From PR:

In the 2018 Dakar Rally, X-raid dares to make the first steps into a new era by presenting the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy! In the past 15 years, the Trebur based team fully focused on four-wheel drive vehicles but in the 2018 Dakar that will start in early January at Lima, Peru, it will enter – for the first time – a X-raid designed two-wheel drive desert racer! “We are absolutely delighted with having the opportunity to present our buggy today, a vehicle our entire team worked really hard on, in the past months,” said X-raid Team Principal Sven Quandt. “This development is unique in the X-raid history as never before so many engineers were involved in the development of an X-raid vehicle.” Although investing a lot of time in the development of the buggy, the MINI John Cooper Works Rally was also improved in many areas and drastically redesigned whilst keeping its proven reliability.

 

For comparison, this is the original version of the MINI (4 wheel drive).