Chris Atkinson piloted his Mini WRC to seventh in Rally Spain, the final event of the 2012 World Rally Championship season and the final rally for WRC Team Mini Portugal.
Prodrive’s Dani Sordo, running in his home rally, finished ninth. Both his car and Atkinson’s finished under Rally 2 rules, having crashed out on Friday and re-entered the event on Saturday after repairs were made.
The two Minis were among a number of front runners who crashed out on a rainy Friday. Among them were Ford’s Petter Solberg and Evgeny Novikov and Citroen’s Thierry Neuville.
Rally superstar Sebastien Loeb, who is ending his career as a full-time WRC competitor, rebounded from second-place on Friday to take his 76th career victory. He will run selected events in 2013.
The affiliation between Mini and Motorsport Italia, the organization that runs WRC Team Mini Portugal, ended with this rally. Motorsport Italia will move on to rally with another marque, while Prodrive will run the Mini as a privateer team in 2013.—Brian S. Morgan
