The car manufacturer Mini will be returning to the World Rally Championship from 2011, a decision hailed by the championship promoter as evidence of the increasing appeal of the WRC to car manufacturers and teams.
Simon Long, CEO of North One Sport, says MINI's decision to make a WRC comeback is an endorsement of recent technical and sporting regulations designed to increase value to manufacturers and the relevance to their production cars.
And with more changes in the pipeline, Long hopes other manufacturers and teams will confirm WRC programmes in the near future.
He says MINI is the first new name to sign up and he's confident more globally renowned automotive names will follow soon.
