Atkinson will make his MINI debut at Rallye Deutschland in place of Armondo Araújo.
MINI Portugal has confirmed the change, with the following quote in a media from team manager Bruno De Pianto:
'It’s Bruno here. I’m sure most of you are surprised to hear from me right now, but I’m afraid I have some news that I wanted to tell you all personally. Unfortunately, Armindo and Miguel will no longer be competing with WRC Team MINI Portugal."
"'This season has been highly pressurised from the start. We only found out following Monte-Carlo that we would have the opportunity to run two drivers for the full 13 event WRC Calendar as a works-supported team. The original plan was for Armindo to run seven events as a privateer. Due to our long standing and successful relationship, we wanted Armindo to stay with the team for the full season and he was pleased to join us on our journey. As you can imagine, this was one of the biggest pieces of news that any driver can have. However, the pressure on him was significant."
'After our Rally Finland debrief and further conversations with Armindo since returning home, we decided that it was better for him to take a break, relax and regain his focus on the sport and how he approaches it. We've created a great history together and it's fair to say that he had previously always been motivated and determined in his career. We've worked together for many years now – we even won two Group N world titles together! However, there's always a point where you have to admit that something isn't quite right and I hope that we've accepted that point at just the right time!"
'The decision was not taken lightly and was made on purely sporting grounds. It was not a personal decision and everyone in the team wishes Armindo all the best for the future."
"And to answer the question on everybody's lips... I'm sure you've all heard the name Chris Atkinson – and if you haven't, you should have! Atko's a really top guy all the way from Australia, fast and experienced and he's going to take over as the team's No. 1 driver, flanked by the oh-so-experienced Belgian Stéphane Prévot for the rest of the season."
Atkinson will be testing in the next few days. It will be his third World Rally Car drive this year, after driving a Fiesta in Mexico, a Citroen DS3 in Finland and now MINI for Deutschland.
Hear Chris' thoughts on the drive in a video on the iRally website.
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
