Categories
MINI WRC

Chris Atkinson secures factory MINI WRC drive

Chris Atkinson, WRC Team MINI Portugal

Well, we were expecting Chris Atkinson to drive a MINI in Rallye Deutschland, but we weren’t expecting this! In exchange for posing like a prat in the above pic Atko will be the lead driver for WRC Team MINI Portugal for the remaining five races of the 2012 season.

It’s been a roller coaster year for Team MINI Portugal, run by Motorsport Italia, who were surprisingly given factory backing after BMW cut Prodrive’s factory status back in February.

Since then Motorsport Italia’s lead driver Armindo Araujo has failed to meet expectations. According to an official team statement the decision to release Araujo was made after the Rally Finland debrief. “There’s always a point where you have to admit that something isn’t quite right and I hope that we’ve accepted that point at just the right time,” said Team Manager, Bruno de Pianto.

“The decision was not taken lightly and was made on purely sporting grounds. It was not a personal decision and everyone in the team wishes Armindo all the best for the future.”

Confirming Atkinson’s position de Pianto added, “Atko’s a really top guy all the way from Australia, fast and experienced and he’s going to take over as the team’s No. 1 driver, flanked by the oh-so-experienced Belgian Stéphane Prévot for the rest of the season.

“It’ll be his first time in a MINI on the test this weekend, but we’re confident that Chris can handle any car he lays his hands on and his MINI will love him within minutes. We’re all very much looking forward to working with him and Stéphane and seeing what surprises Rallye Deutschland has to offer!”

Atkinson will make his race debut with WRC Team MINI Portugal in Germany over the weekend of 24–26 August.

You can hear what Chris has to say by watching a short video below, which has been sourced from Atkinson’s YouTube account.

Categories
MINI WRC

Atkinson to continue WRC journey with MINI?

Citroen DS3 WRC, 2012 Rally Finland

Chris Atkinson’s wandering 2012 season could continue with a third team if the latest rumours of one-race deal with MINI prove correct. Having already driven for Ford and Citroën this year, ‘Atko’ hopes to make it a trifecta with MINI at Rally Deutschland (24–26 August).

At this stage the rumours are light on detail and if it comes off we’d expect the Aussie to be at the wheel of a Prodrive MINI WRC. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more.

[Source: irallylive]

Categories
Citroen WRC

Atkinson secures Citroën drive for Rally Finland

Chris Atkinson, Qatar World Rally Team

Chris Atkinson has secured a temporary drive with the Qatar World Rally Team for Rally Finland (2–4 August). Regular driver Nasser Al Attiyah will be competing for Qatar at the London Olympics and, rather than let the Citroën DS3 WRC sit idle, the former Subaru works driver and his co-driver, Stéphane Prévot, have been thrown the keys.

Benoit Nogier, Head of Citroën Racing Technologies, explains they have maintained contact with Atkinson for the last few years: “Ever since Chris Atkinson took part in the 2009 Rally Ireland in a C4 WRC, we have kept in touch and maintained good relations with him.

“As Nasser’s Citroën DS3 WRC was available for this rally, we offered Chris the chance to lease the car and compete for the Qatar World Rally Team. We are therefore very pleased to have him back with us in one of our Customer Racing teams for one of the championship’s flagship events.”

As you’d expect Chris is raring to go and hopes to make the most of his opportunity: “We are really looking forward to racing with the Qatar World Rally Team. Competing in the best rally in the Championship in the best WRC is a superb opportunity and I can’t wait to test the car to share my feeling for it with the team and give them my initial feedback.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have got everything it takes to go after a good result here.”

With any luck Chris and Stéphane will enjoy a trouble free run; we wish him all the best.

[Source: Citroën]

Categories
Ford WRC

Chris Atkinson hopeful for more WRC action

Chris Atkinson, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Rally Mexico

Last weekend Chris Atkinson enjoyed his first WRC start since 2009 when he took part in Rally Mexico as part of Ken Block’s Monster World Rally Team.

“Atko”, as he’s become known, showed good pace too, running well inside the top 10 and winning the Super Special 2 stage. That was the first ever WRC stage win for the Monster WRT.

Unfortunately for Chris a brake failure contributed to him crashing out of the event on day two of the rally. But he’s still hoping to sign off on at least two more appearances this year by participating in Rally NZ and Rally Finland.

“Having been part of the Monster World Rally Team in Mexico, I’m really, really pushing to make it happen in Finland and New Zealand. I felt like I really fitted in with the team, it was great—and really cool to see how those boys push the marketing and social media side of the sport,” explained Atkinson.

“I’ve always got on really well with Ken [Block, Monster team-mate] and I reckon we make a good team. Everybody’s pushing hard to make the deal work for us to do more and those two rallies are two of my favourites.”

Indeed Atkinson has previously finished fourth at NZ and secured a WRC podium by finishing third in the 2008 Rally Finland.

