MINI finally confirms their entry into the 2012 World Rally Championship after missing the official entry deadline of December the 19th. MINI has had issues with coverage of the event in the past and it seems has tried to make a statement about their dilemma.

A source in the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) said, “We have an agreement that Mini will be registered as a manufacturer for this year’s championship. We understand there are existing concerns over the position of the promoter – and particularly the implications for the sport’s coverage in Germany, but we are addressing those concerns.”

MINI also announced along with its entry that they will only be running one factory car rather than the originally planned two. The driver of the MINI factory team WRC car will be Dani Sordo, with the other MINI factory team driver Kris Meeke not in the running this year. ”This is not an ideal situation. Ideally we wanted, in fact everybody involved wanted, the original plan of two cars, two drivers: Sordo and Meeke doing all 13 rounds. That wasn’t possible, so we had to find a solution which we have done. The priority here is that Mini is a manufacturer in the 2012 WRC”, said the source inside the FIA.

MINI has not confirmed yet whether they will be running their WRC car in the most expensive rounds of the championship such as Rally New Zealand, but has said that they are submitting the car to the full world championship.

[Source: Autosport]

We can’t say we’re surprised to learn that MINI has decided to introduce a John Cooper Works Challenge Edition model, but we are a little shocked to learn that it’s exclusive to Australia. The Challenge Edition essentially takes all that’s good about the JCW model, including the stiffer suspension, bigger wheels and more powerful 208-hp engine and tosses in all sorts of accessories to give the sportiest of MINIs a look similar to the MINI Challenge race cars.

Sadly there’s no performance enhancement, unless you count the aluminum strut tower brace, but the Challenge Edition model does get plenty of add-ons like a special aero kit, roof-mounted spoiler and plenty of Alcantara trimmed interior items. Oh, and let’s not forget the Challenge Edition badges.

MINI will offer the kit for $2,500 AUD ($2,246), which is mild discount if you ordered all the parts individually from the MINI catalog.

The Challenge Edition package will be offered in limited numbers, although MINI of Australia hasn’t put a particular number on how many (or how few) models it will make.

Check out the gallery of images below and then be sure to grump and whine if you don’t live in Australia.

GALLERY: MINI John Cooper Works Challenge Edition

Official release after the jump:

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