FIA vice president for sport and 14-time Middle East Rally Champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem tested Mini's John Cooper Works WRC yesterday.
Ben Sulayem drove the Mini at Prodrive's asphalt test track and admitted he had enjoyed his first taste of the new generation of World Rally Cars.
"It's the first time I have had a chance to drive a new World Rally Car," he said. "Now, without the clever diffs and with the smaller lower boosted engines, you have to work the cars much harder, making them much more fun to drive and more spectacular for the fans."
The Mini team will return to the WRC on next month's Rally Finland.