BMW is to use a new Mini MINI at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the athletic stadium this week to help ferry javelins, discuses, hammers and shots back from the field to the throwing area. It's a move to save valuable time during competition.
If you're wondering how BMW is going to fit a full sized car into the stadium without disrupting everything, don't, they are radio-controlled miniatures.
"Three Mini MINIs will be deployed for this crucial task and will be operated by Games Makers assigned and trained for this duty," BMW has confirmed.
The cars are roughly a quarter scale of the full-sized car and carry the athletic equipment situated inside, accessible through the adapted sunroof. The Mini MINIs are all blue and feature the same Games livery as the "full-size" official fleet vehicles.
“The MINI team was thrilled to be given this challenge to develop a vehicle with such an important and high profile role during the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” commented Dr Juergen Hedrich, managing director of MINI Plant Oxford. “I know that everybody was inspired by the challenge and the knowledge that these models will be seen in action by millions of people around the world.”
The cars were designed and built to a specification agreed with LOCOG to ensure their role on the field of play will be successful in saving time during competition.
Each of the three Mini MINIs will cover around 6,000 metres per day in four-hour shifts across nine days of Olympic and nine days of Paralympic competition.
The Mini MINI can carry a load of up to 8kg; a single hammer, discus or shot or two javelins. And is powered by batteries that can sustain 35 minutes of continuous usage with a radio control range of approximately 100 metres and be fully re-charged in 80 minutes.