MINI‘s hopes for capturing the 2012 World Championship Rally title took a big blow before the effort even started. Mini has missed the deadline for signing up for next years championship, which expired at midnight, last night.

The Mini rally car, which is based on the Countryman model is prepared by Prodrive in Banbury, U.K. Now Prodrive, Mini and its parent company BMW are in talks with the FIA to seek an extension to the deadline.

The driver’s for the Mini WRC; Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo made no comment on this situation, but sources say that the team has a strong desire to compete in the WRC 2012 season.

Despite the setback, Mini is expected to make a return to the Monte Carlo Rally next year, an event that made the Mini a legend back in the 1960′s.

Will the FIA grant Mini the extension it needs? We’ll keep you posted on any developments.

[Source: Autosport]

Volkswagen’s WRC entry in the form of a Polo R is out testing a little over a year before its official competition debut. The Polo R recently got its first bout of testing on a 1.5-mile tarmac track out in the vineyards in Trier, Germany.

Behind the wheel during test was Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and Volkswagen board member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg; both took turns piloting the WRC car for about 60 miles with Timo Gottschalk as co-driver.

The actual car being used for testing won’t be the final version of the Polo R WRC, as Volkswagen is trying to gather as much data as possible to tweak the final race car before the start of the 2013 season. Both drivers said the car felt very good and its first batch of data is very promising for a real serious contender.

Details are light on the Polo R WRC, but it’s assumed that it’ll have around 300-hp to all four wheels. Volkswagen clearly knows they have their work cut out for them to compete against veterans Ford and Citroen in WRC, but they’re clearly taking the initiative in ensuring they have a fighting chance.

GALLERY: Volkswagen WRC Polo R

[Source: LeftLane News]

Alongside a new Exige S street car, Lotus has unveiled its proposed entry into rally racing, the Exige R-GT, today at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Weighing in at around 2,600 lbs this race car trades the old Exige’s 4-cylinder for something close to what can be found out back in the Evora S – a supercharged 3.5L V6. Power makes it to the rear wheels using a sequential 6-speed transmission with paddle shifters.

All the necessary equipment is in place to meet FIA racing regulations (plus a few extra driving lights up front), although Lotus does point out that it has yet to get approval to officially campaign the car in motorsports. That’s is certainly the plan though.

GALLERY: Lotus Exige R-GT

While Nobuhiro Tajima’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak has been capturing all the attention after finally breaking the sub-1o minute mark for the first time ever, but another record was set at the famed Colorado mountain this weekend in something much more accessible to mere mortals.

Legendary Porsche shoe Jeff Zwart took a 911 GT2 RS up the mountain in 11:07.869, setting a new record for street legal cars. Zwart’s time was 6 seconds behind Rod Millen’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe race car, which took the overall win in 2WD Time Attack. Zwart noted that “we fell three seconds short of beating an all-out race car that is hundreds of pounds lighter with no street safety or emission equipment,” and felt confident that the record would stand for years to come.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Volkswagen gave us a first look at their Polo R WRC, a competition version of their Polo R hot hatch destined for the World Rally Championship.  Powered by a 1.6L TSI four-cylinder engine, the all-wheel drive Polo R makes 296 horsepower thanks to turbocharging and direct injection.

The usual competition modifications, like a rollcage, bucket seats, upgraded brakes and suspension are all present, and Volkswagen’s rally experience in the Dakar rally will undoubtedly help them stay competitive in one of the world’s premiere motorsports series. If only we could get the Polo R stateside, we’d feel a lot better about the existence of this rally special.

See a video teaser of the car after the jump:

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Set to make its first public appearance at the New York International Auto Show later this month, Mopar has revealed its Dodge Avenger rally car showing off its new relationship with Italian aftermarket parts supplier Magneti Marelli.

Based off of a stock 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat, the combination of Italian aftermarket parts and American muscle makes for an intriguing rally car. Magneti Marelli’s expertise in European rally competition clearly shows in the finished product.

With the rising interest of rally racing in America, Mopar’s Avenger should garner plenty of attention with its blend of European and American flair. The Avenger has been lightened 200-lbs from its factory form thanks to a gutted/race interior accented by lightweight carbon fiber components. Mopar equips the Avenger with a full eight-point roll cage for safety while Magneti Marelli put in a helping hand with a carbon fiber hydra-graphics center stack and fully programmable slim racing display with shift lights and alarm multi-color LEDs.

Under the hood, a 3.6L V6 Dodge Pentastar powerplant can be seen along with a traditional Mopar cold-air intake and cat-back exhaust with Magneti Marelli tips. The motor is mated to a standard six-speed 62TE autostick transmission and power has been upped to 300-hp.

Brakes and suspension were obviously upgraded on this rally machine, with Mopar/Magneti Marelli teaming up to create a 14.25-inch front rotor upgrade while the rear features 13.5-inch rotors. The car is lowered 1.5-inches on 18-inch wheels by Mopar and Magneti Marelli.

Dodge says the car has been given a full track shakedown, although no announcement has been made about a racing program – nor is one expected.

GALLERY: Mopar Avenger Rally Car

While it wasn’t the MINI Countryman WRC that did it, the brand still captured their first ever rally victory, with an S2000-class MINI John Cooper Works finishing first in the Rally dell’Adriatico.

The privateer team, known as Grifone, is campaigning the car in a regional rally series that adheres to the rules of the S2000 class. These are much closer to what one can drive on the street, and are also eligible for road racing series in Europe. The win will certainly give the brand a boost ahead of the Countryman WRC’s debut next week, and its first race in Sardinia in May.

[Source: Paultan.org]

With a huge gulf existing between the road-going version of the MINI Countryman and the WRC-ready version, a halo version that could bridge the gap between urban crossover and full-blown race car could be an asset for MINI, and help them leverage some of the image boost that their rally program will provide, especially in parts of the world where WRC is a popular motorsport.

At this point, the idea of a hardcore Countryman is just a rumor, but the it’s not hard to imagine a pumped up Countryman, perhaps with some tweaks courtesy of a JCW upgrade package, more macho bodywork and big wheels. So far, a concept is supposedly planned for.

[Source: Ausmotive]

Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos are a lot of sound and fury but ultimately signify nothing. A combination of great editing, a specially prepared car and an unrivaled hype machine has propelled Block to the top of the Youtube heap. But his newest video, barely 2 minutes in length, is genuinely awesome.

Piloting a 1978 Ford Escort through an upstate New York rally course, the video is unfortunately brief but manages to dose you with just enough vintage rally goodness to keep you satiated. Check it out below, after the jump.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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Fans of 1980′s rally cars consider the Audi Sport Quattro to be the ne plus ultra of road-going rally machines, but one dissenter prominenter dissenter – the man who designed the Sport Quattro – has been vocal recently about his creation.

In an interview with Autocar, Peter Britwhistle, the man responsible for the Sport Quattro, and now Mazda Europe’s design boss, said that the car was “bloody ugly”. Claiming that the Quattro’s Audi 80 underpinings meant it would forever be a compromise, Britwhistle remarked “Although it did what it needed to do, it looks awful.”

The Sport Quattro’s wide fender flares, excessive vents, wide wheels painted a contrasting color and enormous spoilers became instantly recognizable design elements and arguably influenced a generation of performance cars.

[Source: Autocar]