Daniel Oliveira of the Brazil World Rally Team
A Brazilian team has purchased a MINI Countryman WRC from Prodrive and plans to enter the WRC Super 2000 division as early as March before moving up to the WRC division later.
From AutoWeek Racing:
Brazilian rally driver Daniel Oliveira has signed with the new Brazil World Rally Team, WRC.com reported on Tuesday.
Portugal’s Carlos Magalhaes also joined the team as Oliveira’s co-driver. The duo first teamed up in October during a rally in Scotland.
The Brazil World Rally Team will be run by Prodrive, the famed British firm that specializes in engineering and preparation of race cars.
The team plans to compete in 10 rounds of the 2011 World Rally Championship season and will begin its season at the Rally de Portugal in March. The team will start competing with a Super 2000-specification Mini Countryman before switching to the WRC version of the Mini Countryman later in the season.
The 25-year-old Oliveira had a chance to test the WRC Mini Countryman with Mini driver Kris Meeke at Prodrive’s test track in Warwickshire, England.