Hurrah! It looks like another bonkers Mini GP is a possibility

With Mini dropping the manual gearbox and pledging to go all-electric by 2030, it’d be fair to say we’ve been worried about its hot hatch future.

No need, it seems. When asked about whether we could expect another bewinged Mini GP in the future, boss Stefanie Wurst told TG: “Yes, definitely.

“We don’t know when or how, but I would love it,” she continued. “I was driving the current GP during the week of the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year and I just love it. I think there is a future for that nameplate, and I think it makes it even more credible that we have teams racing at the Nürburgring.”

This is an excellent development. We weren’t completely sold on the most recent 302bhp GP, but it was certainly rapid and those wild stick-on wheel arches attracted some serious attention. It was rare too, with just 3,000 made in total and 575 landing in the UK.

Before that there was the 2012 GP, which made 215bhp from its turbocharged 1.6-litre engine, and of course the car that started it all was the supercharged first-gen Cooper S Works GP. That was limited to just 2,000 examples, made 218bhp and was put together by Italian coachbuilder Bertone.

Here’s to more bonkers Minis in the near future.