Baja Aragon - Round 7, FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup.

Baja Aragon - Round 7, FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup.

• Three MINI race machines finish inside top six – two MINI Family crews in top three.
• Orlando Terranova / Paulo Fiuza take second place overall.
• Mikko Hirvonen /Andreas Schulz place MINI John Cooper Works Rally third.
• Jakub Kuba Przygonski / Xavier Panseri complete successful MINI challenge with sixth place at race end.

Munich. Baja Aragon 2017 was a closely fought race over three days (21-23 July) on terrain around the city of Teruel in the southern mountainous region of Aragon, After three days and nearly 800 km of driving – 544.31 of timed special stages – the end result of two MINI racing cars inside the top three and three cars total inside the top six Spain was an excellent result as MINI Motorsport begins the countdown to the 2018 Dakar Rally.

Highest finisher of the three MINI entries in Aragon was the pairing of Orlando Terranova (ARG) and Paulo Fiuza (PRT). This duo was up to race pace very quickly and secured the win on Saturday’s special stage 2 before crossing the finish line of the fourth and last stage of the weekend in second place overall, just 2min 35sec off the winning time.

Terranova: “The race was very good. It was a big fight since the start on Friday. The car was fantastic and my team-mate did a good job. We thought today that we’d push but it was very fast out there. We are happy… in the end it was a nice race – the track was incredible with a lot of people trying to follow the Baja, which is good.”

Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and his new co-driver for the race, Andreas Schulz (GER), also had a fast-paced race in their MINI John Cooper Works Rally. Just 31 seconds separated them from the second placed fellow MINI Family, and third overall was an outstanding result as they start MINI development for the 2018 Dakar Rally. Mikko, as a racer, obviously wanted more…

Hirvonen: “Of course, it's a bit of disappointment to finish third. The race started very well even if we had small issues with the dust like everybody. We were in good position but it was a bit difficult to be first on the road today. Still, the feeling with the car was very good. At the end, it's a bit of disappointment but it's a good result. with third in the overall classification. The Mini John Cooper Works Rally worked perfectly and the first race with Andy went pretty well. We can say that the preparation for Dakar has started!”

Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) with co-driver Xavier Panseri (FRA) in the Orlen Team MINI John Cooper Works Rally (#202) arrived at Baja Aragon in second position in the FIA World Cup series. Although only 5min 20sec behind the race winning time, this placed the Polish driver in sixth place overall at the end of this fantastic cross-country rally event, with the latest FIA standings TBC.

Baja Aragon 2017: MINI positions at race end