MG guarded over WRC proposal

MG has issued a guarded response to reports that the automaker could be on the verge of a return to the World Rally Championship.

The Chinese-owned British brand confirmed it had been contacted by a private team regarding a potential MG3 WRC, but denied any negotiations had taken place. A car has been built and the private team – which includes Ukranian driver Oleksii Tamrazov – is now seeking approval from the Birmingham marque.

A spokesperson from MG told AUTOSPORT: "We have been approached about this, but we have nothing to confirm this year beyond our British Touring Car Championship program."

MG runs MG6s in the BTCC in collaboration with Triple Eight. Tamrazov, an occasional WRC and European Rally Championship competitor, told Italian website Rally Emotion that the program just required MG approval as funding was in place.

"In a letter, MG said: 'Currently, this year is planned and budget allocated and we have two motorsport programs already to deliver. It would be much better for us to plan this for next year,' he said. "The program will be financed by independent sources, not from MG. So they need just to decide if they want to go on with this program.

"There are a few possible development companies who are interested in this. However, at this time it's not possible to have full negotiations and chose one to work with until confirmation from MG about the project. The idea is deeper than just building MG WRC cars, but this is not the time to discuss this until [the program] is confirmed from MG."

MG has not run a full WRC program since 1986, when Tony Pond and Malcolm Wilson drove Metro 6R4s. It has dabbled in both Super 1600 and Super 2000 more recently.