PARIS SHOW: Goodbye Focus, hello Fiesta WRC
Ford downscales in size, but not competitiveness, with its new Fiesta World Rally Championship challengerParis Motor Show News Special
From February 2011, the official front-line Ford WRC car will be the new Fiesta WRC, unveiled in Paris this week.
Replacing the Focus WRC that has been campaigned by Ford for 11 years, the smaller, lighter Fiesta WRC will make its first appearance at the opening WRC round in Sweden starting on February 13 next year.
The car is being developed by Ford of Europe and its rally partner M-Sport and is based on the Monte Carlo-winning S2000 rally car. It is powered by Ford's direct-injection turbocharged 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, tuned by French engine specialist Pipo Moteur to deliver 224 WRC-restricted kilowatts.
Ford says the car has already covered nearly 3000km of testing in Britain and France.
"Countless hours have gone into the Fiesta RS WRC to reach this point, and for the car to be unveiled in public for the first time is a proud moment for us," says M-Sport managing director and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson.
Fiesta is not new to rallying. Ford reminds us of its profile in the Fiesta SportTrophy International for Fiesta R2 cars - a support series for the FIA WRC - and the Fiesta S2000's leading position in the S-WRC support series.
The latest Ford WRC car may be small, but it has big boots to fill: Ford says the Focus RS made it the "most successful manufacturer in world championship history" with no less than 75 victories at WRC level.
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