WRC Team Mini Portugal

The WRC Team Mini Portugal was Mini's factory-supported World Rally Championship team.^[1]

Team Mini Portugal

Full name	WRC Team Mini Portugal
Base	Milan, Italy
Team principal(s)	Mario Stagni
Drivers	Armindo Araújo Paulo Nobre Chris Atkinson
Co-drivers	Miguel Ramalho Edu Paula Stéphane Prévot
Chassis	Mini John Cooper Works WRC
Tyres	Michelin
World Rally Championship history
Debut	2012 Rally of Sweden
Manufacturers' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Rally wins	0

Established in February 2012 after the Prodrive-run Mini WRC Team had its support from parent company BMW reduced, the team debuted at the Rally of Sweden. The WRC Team Mini Portugal was formed out of the merger of the Mini entries of Armindo Araújo World Rally Team and Palmeirinha Rally, which were both run by the Motorsport Italia firm for drivers Armindo Araújo and Paulo Nobre respectively. Team Mini Portugal were registered as a manufacturer entry, while the Prodrive WRC Team was demoted to a works-supported private team. The manufacturers points that had been scored by Armindo Araújo World Rally Team and Palmeirinha Rally at the Monte Carlo Rally prior to the change were removed.

On 16 August 2012 it was announced that Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot would replace Armindo Araújo and Miguel Ramalho as the team's lead crew for the last five races of the 2012 WRC season.^[2]

At the end of 2012 Mini withdrew its financial support and the team was closed.^[3]

WRC Results

Year	Car	No.	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points	WCC	Points
2012	Mini John Cooper Works WRC	12	Armindo Araújo	MON	SWE 15	MEX 7	POR 15	ARG Ret	GRE 11	NZL 8	FIN 15						15th	11	-	-
			Chris Atkinson									GER 5	GBR 11	FRA 8	ITA 6	ESP 7	13th	28
		14	Paulo Nobre	MON	SWE Ret	MEX Ret	POR DNS	ARG Ret	GRE 17	NZL 17	FIN 38	GER Ret	GBR Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 19	ESP 30	-	0