Mini Cooper X-Ray

Mini gets sneaky with new set of kicks.

Hard as it might be to believe, there are some people out there who are as into sneakers as we are into cars. Crazy, we know. But they're out there. Now Mini is trying to bridge the gap with a special pair of its own kicks.

The latest item in the Mini Lifestyle Collection, the Union Jack Sneaker are festooned with – you guessed it – the Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom that has graced so many a Mini roof over the years. The shoes are made primarily out of canvas, with white soles and laces and Mini logos aplenty.

Just like the latest Mini cars are unveiled at major auto shows, these sneaks were previewed at the Sneakerness convention in Cologne, Germany, and will go on tour with the traveling expo to Zurich and Amsterdam. But if you're not planning on heading there yourself, you can check 'em out in our high-res image gallery and the press release after the jump.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/08/mini-gets-sneaky-with-new-set-of-kicks/

Official: Monte Carlo Rally returns next season to World Rally Championship.

Every racing series has its iconic race. F1 has Monaco. NASCAR has Daytona. Indy and Le Mans hardly need any elaboration. And rallying has Monte Carlo. The thing is, the Monte Carlo rally hasn't been part of the World Rally Championship for several years now. But that's about to change.

The legendary event – organized by the same Automobile Club de Monaco that puts on the Monaco Grand Prix and a number of vintage racing events – dates all the way back to 1911, and aside from notable breaks for a couple of world wars, has been held pretty much ever year since. From 1973 through 2008, it was an integral part of the World Rally Championship, but after that it went to the rival Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

A landmark announcement, however, reveals that the Monte Carlo Rally is returning next season to the WRC, but not at the expense of the IRC. Instead, the round will act as the season opener for both rally championships.

The Italian Rally is also scheduled to return next season. An anticipated rally in Abu Dhabi, however, was excluded from the 2012 WRC calendar, which encompasses 13 rounds mostly in Europe. The Jordan Rally, which was so problematic this season, was also excluded, with overseas rounds held only in New Zealand, Mexico and Argentina. However, unlike F1, whose schedule is also set by the FIA, the Latin American rounds are not paired, but instead punctuated by a return to Europe for the rally in Portugal. Follow the jump for the full schedule.