The new MINI Cooper is hitting showrooms soon, but there's still a little time before an all-new John Cooper Works flagship makes an appearance. It's scheduled to be revealed in the autumn, and before then a camouflaged example will be entered into the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race for production cars, which takes place on 1-2 June.
Camouflage homage
While electrification plays a big part in the new MINI Cooper's powertrains, the JCW being prepared for the Nürburgring is a petrol variant featuring a turbocharged engine of undisclosed specification that sends drive to the front wheels.
A special camouflage livery has been prepared for the new MINI JCW. There's red bodywork and a white roof that honours the rally-winning MINI Cooper S of the 1960s, while the car will be adorned with the number 37 in honour of the 60th anniversary of Paddy Hopkirk's victory on the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally. The colour scheme is broken up by graphics that were created by the MINI design team and represent racetracks from across the globe, including Le Mans, Spa in Belgium and the Nürburgring Nordschleife that the car will be racing on.
JCW design
The JCW's mild racing disguise can't cover up some of the styling cues that are set to make their way to the production model. There's a large air intake below the front bumper with a chequered finish for the gloss-black plastic trim, while extra air intakes on either side should provide additional cooling to the brakes. The race cars slick-shod alloy wheels probably don't give too many clues to the production model's wheel and tyre combination, but at the back is a distinctive roof spoiler over the tailgate, while a centre-exit exhaust also features.
There's no information about the car's interior, although since this is a racing car, the cabin will be stripped out and with a roll cage and other safety equipment fitted.
The 24-hour race is one of the most intense and gruelling endurance events on the calendar, with the narrow and undulating Nordschleife circuit delivering 170 turns in a lap that's over 25 kilometres long. A grid of more than 100 cars competes in the race in classes ranging from the rapid GT3 machines to production-based racers such as this MINI.
Petrol or electric for the first time
The MINI JCW is entered in the SP3T category for non-production models with turbocharged engines smaller than two litres in capacity and will be run by the local Nürburg-based team Bulldog Racing. It will be entered alongside a second MINI from the outgoing line-up, a car which earned a class podium in last year's 24 Hours.
We'll see more of the new MINI John Cooper Works when it's revealed in the autumn, while MINI has confirmed that this petrol version will be joined in showrooms by an all-electric version featuring the same sporty styling cues.