Oliveira picks Fiesta for WRC return

Daniel Oliveira will return to the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia’s top tier when he contests Vodafone Rally de Portugal in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Having campaigned a MINI John Cooper Works WRC last season, the 26-year-old drove a Group N-specification Subaru Impreza on the last round in Sweden while he finalised his programme for 2012.

Manfred Stohl, who claimed six podium finishes from 126 starts during a successful driving career in the world championship, will oversee the running of Oliveira’s Fiesta through his Stohl Racing operation in Austria.

Although Oliveira’s exact schedule of events has yet to be confirmed, because his entrant, the Brazil World Rally Team, has registered as a WRC Team, he is required to contest at least seven WRC rounds this season in accordance with the championship regulations.

A statement from the Brazil World Rally Team read: “The South American squad and its ace driver, Brazilian Daniel Oliveira, will be returning to the scene where they broke into the international arena for the first time in 2011, and they will do so with a renewed project and expectations.”

Portugal’s Carlos Magalhaes, who navigated Oliveira on nine of his 11 appearances last season before his programme was curtailed by injuries sustained in crash on Rallye de France-Alsace, will return to co-driving duty.