Giant killer

ALL-NEW FORD FIESTA RS WORLD RALLY CAR BREAKS COVER IN ITS 2011 WRC COLOUR SCHEME

BIRMINGHAM, 13 January 2011 – Ford's all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car was revealed in its 2011-specification today when the company unveiled the colour scheme that will adorn the car in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Team driver Mikko Hirvonen and Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn unveiled the livery for the eye-catching Fiesta RS WRC at the Autosport International Racing Car Show in Birmingham, motorsport's traditional start-of-season showcase event.

The team’s latest racecar is based on the Fiesta S2000 rally car that won the 2010 Monte Carlo Rally. The all-wheel-drive rally car is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine. It is developed from the rallycar concept first shown at the Paris Auto Show in September 2010, and is the first of the new crop of WRC cars to be launched.

The new Fiesta will make its WRC debut next month at the opening round of the 2011 championship in Sweden. It will compete against new offerings from Citroen (the DS3) and MINI (a newly developed Countryman rally car).

Ford's also re-confirmed its key sponsors for the coming season: Castrol EDGE and Abu Dhabi.

Castrol, the world's leading lubricants producer and a partner since 2005, will use the relationship to highlight the performance of its global range of best-in-class advanced synthetic motor oils, Castrol EDGE on the cars of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.

Abu Dhabi has been a team partner since 2007 and Emirati driver Khalid Al Qassimi will drive a third Fiesta RS WRC in support of team-mates Hirvonen

"The preview version of the car we unveiled in September at the 2010 Paris Motor Show was dramatic in its blue and grey livery, developed specifically for the show by Ford of Europe's design team," said Quinn.

"But now we have a fully finished car in a really eye-catching new livery plus a new team name, and excitement is building throughout the squad as we prepare for the opening round in Sweden next month.

"Ford's designers and product development engineers have worked closely and efficiently alongside the expertise of our partners at M-Sport. The aim was, of course, to produce a car capable of challenging for world championship titles, but one which also reflects the much-admired 'kinetic design' styling cues synonymous with Ford's current road vehicles," added Quinn.

Ford's WRC challenger, derived from the best-selling Fiesta road car, has been developed by Ford of Europe and British-based rally partner M-Sport. It is based on the Fiesta S2000 rally car, which won the legendary Monte Carlo Rally in January 2010 and other international and national rallies during the season.

The Fiesta RS WRC leads a new era in the world championship, for which a revised cost-effective formula is introduced this season. It boasts four-wheel drive transmission and a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine based on the new Ford EcoBoost road vehicle unit, to comply with the new regulations.

The full specification of the car will be available at the beginning of February. Testing will continue in Sweden next week ahead of the Fiesta RS WRC's championship debut in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the series, on 10 - 13 February.