Fiesta RS WRC: new Ford rally challenger unveiled in Paris

Paris was the stage chosen by Ford to present its all-new Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car. Ford’s challenger for the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship season had its first global appearance at the Paris Motor Show. The Fiesta RS WRC will have its racing debut in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, on 10 - 13 February.

The new rally car concept received a blue and grey livery, which specially developed by Ford of Europe's design team for the Auto Show. The rally challenger, based on the Fiesta, is currently being developed by Ford of Europe and its rally partner M-Sport.

The Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car, used as a base for the development of the RS WRC, was the winner of the legendary Monte Carlo Rally on its debut last January and also won and other international and national rallies in 2010. Ford of Europe and M-Sport have been working together in order to fine-tune the styling of the bodywork and aerodynamic package of the new Fiesta, which will be replacing the Focus RS WRC.

Until the start of the specialised pre-season testing the Fiesta RS WRC will receive detailed changes, part of the car’s development programme.

The Fiesta RS WRC will make part of the start of a new era of the World Raly Championship. As part of the new regulations dictated by FIA, the new Fiesta RS WRC will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, based on the all-new Ford EcoBoost engine family, and fitted with a four-wheel drive transmission.

The new Ford EcoBoost engine family features direct petrol injection and turbocharging to maximise performance and efficiency. According to Mike Norton, Ford of Europe's Motorsport Manager "The introduction of Ford's latest engine technology to its rally programme reinforces further our commitment to motorsport.  It also demonstrates our continued support for affordable competition by using an off-the-shelf production engine on which to base our WRC power plant."

French tuner Pipo Moteur has been cooperating with Ford and M-Sport in the development of the 1.6-litre engine, bringing additional expertise to the power plant.

The Fiesta RS WRC launch precedes the first major test programme with the full 2011 engine specification that will take place on Spain’s gravel roads. In this occasion BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila will have the first opportunity to drive the new WRC car.

Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's Motorsport chief, says: "We're delighted to preview the Ford Fiesta RS WRC in such a prominent Motor Show as Paris. There are significant visual differences from the Fiesta S2000 base car as well as major changes under the skin.  The biggest, of course, is the 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost turbo engine - the original version of which was developed by Ford's Powertrain Engineering team."