Mini Wins Dakar Rally

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X- Raid Mini's came in 1st,3rd and 6th overall with Alonso coming in 13th with his Gonzo Toyota. Alonso was the 4th placed Toyota in 13th so he has some thinking to do whether to try again next year.

Most people tipped the Mini to do very well again this year challenging what used to be Toyota dominance in this category. This is no normal Mini though that you run around town in, but a super zooped up version with many modifications.

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57 year old Carlos Sainz won his third Dakar Rally with his third manufacturer. This year he beat the second placed Toyota by over 6 minutes which is not much considering that is only one puncture.

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Mini has been associated with rallying for many years and where it made it's household name back in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Things have progressed as technology never stands still and this version is the highest spec currently.

The car is called a Mini JCW Buggy which stands for John Cooper Works founded by the son of the original John Cooper who designed and developed the Mini Cooper all those years ago. JCW is basically what AMG is to Mercedes and is a separate arm that specializes in sporting and performance models.

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The X-Raid team is the team that won the Dakar this year. Not a small team as their cars dominated this years event winning 9 stages.

This JCW Mini had over 50 engineers developing and creating something that would make it more than competitive. The engine is a 6 cylinder turbo that creates over 350 horse power which is an additional 2 cylinders on the regular mini.. Other changes include cutting the front of the car allowing it to climb dunes with ease but more importantly shedding some weight. Less weight and more power creates speed and with a change to the gearbox from a 4 wheel drive to a 2 wheel drive even more weight was lost.

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This JCW is more recognizable as a Mini that we know.

Changing from petrol to diesel allowed the car to travel further being more fuel efficient and having an advantage over it's rivals. Travelling further on one tank of fuel allowed them to fill up less and allowed them to gain time on all of their competitors.