Dani Sordo to drive Mini on Tour de Corse, the next IRC round of 2012

Sordo will drive an SMG Motorsport Mini Cooper SPC and will have engineering support from Prodrive. A small air restrictor, rear wing and brakes are among the differences between the car and its WRC counterpart.

The Spaniard has previous experience of the Corsica Rally, having competed when it was part of the WRC. He finished third in both 2006 and '07 for Citroen.

Sordo says he is looking forward to competing once again on the rally, and that he is confident the technical nature of the rally would suit the strengths of the Mini.

"The Tour de Corse is one of the classic rallies and it is a shame it is no longer in the World Rally Championship," he said.

"I really like it because it is very technical and you have to be very precise in your positioning of the car on the road. While the engine and aero on the Mini SPC are different, the chassis is identical to the WRC so I think it will really suit the Mini."

Prodrive team principal Dave Wilcock said the outing would give Sordo, who did not contest the WRC round in Mexico, valuable seat time.

"The event will give Dani some valuable competitive time behind the wheel and while the SPC does not quite have the power or downforce of the WRC, it will feel and drive the same in every other way," he said.

"It will also enable us to gauge how the performance of the restricted Mini SPC compared to the normally aspirated, unrestricted S2000 cars."

The Tour de Corse runs from May 11-12 and is the fourth round of the 2012 IRC championship.