would become just a 'works supported customer team'.
BMW and Prodrive had been locked in a financial dispute for some time, with BMW already committed to an inaugural DTM campaign in Germany this year. This means that there has been no extra budget to fund the rally team, with Prodrive having previously agreed to make up the shortfall through commercial sponsorship and customer car sales.
But after these deals failed to materialise, and Prodrive asked BMW for extra funding, the relationship between the two parties became strained. This year, Prodrive has effectively resorted to selling the second factory seat to the highest bidder on a round-by-round basis, dropping Kris Meeke from the seat.
Following a board meeting last week, BMW decided to demote Prodrive to a customer team status, while the Motorsport Italia-run Mini Portugal – previously a customer – has become the factory-backed team. The team's entry into the manufacturers’ championship has now been formally recognised by the FIA: the sport’s governing body, in an announcement made today.
In a further twist however, Prodrive has been retained to develop the car into the future: a situation that has reportedly arisen because the British company holds a number of intellectual property rights pertaining to the car’s design.
What this now means is that the Mini Portugal line-up of Armindo Araujo and Paulo Nobre will contest the remaining 12 rounds of the World Rally Championship as an official Mini entry. The future for the Prodrive squad is unclear, although it is expected to continue with Dani Sordo for the remainder of the championship if sufficient funding is in place. Currently, the team is in Sweden preparing for the next round of the WRC later this week, which it is contesting with Sordo and local driver Patrik Sandell.
What will undoubtedly become a source of irritation for Mini is that its newly-appointed factory team has a much weaker – albeit well-funded – driver line-up than the privateer Prodrive customer team, meaning that the official squad could expect to be regularly beaten...
http://www.maxrally.com/features/entry/the_mini_prodrive_divorce_explained
Ei olisi pitänyt sanoa tätäkään asiaa ääneen. Ralliradion naisääni lähti jo, mutta viestien perusteella jo Ruotsiin saapuneelta Colin Clarkilta on otettu akkreditointi pois, eli häntä estetään FIA:n toimesta työskentelemästä. Colin suututtanut Paavi Todtin?