Work on the car began in early 2009. The constructor was Prodrive, the Banbury-based motorsport company founded in 1984 by David Richards. With approximately 500 staff, Prodrive had by that point accumulated six FIA World Rally Championship constructors' titles, primarily through its long-running programme with the Subaru Impreza WRC from 1990 to 2008. Richards himself had co-driven Ari Vatanen to the 1981 World Rally Championship title as a navigator. Prodrive had also won three GT1 class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and five British Touring Car Championship titles in its history.
The MINI John Cooper Works WRC was publicly presented at MINI Plant Oxford in April 2011. The MINI Countryman provided the regulatory basis: as the first MINI with four-wheel drive, it was eligible to form the foundation of a World Rally Car homologation.
The car was powered by a 1.6-litre BMW Motorsport inline-four turbocharged engine producing approximately 310 hp and 420 Nm of torque, with a top speed in excess of 200 km/h on appropriate stage profiles. The gearbox was an Xtrac six-speed sequential unit. Suspension used MacPherson-type struts front and rear, with Ohlins three-way adjustable dampers. Brakes were supplied by AP Racing over 300mm discs on gravel surfaces and 355mm discs on tarmac. Wheel diameter was 15 inches on gravel and 18 inches on tarmac, with Michelin tyres. Homologated weight was 1,200 kg.
Body dimensions were 4,110mm long and 1,820mm wide. The roll cage used a convex-curve design, and side-impact protection was incorporated through door beams running through the B-pillars.
The Mini WRC Team ran Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo as factory drivers, with Paul Nagle alongside Meeke and Carlos del Barrio alongside Sordo. Meeke (born 2 July 1979, Dungannon, Northern Ireland) had built a reputation in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge before joining the MINI programme. Sordo (born 2 May 1983, Torrelavega, Cantabria, Spain) had raced at the front of the WRC with Citroën and was a proven podium finisher at championship level.
The car debuted at Rally Italia Sardegna in June 2011 on a reduced programme planned for six rounds: Italy, Finland, Germany, France, Spain, and Great Britain. At Rally Deutschland, Sordo and del Barrio finished third overall — the car's first World Rally Championship podium. At Rallye de France, Sordo and del Barrio achieved second overall. Elsewhere, Pierre Campana drove a MINI John Cooper Works WRC to outright victory at the Rallye Mont-Blanc.
For 2012 Prodrive expanded to a three-car works effort, adding Armindo Araújo alongside Meeke and Sordo. The expanded programme delivered further victories. Sordo won the Tour de Corse. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Killian Duffy won the Qatar International Rally. Kris Meeke and Gerry McVeigh won the Lurgan Park Rally in Northern Ireland. Sordo and del Barrio finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally. The works programme was concluded at the end of the 2012 season.
After the works campaign ended, the MINI John Cooper Works WRC and its S2000 1.6T derivative continued in private and national hands. Václav Pech and Petr Uhel used an S2000 specification MINI to win the Czech Rally Championship in both 2013 and 2014, and took outright victory at the Barum Czech Rally Zlín in 2014. Luis Monzón and José Déniz won the 2013 Spanish Rally Championship with the car. Abdo Feghali and Marc Haddad finished second in the 2012 Rally of Lebanon in the S2000 variant.
Drivers who competed in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC across its competitive life included Kris Meeke, Dani Sordo, Armindo Araújo, Valeriy Gorban, Mait Maarend, Daniel Oliveira, Chris Atkinson, Paulo Nobre, Pierre Campana, Patrik Sandell, Jarkko Nikara, and Michał Kościuszko, among others. Entrants beyond the Prodrive factory team included the Brazil World Rally Team, Motorsport Italia, WRC Team Mini Portugal, Lotos Team WRC, and Ascania Racing.