A RADICAL new look clothes a mass of changes to Ford's Focus world rally car which has been unveiled this week prior to its competition debut on the Rally New Zealand on April 11.
Ford claims that the latest Focus WRC is the most technically advanced and revolutionary Ford rally car yet. Significantly different in both looks and mechanics to the 2002 car, the Ford Focus RS WRC 03 is over 80 per cent new and is the first design from Ford Rallye Sport technical director Christian Loriaux.
Highlights include radical changes to the styling and aerodynamic package, a new rear suspension system, improved weight distribution and a new, lighter two-litre turbocharged Duratec engine developed and built by Cosworth Racing.
Ford Rallye Sport and Ford's mainstream engineering teams worked side by side on the project, including assessment of aerodynamic and cooling systems in Ford's climatic wind tunnel in Cologne.
"I'm genuinely excited by what the team has developed here and I think the car looks sensational," says Martin Whitaker, Ford's European director of motorsport. "Ford is at the forefront of rally technology with this car and I believe it takes the sport to a new, higher level."
Team director, Malcolm Wilson, who builds Ford's WRC cars at a state of the art facility in Cumbria, insisted the revolutionary approach to the new car would not affect the team's record-breaking reliability. "We have enjoyed incredible reliability with the Focus, which has scored world championship points on each of the last 17 rallies, a feat unprecedented in the modern era of the sport. The next step is to raise the performance level and we're confident that will not be at the expense of overall reliability," he said.
"We've made tremendous weight savings everywhere, allowing us to ensure weight is at the minimum level."
The new car is due to be officially homologated as a World Rally Car on April 1 and will be campaigned by Markko Märtin and co-driver Michael Park and Belgian teammates François Duval and Stéphane Prévot.