Ford WRC Team unveiled on Thursday the colors layout of the new Fiesta RS WRC, the car that will soon enter in the 2011 season of the World Rally Championship.

Today, January 13, at Autosport International Racing Car Show, the opening event for the new WRC season held at in Birmingham, Ford unveiled the design of their Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the 2011 season.

At the same event, the American manufacturer confirmed the official name of the team for 2011, which will be called Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.

Abu Dhabi emirates stay with Ford in World Rally Championship, and this is the reason why Khalid Al-Qassimi will continue to comped in the official team next to Hirvonen and Latvala.

Castrol also continues their partnership with Ford WRC team, a deal that started back in 2005.

The new Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2011 was developed by Ford Europe in a collaboration with the British team of M-Sport. The WRC version is basted on the Ford Fiesta S2000 model, launched in 2010, a model that begun its career with a win in Rally Monte Carlo, reason why this model was awarded by Motor Media team in Rally Magazine Awards.

Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2011 is developed under the terms of the new WRC regulations that focuses on reduced costs. It features four wheel drive, but no active differentials, and under its hood it’a a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, developed on the new new generation Ford Ecoboost platform.

The complete specs of the new model will be revealed in the beginning of February. Until then, M-Sport Ford team will continue their tests in Sweden, next week, preparing the debut rally of the new WRC season, Rally Sweden, between February 10-13.

No related posts.

Is known that Fiesta will enter WRC next season, and it seems that with the occasion Ford is planning to introduce the RS version of their subcompact model. Ford Fiesta RS is set do develop 175 HP.

Ford Focus RS’ exit from WRC and the adoption of the lower segment model, Fiesta, in the World Rally Championship, determined the Ford officials to seriously think at the possibility of launching a performance version of Fiesta. Of course, the new version will borrow the RS acronym from its bigger brother, Ford Focus RS.

“We would love a high-performance Fiesta. We’re looking at al opportunities (the WRC car can bring),” said David Katic, Marketing Manager of the Australian Division of Ford.

According to the first informations available about the next Ford Fiesta RS, the car will feature a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that will develop somewhere around 175 HP, allowing the Ford subcompact performance model to hit 60 mph in less than six seconds. The main rivals on the market of Ford Fiesta RS will be the sporty subcompact models like Opel Corsa OPC, Renault Clio RS or Abarth Punto Evo.

No related posts.

Mikko Hirvonen tested the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the first time, the car which he will drive in the 2011 World Rally Championship season.

BP Ford started the testing sessions for the next WRC season with the new Fiesta RS WRC model, which debuted at the Paris Motor Show, at the beginning of the month.

Of the two drivers of the factory team, Mikko Hirvonen had the occasion to evaluate the performance of the model during a test, last week, while his team-mate, Jari Matti Latvala, will be behind Fiesta RS WRC’s wheel from Tuesday to Thursday.

Ford Fiesta RS WRC as presented at Paris Motor Show 2010

It was the first occasion for the two drivers to test the final version of the car, which Ford hopes to end the domination of the rivals at Citroen in the World Rally Championship. Previously, the team intensively tested a preliminary version, based on the Ford Fiesta S2000 model, equipped with a naturally aspired engine, instead of the turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, that FIA forces the teams to use in WRC starting next season.

We’ll keep you in touch with the latest news about the Ford Fiesta RS WRC tests, as the next WRC season is announced to be very tight.

No related posts.

Ford has launched at Paris Auto Show 2010 new Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which will race for the American manufacturer in the 2011 season of the World Rally Championship.

New model is based on the Ford Fiesta S2000 model, with which Ford competed at the S2000 class in this WRC season and respect the new technical regulation of the competition, featuring with all-wheel drive system and turbocharged 1.6-liter engine from the Ford EcoBoost family.

The color palette of the new Fiesta RS WRC was created by Ford Europe design team exclusively for the official presentation from Paris Auto Show 2010, the final version will be submitted subsequently to include the sponsors logos. In addition, the Ford engineers will make some changes to the model during its development in light of the 2011 WRC season, but will certainly keep the “kinetic” design philosophy.

The first test with Fiesta RS WRC will be held in Spain over the next week on gravel and will be starring the two pilots of the team works, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari Matti Latvala. The team has already conducted 1900 miles of tests with Fiesta RS WRC in France and Great Britain, but they used an aspirate engine and a prototype of the 1.6-liter turbo unit.

No related posts.

Ford announced that Mikkon Hirvonen and Jari Matti Latval will test for the first time the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC, this fall, in October.

Ford recently begun the tests wit the new Fiesta RS WRC, the model that will compete in the World Rally Championship starting next year, but for now the car was fitted the same naturally aspired 2.0-liter engine used this year in IRC.

According to the FIA regulations for the next year, the teams in WRC will have to use turbocharged 1.6-liter engines, and the first Fiesta RS WRC version using this engine will be evaluated in October, when Mikko Hirvonen and Jari Matti Latva, the factory team drivers, will jump for the first time behind the steering wheel of the new model.

Until now, the two drivers have focused on the 2010 WRC season, but as we are getting closer to end of the competition, the Ford WRC team’s officials have revised their strategy.

Besides Hirvonen and Latvala, Matthew Wilson will be present at the testing session, the Stobart Ford Team driver who already drove over 2,000 km at the steering wheel of the new Fiesta RS WRC. The tests will be conducted between Rally France and Rally Spain, the exact date being yet unknown.

No related posts.

Ford announced that, next week, they will run some tests in France, for six days, with the new Fiesta RS WRC that will compete in the 2011 season.

Ford intensifies the development calendar for the coming season of World Rally Championship, as many regulation changes will occur.

The American automaker will organize next wee the biggest tests session in the last period of time, and the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC will be the test subject for six days.

The tests will be held in France both on tarmac and gravel, and behind the wheel will be Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg, the two drivers of Stobart Ford team.

“It’s part of our [planned] testing but it’s a big one for us. We’re going to concentrate on getting the kilometres on certain components, different types of shock loadings you need to put through the car in the build up to getting the engine in September,” explained Malcom Wilson, Ford team boss.

The new 1.6-liter turbocharged engine, that will be used in WRC starting next year, will also be mounted on Fiesta RS WRC in September, when Ford will begin the tests with the two factory drivers, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari Matti Latvala.

Via: MaxRally

No related posts.

Ford evaluated for the first time the new Fiesta RS WRC, equipped with a twin-turbo engine prototype. The model will be used in WRC starting 2011.

Ford will use in the next WRC season the new Fiesta RS WRC and, after many months of development, the car was successfully tested by the American automaker.

Even though Ford Fiesta RS WRC have been tested before, it is the first time when Ford uses a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine, to meet the 2011 season regulations.

The tested Fiesta RS WRC used a twin-turbo 1.6-liter engine

In this test were included the engine block and the pistons for next year, while in the next developing phase will also benefit from the new electronics.

The factory team officials were satisfied by the tests results. “We will continue to steadily introduce 2011 components as our test programme goes on. We still have much to do before the car’s WRC debut in Sweden next February, but I’m hugely encouraged by what we have achieved so far. To hear the positive comments from the drivers during the test was fantastic. All the hard work during the design and development process begins to bear fruit when the drivers get behind the wheel,” said Malcolm Wilson, BP Ford WRC team boss.

The first test with the final configuration for Ford Fiesta RS WRC is scheduled for September. The model is mostly based on Fiesta S200, used this season in WRC at S200 class.

No related posts.

Citroen and Ford have announced their intention to compete with four brand new cars each in the 2011 season of the World Rally Championship.

According to the WRC regulation changes for 2011, Citroen and Ford will compete with two new brand new models next year.

The French automaker will bet on the new Citroen DS3 WRC, while their American rivals will have big hopes for world title with the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

None of the car builders have finished the production year, but they already announced their intentions to compete with four cars like this each: two for the factory teams (Citroen WRC and BP Ford) and two for Citroen Junior and Stobart Ford.

“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. Everything is coming together well,” said Malcolm Wilson Ford team principal.

Olivier Quensel is also confident that Citroen will be able to bring four DS3 WRC at the start of the next season, although admits the time is short.

“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,” said Citroen WRC Team boss.

Another problem for the two automakers is building the 1.6-liter turbo engine that will make his debut in the next year competition. Ford anticipates that will finish the testing of the unit at the end of this summer, as the technical regulations were approved too late: “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 explained

No related posts.

Ford will ask for technical regulations modification to allow private teams the Ford Fiesta RS WRC models in the 2011 World Rally Championship season.

Technical regulations of the World Rally Championship season in 2011 provides that the private teams can only use cars approved before the 2009 season.

Meanwhile, the cars currently used by manufacturers and approved before the 2009 season will not be used next year, which is why Ford is the hypostasis of being unable to offer Ford Focus RS WRC for independent teams.

For this reason, Ford calls to amend the regulation in order to be able to provide their Ford Fiesta RS WRC for their three private teams, namely Stobart Ford, Munchi’s and Monster World Rally Team.

“We haven’t really discussed this one yet, but our intention is to run with the Fiesta RS WRC for the M2 [WRC] Teams. We have no alternative–as the regulation stands we would have to run a Focus for an M2 team, but when the current car is outlawed, we can’t do that. We’ve already had a lot of interest, and discussions with teams like Monster are ongoing for next year. But, like I said, nothing is finalized,” said Malcolm Wilson, CEO of M-Sports, the company that builds rally cars for Ford WRC Team.

Ford competes this WRC season with Ford Focus RS WRC, but starting next year will make the transition to Ford Fiesta RS WRC, as a consequence of the introduction of turbo engines.

No related posts.

Ford confirmed that the finalized the first version of the 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that they intend to use in the 2011 WRC season.

The technical regulations of the World Rally Championship stipulates the introduction of the 1.6-liter turbocharged engines starting with the 2011 season, and Ford announced for the first time that they ended the developing process of their first unit of this type.

The new engine will be tested in the coming months at the American’s plant of Cumbria under the supervision of M-Sport, the company that handles Ford’s motorsport affairs.

“There has been a version of the engine running at M-Sport for the last few weeks. There’s a lot of work to do and the engine is evolving all the time. We’re working on the solutions for various aspects, so this is by no means the final version of the engine that we will run in the car. We’re working on things like the fuel pressure, which is going to run at 200-bar instead of six or seven bar of pressure which we have in the current car,” said Malcolm Wilson, the BP Ford team boss.

The American’s intention is to end the developing of the 1.6-liter turbocharged until July or August, for that in September to begin the tests with the new unit on Ford Fiesta RS WRC. This car will replace the Ford Focus RS WRC in the World Rally Chmpionship, the Fiesta being the up-to-date leader in the S200 class this year.

No related posts.