Manufacturers plan for four cars in 2011

Both Citroen and Ford are aiming to start next year’s World Rally Championship with at least four of their all-new World Rally Cars competing.

Despite the fact that neither manufacturer has completed a new car yet - Ford expects to be running its Fiesta RS WRC and Citroen its DS3 WRC in finished form in September - both manufacturers are aiming to have their two factory cars and two customer cars ready in time for the season-opening Rally Sweden in February.

While both manufacturers have tested their new chassis extensively, neither has been able to carry out as much work as they would have hoped on the all-new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, due to the technical regulations only being signed off earlier this season.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team principal Malcolm Wilson said: “We’re aiming to have two customer cars ready for round one, we should be okay. But obviously, the priority remains the two factory cars.

"Obviously, time is short, but we’ve got a pretty good track record at getting cars ready against the clock. I’ve got no doubt we’ll get it sorted. Everything is coming together well. We’ve had an engine on the test bed for some time, but that engine is constantly evolving and developing. We’re not close to the final specification, but we will be by the end of the summer.”

Wilson’s opposite number at Citroen, Olivier Quesnel added: “I think the most we can get is four cars. We are having to rush and this is not the way Citroen likes to do things. Normally, we like to take our time and to test and to make sure everything is right. But, in this case, it’s not possible. I like to think we can get four cars for round one, though.”