BWRT ready for WRC debut from RallyBuzz.com by Scott Coursey photos: BWRT Yesterday, after testing the MINI John Cooper Works S2000 the Brazil World Rally Team is all ready for its maiden WRC outing this weekend on Vodafone Rally de Portugal, the third round of the 2011 World Rally Championship, where Daniel Oliveira and Carlos Magalhaes will tackle their first event with high expectations. The test took place in the south of Spain, 40 kilometres from Faro, the epicentre of the competition, on a surface quite similar to the one the event will consist of. Daniel and Carlos made numerous runs totaling many kilometres in the MINI John Cooper Works S2000 which showed a fast pace and much reliability, and the setup worked for the team ahead of the tough gravel roads in Portugal. Immediately after the test session, the squad moved to the event’s headquarters in Portugal to begin the pre-race activities. Today, the BWRT crew started the recce and worked on the layout of the pace notes. Tomorrow the route’s reconnaissance will continue and the Shakedown will take place. The race kicks off this Thursday at 15:40 (GMT) with a Super Special Stage in the streets of Lisbon, where Daniel and Carlos will be competing in the S2000 specification class, with nine drivers in total chasing victory. Daniel Oliveira (Driver) “Although it was a short test session it was good enough to get on with the car’s driving, so I’m really happy since the general performance was ok. The car felt agile and easily driven. On Wednesday we will take advantage of the Shakedown to get more knowledge of the car and to make more progress before the rally kicks off. Our plan is to make a faultless and smooth run. Practically this is my WRC debut, since I drove the Rally de Argentina 2009 as a non-priority driver.”
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urgfq5x3XUc]YouTube - Daniel Oliveira: Test del Mini WRC en Inglaterra[/ame]