The new (and possibly quite rightly maligned) Mini Coupe gave itself an injection of performance-cred at the weekend, completing the gruelling Nurburgring 24-hour race.
The pair of Mini John Cooper Works Coupes finished in 106th and 118th places of the 202 starters, completing 114 and 106 laps respectively, and finishing 11th and 13th in the SP3T class. In fact, the lead car was even running in the top 50 at one point, before mechanical problems cost them time.
So not a bad result all in all, and the 250hp/965kg coupe managed a best lap time of 9mins 49.241secs, which is pretty respectable.
Doesn't make it look any better, however, and however appropriate the car's 'flat coupe silhouette' is for minimising drag and achieving decent speeds on the 'Ring's long straights we still reckon it looks as if it's been sat on.
And no amount of roll cages, spoilers, sequential gearboxes, independent, adjustable suspension all round, slick tyres and race decals (all of which the Mini Coupe racer has) can hide that fact...
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