NEW FIESTA IN RALLYING

Dearborn, Mich. — The Ford Fiesta will be Ford Motor Company’s main competition vehicle for rallying in the coming years.

Ford has a long and distinguished history in the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile World Rally Championship, the toughest competition in motorsport for production-based cars. The series covers 12 three-day rallies across three continents, with competitors driving flat out on roads ranging from smooth asphalt to rutted, boulder-strewn tracks in conditions ranging from –25 degrees C to 40 degrees C.

Ford has competed in the WRC since 1999 with the Focus RS World Rally Car and won back-to-back manufacturers' world titles in 2006 and 2007. The Focus has claimed 37 rally victories in that period, the latest coming just last weekend when BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally team claimed a one-two finish in Rally d'Italia Sardegna in Italy.

The current generation of World Rally Cars will be replaced by a Super 2000 formula by the start of the 2011 season. In April, M-Sport, the team that oversees Ford’s efforts in the World Rally Championship, announced it was developing the Ford Fiesta Super 2000 rally car.

For the complete article, visit http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=36417