[Source: wrc.com | Pic: Monster WRT]

Categories
Ford WRC

Chris Atkinson back in the WRC

Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC

Great news for Australia’s Chris Atkinson, with word via Speedcafe confirming he will be joining Ken Block‘s Monster World Rally Team at next month’s Rally Mexico. At this stage it’ll be a one-off drive for Chris and we’re reminded there were hopes of a Block-Atkinson two-car team back in 2009.

Atkinson’s car, a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, will be prepped by Ford’s M-Sport. He can be assured it be competitive, too, as it will be a like for like example of the car Jari-Matti Latvala just drove to victory at Rally Sweden.

M-Sport have been able to provide Atkinson with around 400km of testing over the last few days and the 32-year-old says this will be invaluable preparation for his first WRC event since 2009. “Without this, I would have struggled on the first few stages to get up to speed with everything, but now I will head to Mexico with a lot more confidence,” he said.

“I’m really appreciative of this testing opportunity and I can’t thank Malcolm [Wilson] and the M-Sport team enough. The car was amazing and I can’t wait to drive it under competitive conditions.”

[Source: Speedcafe | Pic: Monster World Rally Team]

Categories
Ford WRC

Block and Atkinson to form Monster WRC duo

Ken Block in action

Reports are emerging that gymkhana phenomenon Ken Block and Australian rally driver Chris Atkinson are set to join a new Ford WRC team backed by Monster Energy drinks. This could explain why the two guys were recently filmed behind the wheel of an old skool Escort.

The deal is expected to be finalised before Christmas and should be a three-year agreement. Block’s high profile would be a welcome introduction for the WRC and should help the category establish itself in North America, where it is currently barely heard of.

WRC promoter Simon Long was quoted by Autosport as saying, “Ken Block is an iconic figure in US motorsport and a major box office personality. It wouldn’t get much better than this for the WRC going into North America.”

Indeed, and not a bad return to WRC for Atkinson, either, who has had limited exposure to the sport since the demise of the Subaru World Rally Team.

Should the deal come to fruition Block and Atkinson would most likely compete in around half of the events scheduled for 2010, possibly in 2009-spec WRC Focus machines, before launching an all out assault on the 2011 season.

[Source: Autosport via autoblog | Pic: Ken Block Racing]

Categories
MINI Challenge

Chris Atkinson to star in MINI Challenge

Chris Atkinson - MINI Challenge Uber Star

Ex-World Rally Championship regular Chris Atkinson will be driving MINI’s Uber-Star racecar at the next round of the Australian MINI Challenge, the inaugural Townsville race, on 10–12 July.

Forming part of the support program for the V8 Supercars, the Townsville round will be taking place on a new 2.87km street circuit. The course looks to have a good mix of high speed and flowing corners, the latter will suit the MINIs very well.

The Townsville round will also see another first for the MINI Challenge—an optional twin driver format. The format will introduce a 60 second minimum compulsory pit-stop for a driver change. You can read more about that here.

Atkinson has been at a bit of a loose end this year since the demise of the Subaru World Rally Team. He has a role with the Citröen Junior Team, but that doesn’t provide the regular action a man of his talent and ability craves, so he is keen to trade the dirt for some closed circuit action.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about MINI Challenge and a lot about the new Townsville circuit, so when the chance came up to try them both out I didn’t hesitate,” he told MINI Challenge organisers.

He is not daunted by the change of technology either, “if anything my 4WD experience will help in the front wheel drive MINI car,” Atkinson believes, “sometimes there are a few parallels between 4WD and front wheel drive. I’ll have that on my side anyway and hopefully that compensates for my lack of consistent road racing experience.”

Atkinson has driven just two competitive closed circuit events, two very admirable enduro races, the Nürburgring 24 hour and the Bathurst 12 hour.

Stay tuned to AUSmotive for more MINI Challenge news as it comes to hand. If you missed the action form the last round at Symmons Plains, you can catch up with the TV highlights here.

Categories
Citroen News WRC

Citroën jumps to Atkinson’s aid

Citroen offers Chris Atkinson lifeline

Australia’s Chris Atkinson received a nice Christmas present recently with news Citroën will offer him a drive in the opening rally of the 2009 season.

Atkinson will drive for Citroën’s Junior Team in Rally Ireland which runs from 30 January–1 February next year. While he has only been confirmed for the one race so far, a statement on Citroën Sport’s website offers hope of more to come, “we will be joined in Ireland by Australia’s Chris Atkinson who is already a familiar face in the sport. It is our belief that our association with Chris will not stop there.”

The 29-year-old Australian driver claimed five podium finishes during the 2008 WRC season and his drive at Rally Ireland will see him behind the wheel of the championship winning C4 WRC. This will provide a great opportunity for Atkinson to benchmark himself against five-time world title winner Sebastien Loeb.

Citroën Sport’s full statement can be read below.