We all followed the action in this thread, and now for the third year in a row, a Mini Countryman came in first place at Dakar. And second place. And third place. Yes, the Dakar 2014 podium was completely dominated by MINI ALL4 Racing and it was truly a sight to behold. Nani Roma of the Monster Energy X-raid Team took the top spot, his first win at the event. A mere five-and-a-half minutes behind him was teammate Stéphane Peterhansel, who nabbed second place, while Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded out the top three.

The Monster Energy X-raid Team's winning Minis were based on the John Cooper Works Countryman, but with plenty of additional tweaks to maximize their Dakar performance. Each Mini featured a 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine that could produce 307bhp, 510lb ft of torque and a top speed of 110mph. They all came equipped with a Sadev six-speed gearbox, an AP racing clutch, an Xtrac differential, and AP ventilated discs measuring 320mm. Add it all together and you have Minis that each weighed a massive 1,9000kg.

The enhancements were well worth it as this year's Dakar was one of the toughest to date. Spanning a total of 9,374 kilometers, the event started in Rosario, Argentina, sent drivers through the gravelly terrain of the Andes mountains and across the sands of the Atacama desert, and then traveled down the Pacific Coast before concluding in Valparaiso, Chile.

In all, there were eleven Minis competing in Dakar 2014. Seven landed in the overall top ten, while eleven out of thirteen individual events were won by Mini drivers. Check out the below photo gallery of the competition, as well as a video of Stéphane Peterhansel's Mini in action.

They're not really based on the JCW Countryman. They have similarities in appearances, but that's where any similarities end. Really these cars have nothing in common with any MINI, except for the headlights and windscreen. They have much more in common with beamers, given the engine. They should call them BMWs, or if they really want to call them a MINI they should at least use a MINI engine, like the WRC MINI. That one could be said to be based on a JCW Countryman. Just MHO.

Here's a video on YouTube from /Driven that takes you on a tour of the X-raid facility outside of Frankfurt.

Excellent photos, thanks for posting them!

As for the cars, sure the underpinnings are far from being actual Mini kit, but having the bodies and dimensions based on the CM is pretty cool. It's good marketing and advertising for the Mini brand.

Same with that NASCAR racing series....they have Toyota and Chevrolet splashed all over those cars when they really aren't...But Chevy sold a lot of those awful looking Monte Carlos in the 1990's and 2000's with that body making left turns on the race track.

Actually, I'm not sure the WRC car does use the Countryman block. The WRC engine is the same 1.6L turbo four that BMW use in other racing formulae, particularly World Touring Cars, and I think (but am not sure) that it is based on a BMW 3-series block, not the Mini/Peugeot/Citroen block used in the Countryman. The rules of WRC and WTCC were intentionally changed so that manufacturers could create one racing engine for both disciplines, to save costs.

The gearbox of the WRC car, and probably a lot of its transmission, doesn't come from the Countryman but is the same X-trac box used by most teams. But the body is basically the same as the road car.

When the Rally Raid/Dakar Mini was introduced there were several photos showing it alongside a normal Countryman, which made it obvious what a different size car it is. This is all I can find now: