Ford Focus WRC

With over 40 wins from Ford’s tally of 70-plus WRC victories, and manufacturers’ titles in 2006 and 2007 for the Castrol-backed BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, the Focus WRC is easily the Blue Oval’s most successful rally car.

It has been driven by champions such as Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Marcus Gronholm, as well as countless stars of the future as they took their first step on the rallying ladder.

The Focus has become as iconic a World Rally car as the hugely successful Escort it replaced in 1999.

Escort replacement

Built as a replacement for the Escort by Ford stalwart Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport team, which has run Ford’s works WRC programme since 1996, the Focus made its debut in the 1999 season-opening rally in Monte Carlo. It proved a stage winner from the start, and took its first outright victory third time out, on the gruelling Safari Rally in Kenya.

"The Focus WRC has proved immensely fast, but also immensely reliable"

After more wins in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the Focus WRC received its first major upgrade in 2003. Designed and built in just 11 months by famed former Subaru designer Christian Loriaux, the team used complex computer aided design (CAD) facilities and shared information with mainstream Ford road car engineers to ensure that the new Focus WRC was as low, light, streamlined and powerful as possible.

The 2003-spec Focus WRC led the pace of rally design, and proved lightning fast on the stages at the hands of Markko Martin, Francois Duval and Toni Gardemeister.

A pair of championships

An even more honed Focus RS WRC was introduced for the arrival of double champion Marcus Gronholm in 2006, and the Finn – with team-mate Mikko Hirvonen – took the car to two manufacturers’ titles in 2006 and 2007, Ford’s first titles since the Escort last won in 1979 and 1981.

Throughout its life, the Focus WRC has proved immensely fast, but also immensely reliable, with a record-breaking 115 consecutive points finishes (at the end of the 2009 season).

Mikko Hirvonen pushing the Focus WRC to the limit in Sweden

Innovations such as engine and co-driver positioning for better weight distribution and performance have led the way in World Rally Car design, while pioneering safety technologies have helped drivers such as McRae and Jari-Matti Latvala walk away from huge accidents. Not to mention the ongoing lubricants technology from partner Castrol to help push the Focus and its components to the limit.

In 2010 the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will be looking to make a return to the top of the manufacturers’ championship once again, and the Castrol-lubricated Ford Focus WRC is the right tool for the job.

Ford Focus RS WRC Technical Spec
Engine	Ford 2.0-litre Duratec
Configuration	In-line 4
Capacity	2000 cc
Valves	16
Maximum power	300 bhp at 6000 rpm
Maximum torque	550 Nm at 4000 rpm
Transmission	Five-speed sequential box designed by M-Sport and Ricardo
Suspension	MacPherson struts (front) Trailing-arm struts (rear) with Reiger external dampers
Wheels	7x15 inch (gravel) 8x18 inch (asphalt)
Tyres	Pirelli
Electronics	Pi