Story from www.wrc.com
The reigning World Touring Car champion will partner Dani Sordo in the Prodrive WRC Team for the Tarmac encounter in Strasbourg in Muller’s native Ardeche region from 4-7 October.
Muller, who has tackled his home round of the world championship twice before, once in a Citroen Xsara WRC and last year in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, sampled his new mount at Prodrive’s test track in July and admitted to being a fan of the turbocharged machine.
“I have only had a day to familiarise myself with the MINI, but the balance of the chassis immediately gave me a great deal of confidence,” said Muller, who will test again at the venue in the United Kingdom in the build-up to the rally. “As both my Chevrolet touring car and the MINI use similar 1.6 turbo engines, the performance was nearly the same. I am sure it will take me a little while to get used to driving with pace notes again, even so my target would still be a finish in the points.”
Muller has won the WTCC title on three occasions after enjoying a successful career in single-seater racing. He has also tackled the Dakar Rally in the past and follows in the footsteps of another circuit racer and Dakar exponent, Eliseo Salazar, by driving the Prodrive-developed MINI in the WRC.
Prodrive WRC Team principal rates the 43-year-old very highly and believes he can impress: “In Prodrive's British Touring car days in 1998-2000 I engineered several cars and we had great battles with Yvan. This will be the first time we have been on the same side. He is a tremendously talented driver with great sympathy for a car and I think the MINI WRC chassis will suit him perfectly for the fast flowing stages in France. He has competed there twice before and once he has settled in for a few stages I can see him setting some impressive times.”
The identity of Muller’s co-driver is currently unclear.
More...
The reigning World Touring Car champion will partner Dani Sordo in the Prodrive WRC Team for the Tarmac encounter in Strasbourg in Muller’s native Ardeche region from 4-7 October.
Muller, who has tackled his home round of the world championship twice before, once in a Citroen Xsara WRC and last year in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000, sampled his new mount at Prodrive’s test track in July and admitted to being a fan of the turbocharged machine.
“I have only had a day to familiarise myself with the MINI, but the balance of the chassis immediately gave me a great deal of confidence,” said Muller, who will test again at the venue in the United Kingdom in the build-up to the rally. “As both my Chevrolet touring car and the MINI use similar 1.6 turbo engines, the performance was nearly the same. I am sure it will take me a little while to get used to driving with pace notes again, even so my target would still be a finish in the points.”
Muller has won the WTCC title on three occasions after enjoying a successful career in single-seater racing. He has also tackled the Dakar Rally in the past and follows in the footsteps of another circuit racer and Dakar exponent, Eliseo Salazar, by driving the Prodrive-developed MINI in the WRC.
Prodrive WRC Team principal rates the 43-year-old very highly and believes he can impress: “In Prodrive's British Touring car days in 1998-2000 I engineered several cars and we had great battles with Yvan. This will be the first time we have been on the same side. He is a tremendously talented driver with great sympathy for a car and I think the MINI WRC chassis will suit him perfectly for the fast flowing stages in France. He has competed there twice before and once he has settled in for a few stages I can see him setting some impressive times.”
The identity of Muller’s co-driver is currently unclear.
More...
Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/wrc-news/154672-world-touring-car-hero-muller-wrc-return.html
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