Positive first outing for Oliveira and Brazil WRT

In their maiden event together Brazilian driver Daniel Oliveira and the Brazil World Rally Team broke into the international rally arena by doing a great job in the Rally de Portugal, third round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).Despite having only tested the MINI John Cooper Works S2000 for the first time ten days ago and only for some kilometres, Oliveira exhibited a good adjustment to the WRC scenery and to his new car, which confirmed the great potential showed in the pre-season test.

Unfortunately, after four days of competition and more than 385,37 kilometres of tough stages, Oliveira's MINI stopped within the last stage of race with a broken suspension, 13 kilometres from the finishing line. Daniel couldn't fulfil his aim of finishing his first event in the WRC. However, the general outcome was highly positive for him and the team.

During the whole weekend Daniel showed his ability by making a series of top-15 fastest times and keeping the car on the road. Today on the first three stages Oliveira once again recorded some good splits.

The next event for Daniel Oliveira and his Portuguese navigator Carlos Magalhaes is the Rally of Jordan, to be celebrated on April 14-16. It will be the second outing for the crew in the S2000 version before getting in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.


Daniel Oliveira (Driver)

"It's a shame we couldn't make it in the final kilometres. We cut to earlier a bend on SS17 and we broke the suspension. However, I feel really happy since we gained a lot of experience which was our main objective here in Portugal. It was an incredible weekend for me and the team. We made a great job together".

"Personally, I could improve my pace over the kilometres and I spent much time in the car which was good enough to grips with the handling. I want to thanks all members of the team, my navigator Carlos Magalhaes and all the people surrounding me".

"Now it's time to come to some conclusions ahead of our next outing, which is in less than three weeks"