Ford teams target WTCC participation

Last weekend Jost Capito, director of Ford Global Motorsport Business Development, Mike Earle principal of Arena Motorsport and Paul Hui principal of FRD Motorsport visited the WTCC paddock in Donington Park. The Arena Motorsport and FRD Motorsport teams run Ford Focus cars in the British and China touring car championships respectively.

Earle provided updated information about the team’s project with Ford to develop the Focus Global race car based on S2000 regulation.

“As Ford’s development partner, we are engineering the S2000 touring car based on the new Focus. We work together with Mountune Racing Engines that is the partner appointed to develop the 1.6 litre turbo Ecoboost engine for touring car racing, based on the WRC power plant. We are well advanced in building the first prototype and we expect to start track testing in the first days of October. In the meanwhile we are in touch with the FIA for the homologation procedure.”

This evaluation project is part of Ford’s global plan that aims to support teams to race a common Focus touring car in different championships around the world.

“Obviously, when you build a racing car you want to actually race it! And I don’t want to hide that we are targeting to take part in the WTCC next year,” Earle concluded.