JRM Group managing director Jason King has downplayed talk of his company’s Mini Countryman rallycross car competing in Red Bull Global Rallycross.
The Mini Countryman RX, which last competed in Red Bull GRC in its Prodrive guise with Liam Doran and the late Dave Mirra in 2013, has long been rumoured to be returning to the series.
Recent speculation has placed the car with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, who have a relationship with Mini parent BMW from their sports car programme, and are said to be aiming to run a two-car manufacturer-backed team in 2018.
But King was quiet on the possibility of the Daventry-built car competing Sateside.
“No I’m afraid I couldn’t shed any light on that, none at all,” King said when asked about whether there were plans to campaign the JRM-built Mini in Red Bull GRC. “There’s always plans from our end but that doesn’t mean to say that they’re necessarily strictly with the Mini in GRC.”
However, he refused to rule out a future in the series, potentially with another car.
“There’s always talks going on but … we’ve got to make our own plans and then if anything comes of that and we end up with a manufacturer, that’s fantastic,” he said.
The JRM Mini Countryman last competed in a top-level championship in 2016, with Doran, Guerlain Chicherit, Guy Wilks, and Nick Jones sharing driving duties.
The car was recently tested by former World Rally Championship star Mikko Hirvonen at Silverstone during the launch of the SpeedMachine festival.
Mini were last represented in Red Bull GRC in 2013 – Credit: Matt Kalish/Red Bull GRC
