Prodrive boss David Richards cannot wait to bring the Mini name back into front-line rallying following the official launch of their John Cooper Works World Rally Championship challenger today.

The Mini WRC Team, which is run by the Banbury-based company, will compete in six rounds of this season's championship before making a full tilt at the title next season.

Their first appearance of 2011 will come on next month's Rally d'Italia in Sardinia following final tests of the Countryman-based car in Spain and Britain.

Today's launch in Oxford celebrated Mini's rich heritage in the sport with Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen and Rauno Aaltonen, who all won the Monte Carlo Rally in the classic Mini Cooper in the 1960s, in attendance.

And Richards, a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One teams, hopes this newest incarnation can ultimately prove to be every bit as successful.

He said: "We have been working towards this moment for more than two years and it is truly exciting to be launching the MINI WRC Team and what I believe is the most stunning car in world rallying, the Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

"We have an experienced team, a talented driver pairing and, most importantly of all, a strong partnership with MINI. We are now eagerly looking forward to demonstrating the performance of the car on its debut in Sardinia in just a few weeks."

The car was unveiled by drivers Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo, the Spaniard having joined following his departure from the championship winning Citroen team at the end of the 2010 season.

There is plenty of reason for optimism among the drivers after Armindo Araujo showed impressive pace in the S2000 version of the car in Portugal last time out, with the home favourite managing to run as high as seventh before retiring.

For Northern Ireland's Meeke, 31, this represents a first genuine crack at the top level of the sport having previously enjoyed just a handful of WRC outings.

But the Briton enters the season with a growing reputation after two fine seasons in the Intercontinental Rally Championship, which he won in 2009, and he is raring to get going.

"This launch is the next milestone on the long way to our first rally," said Meeke.

"I cannot wait to get the season started.. It's nice for everyone in the team to see the result of their work presented in such a spectacular way. The heritage of MINI in motorsport is fantastic. Now we want to make sure we play our part in adding some more chapters to the success story."

Sordo, who is still searching for his first WRC win, is also keen to get the ball rolling after having to patiently sit and watch the opening rounds of the season.

He said: "The break since my last rally has been long enough, now we want to show how good we are. Everything is new for me this year. Bearing this in mind, the additional time to get accustomed to my new environment has definitely been helpful. Now I'm really looking forward to the new challenge and to fight for strong results with the Mini John Cooper Works WRC."