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Mini finally lands its full blackflip

French stuntman Guerlain Chicherit hit the ski slopes of Tignes, France over the weekend - not to enjoy the fresh snow but to perform the first-ever unassisted backlip in a car, which was teased last month.
The unassisted part of the stunt comes from the fact that he Chicherit, in a special rally-prepped Mini Countryman, uses a regular, solid ramp rather than any specially modified ramps that have been used in the past to pull off this stunt. Unfortunately, after 18 months of practice, you'd think the video would be more entertaining by showing more closeups or better angles of the stunt.
Either way, you can check out Chicherit and his Countryman nail the back flip in the video posted below, and Mini has provided a press release and some high-res shots for the stunt as well.

Mini's Oxford factory builds its 10 millionth car

Mini has a lot to celebrate in 2019. The original, pocket-sized city car that spawned the entire brand made its debut 60 years ago, and its historic factory in Oxford, England, made its 10 millionth vehicle in August. The zesty hatchback is already on its way to meet its biggest fans. Fittingly, the milestone car is a limited-edition 60 Years-badged model. It's based on the two-door Cooper S, so its 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is turbocharged to 192 horsepower, and it receives several edition-specific touches like brown leather upholstery with green accents, an array of special decals and logos, plus 17-inch alloy wheels designed for the model. The 10 millionth Oxford-built car isn't destined for a life spent in a museum or in a private collection. At least not yet. It's already hit the road as part of a 61-car convoy making the 84-mile trip from the Oxford factory to Bristol to attend the International Mini Meet taking place August 11. The first Mini built, a white Morris Mini-Minor, is at the head of the pack. It's followed by an example made during every year of the model's unusually long production run. And what a run it was. There were 5.3 million examples of the original Mini made between 1959 and 2000, but not all of them were manufactured in Oxford, and none were sold under the Mini brand. Parent company BMW created Mini as we know it in late 2000 when it launched the first-generation Cooper (the car now known as the Hardtop). Its numerous predecessors were given more than a dozen names including Austin Seven, Austin Mini, Innocenti Mini, Morris 850, Riley Elf, and Rover Mini.

Mini wins Dakar Rally for fourth year in a row

Motorsport in its various forms tends to be characterized by eras of domination: Red Bull in F1, Audi at Le Mans, Citroen and now Volkswagen in the WRC. That's certainly the case with the Dakar Rally. After years of domination at the hands of the Mitsubishi Pajero, the Volkswagen Touareg won the famous rally raid three years running. But these days, it's all about Mini. The Anglo-Saxon team won the Dakar three years running, locking out the podium last year in positively dominant style. And now it's won again. After some 5,600 miles spanning three countries across South America, the Mini All4 Racing machine piloted by Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar, with France's Mathieu Baumel as co-pilot, has taken the top step on the podium in Buenos Aires. The duo won five out of 13 legs to claim the race, marking the first win for Baumel and the second for Al-Attiyah, who won with VW in 2011. It would have been a podium lockout again for Mini had it not been for Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who placed their Toyota Hilux in second, with additional Minis finishing in third, fourth and fifth. The troubled Peugeot 2008 DKR driven by Stephane Peterhansel ultimately finished in 11th place. American driver Robby Gordon finished first in his class, but 19th overall. Things were even more predictable in the other categories. The Kamaz team from Russia won the Truck category for the third consecutive year (and the twelfth since 2000). Spanish rider Marco Coma won the Motorcycle category on his KTM 450 Rally – his second consecutive win and fifth win overall. And Poland's Rafal Sonik won in the Quad class, which has been taken on a Yamaha ATV every year since the rally moved to South America and the category was instituted.