Ex-World Rally Championship regular Chris Atkinson will be driving MINI’s Uber-Star racecar at the next round of the Australian MINI Challenge, the inaugural Townsville race, on 10–12 July.
Forming part of the support program for the V8 Supercars, the Townsville round will be taking place on a new 2.87km street circuit. The course looks to have a good mix of high speed and flowing corners, the latter will suit the MINIs very well.
The Townsville round will also see another first for the MINI Challenge—an optional twin driver format. The format will introduce a 60 second minimum compulsory pit-stop for a driver change. You can read more about that here.
Atkinson has been at a bit of a loose end this year since the demise of the Subaru World Rally Team. He has a role with the Citröen Junior Team, but that doesn’t provide the regular action a man of his talent and ability craves, so he is keen to trade the dirt for some closed circuit action.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about MINI Challenge and a lot about the new Townsville circuit, so when the chance came up to try them both out I didn’t hesitate,” he told MINI Challenge organisers.
He is not daunted by the change of technology either, “if anything my 4WD experience will help in the front wheel drive MINI car,” Atkinson believes, “sometimes there are a few parallels between 4WD and front wheel drive. I’ll have that on my side anyway and hopefully that compensates for my lack of consistent road racing experience.”
Atkinson has driven just two competitive closed circuit events, two very admirable enduro races, the Nürburgring 24 hour and the Bathurst 12 hour.
Stay tuned to AUSmotive for more MINI Challenge news as it comes to hand. If you missed the action form the last round at Symmons Plains, you can catch up with the TV highlights here.
