Britain’s
MG Rover Group has formed a new subsidiary company called MG Sport & Racing
Ltd to run the company’s motor sport programmes and associated production vehicle
engineering and marketing activities.
Along with the new company comes a new sub-brand called ‘MG X Power’ which
will be used on performance parts and associated merchandise such as rally jackets.
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The letter ‘X’ has historic MG associations. It was used for various ‘EX’ engineering
project and concept car model names and in the ‘XP’ engine number prefix while
all current prototype model codes begin with ‘X’ and motor sport cars have ‘EX’
codes.
MG Rover expects the brand, with its distinctive bright green and grey colours,
to become well-known world-wide – it will be plastered over all the cars and
associated equipment used for motor race and rally activities.
According to MG Sport & Racing managing director Rob Oldaker (he’s MG Rover’s
director of product development in his ‘spare time’), “MG is going racing again”.
In fact, they’re going racing and rallying again.
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The
MG Lola Ex 257 Le Mans |
The flagship motor sport project will be a crack at this year’s Le Mans 24-hour
sports car race using a car called the MG Lola EX257, which was designed and
built by Lola Cars International with styling help from MG Rover’s design director
Peter Stevens.
The car is powered by a two-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine developing
about 450PS, built by racing engine specialists
Advanced Engine Research.
MG Rover has entered two EX257s in the LMP675 class (Le Mans prototype with
minimum weight of 675kg). Lola won the 2000 event with an AER engine so the
portents are good.
Touring car fans will see the EX259, the MG ZS racing saloon which is (loosely)
based on the 45 sedan, in this year’s TOCA Tour series.
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The
MG ZR Ex 258 Rally Car |
Lola and AER are the engineering consultants for two cars which use a 270PS
race-tuned version of MG Rover’s two-litre KV6 engine and will make their competition
debut at the Silverstone International meeting on September 8 and 9.
MG Rover will use the last three British Touring Car Championship events of
the 2001 season to give the cars a ‘shakedown’ ready for the full 2002 season.
The team is being managed by West Surrey Racing which has successfully run BTCC
teams for Ford and Honda.
MG Rover will return to rallying with the 25-based ZR EX258 car in the new
Formula 3 Super 1600 category.
For this one, they’ve turned to GSE Motorsport to develop and manage the car
which will be driven by Welshman Gwyndaf Evans, the 1996 British Rally Champion.
AER will prepare the 1.6-litre 200PS K-series engine and the car will, rather
appropriately, have its first outing in Wales – at the Cardiff-based Rally GB
on November 22 to 26.
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To A Automotive |
