Press release
14 August 2016
MINI ALL4 Racing wins Hungarian Baja. Mikko Hirvonen //
Michel Périn
on top step of podium. Fellow MINI ALL4 Racing crew of Bryce
Menzies //
Peter Mortensen
secure second place.
Hirvonen wins first his World Cup cross-country Rally. Two MINI ALL4
Racing on Hungarian Baja podium is the icing on the cake of this
particular test and development session, one of several in the ongoing
focus on Dakar Rally 2017.
Munich. The 16th edition of the Hungarian Baja
concluded today after a spectacular opening event of a Super Special
Stage (SSS), followed by two days of challenging long distance rally
action over three Special Stages. The end result of this tough
competition saw MINI ALL4 Racing cars fill the top two positions.
MINI ALL4 Racing crew of Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and co-driver Michel
Périn (FRA) started the Hungarian Baja with an impressive second place
in the opening Super Special Stage on Friday evening (12th Sept). By
the end of Saturday evening, after Special Stages 2 3, the
“Flying Finn” had placed his MINI ALL4 Racing at the head of the
leader board.
By keeping a cool head and working in perfect harmony with co-driver
Michel Périn, MINI ALL4 Racing #2 completed SS4 of the 675 km event in
first place with an obviously delighted Hirvonen at the wheel…
“We had a great weekend,” said Hirvonen. “Everything went perfectly –
although I did not expect the Hungarian Baja to be so demanding, so
difficult, especially when I saw the length of the stages, which I
thought were to be more like sprints. But they were really technical
in places and narrow, and with the rain and mud they proved to be
difficult. But everything worked perfectly. I’m really happy to get my
first victory with Michel and the MINI ALL4 Racing.”
Bryce Menzies (USA) and co-driver Peter Mortensen (USA) were equally
delighted with their second place finish and with good reason: this is
only the third competitive race for Menzies at the controls of a MINI
ALL4 Racing. Co-driver Mortensen was wearing an even bigger smile at
race end because this was his first marathon rally race in a MINI ALL4 Racing.
Menzies: “Leading up to this race we didn’t know what to expect. It
was really challenging; from the high speed roads; the trees; and then
the open grass fields where it was really rough. I think we did really
well; the whole team and, of course, the MINI ALL4 Racing. I’m looking
forward to the next rally.”
As a development event, the Hungarian Baja proved to be an ideal
venue. The differing terrain provided useful insight for the
development teams of technical service supplier X-raid – but
especially in preparation for the fast approaching Dakar rally 2017.
The third member of the MINI ALL4 Racing family, #5 Van Loon Racing,
fell victim to a large, unavoidable hole on Stage 2 (Saturday).
Fortunately, it was only severe car damage that ruled Dutch pairing
Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar out of the rest of the race.
The next race of the 2016 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies is
Baja Poland, 25–28th August.
2016
Hungarian Baja
: MINI ALL4 Racing result
Race calendar: 2016 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.
19/02 – 22/02 Baja Russia
02/04 – 7/04 Abu Dhabi Desert
Challenge
17/04 – 22/04 Sealine Cross-Country Rally Qatar
23/06 – 26/06 Italian Baja
22/07 – 24/07 Baja Aragón
11/08
– 14/08 HunGarian Baja
25/08 – 28/08 Baja Poland
03/10 – 08/10 Rallye Oilibya du Maroc
21/10 – 23/10 Baja
Portalegre 500
Find reports, photos and videos in high resolution of previous MINI
ALL4 Racing activity on the BMW Media Website by clicking here.