Ford bids farewell to record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car

Ford’s world rally drivers from the last 12 years said an emotional farewell to the record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car at a historic celebration event in Wales today.

After 173 event starts, the Focus makes its final appearance as Ford’s team entry in the FIA World Rally Championship at Rally GB this weekend. A new formula will be introduced into the WRC in 2011 and the Focus will be replaced by the all-new Fiesta RS WRC for next season.

World champions Marcus Grönholm, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen headlined a long list of drivers and co-drivers attending the special function at Cardiff’s Millennium Centre this morning. The trio claimed back-to-back manufacturers’ world titles for Ford in 2006 and 2007 in Focus RS WRCs. Timo Rautiainen, the fourth member of the winning quartet, was unable to attend.

Grönholm won 12 world rallies in the Focus while Hirvonen and co-driver Lehtinen also have 12 wins to their credit, and are intent on ending the car’s career on a high note in the 13th and final round of the 2010 season this weekend.

Other winning Ford Focus RS WRC drivers and co-drivers attending in Cardiff were Nicky Grist (nine wins with the late Colin McRae), Markko Märtin (five wins), Jari-Matti Latvala (four wins), Miikka Anttila (four wins) and Luis Moya (two wins). Colin McRae was represented by his father, Jimmy.

The Focus made its debut in the 1999 Monte Carlo Rally. Since then M-Sport, Ford of Europe’s rally partner, has built 97 different cars for testing and competition in the WRC.
It has won on 44 occasions, finished second in 43 rallies and taken third in 55 events. The car has scored points on a remarkable 131 consecutive world rallies, a record unmatched in WRC history and one which dates back to the first round of the 2002 season.

The Focus RS WRC which McRae and Grist drove to victory on only its third appearance in Kenya’s Safari Rally in 1999 was on display at the Cardiff event. This historic car is still owned by M-Sport and is usually on display at the company’s Dovenby Hall base in north-west England.

"The Ford Focus RS WRC will be remembered as one of the sport’s great rally cars," said Ian Slater, Ford of Europe’s Vice-President of Communications and Public Affairs. "It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1998, exactly at the same time as the Focus road car was launched. The successes of the road and rally models have run in parallel since then.

"When the car starts Rally GB tonight, it will be strange to think that it’s the final time we’ll see an official factory team Focus in action on a WRC rally. Victory on its final outing would be the perfect way to bring the curtain down on a great career, and both Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala are targeting nothing less," said Slater.

M-Sport managing director and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson has overseen the build of every Focus rally car. "I have some wonderful recollections of the car from the past 12 seasons. The first win in Kenya was special, because the Safari Rally was the toughest in the championship and the Focus was still so new," he said.

"But the moment that we clinched the manufacturers’ world championship with the car in New Zealand in 2006 will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"The car has evolved greatly since its debut in 1999, thanks to the work of our technical director, Christian Loriaux, and his engineering team. The 2003 and 2005 models were the most technically advanced rally cars of their time," added Wilson.

The all-new Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car will debut at the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Sweden next February.