PARIS SHOW PREVIEW FOR ALL-NEW FORD FIESTA RS WORLD RALLY CAR

Ford's new challenger for the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, the all-new Fiesta RS World Rally Car, made its first global public appearance at the Paris Motor Show today.

The Fiesta RS WRC will make its competition debut in Rally Sweden, the opening round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, on 10 - 13 February.

For Paris, the preview model has been finished in a striking blue and grey livery, specially developed for the show by Ford of Europe's design team. The new World Rally Car, derived from the best-selling Fiesta road car, is being developed by Ford of Europe and its rally partner M-Sport.

Using as a base the Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car, which won the legendary Monte Carlo Rally on its debut last January and other international and national rallies in 2010, Ford of Europe's design team and M-Sport have worked together to fine-tune the styling of the bodywork and aerodynamic package of the new Fiesta to create an exciting replacement for the outgoing Focus RS WRC.

Although detailed changes may be made as the Fiesta RS WRC car continues its development programme through the balance of this year and in time for the commencement of the team's specialised pre-season testing, the final car will share the eye-catching appearance and acclaimed 'kinetic design' styling cues synonymous with Ford's latest road vehicles. The interior will also be instantly recognisable as a Fiesta RS WRC rally car as it contains a number of production parts.

A new era for the World Rally Championship
The Fiesta RS WRC competition car will form part of a new era for the world championship. The Fiesta rally car will boast four-wheel drive transmission and a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, based on the all-new Ford EcoBoost engine family, to comply with new regulations.
The new Ford EcoBoost engine family features direct petrol injection and turbocharging to maximise performance and efficiency. "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," said Mike Norton, Ford of Europe's Motorsport Manager.
Specialist engineers from Ford and M-Sport have co-operated closely in the development of this 1.6-litre engine, with highly-respected French tuner Pipo Moteur bringing additional expertise to the power plant.

The Fiesta RS WRC appearance at the Paris Motor Show precedes the car's first major test programme with the full 2011 engine specification on gravel roads in Spain next week. The car has already completed almost 3000 kilometres of testing in Britain and France, powered initially by the current WRC engine and more recently by a prototype 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost turbo unit.

The test will provide the first opportunity for BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila to drive the new Fiesta RS WRC.

Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's Motorsport chief, has overseen the Ford development programme throughout 2010 and 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."

M-Sport managing director and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson is equally enthusiastic about the new car.

"This is a thrilling time for everyone involved in the car's development," Wilson affirms. "Countless hours have gone into the Fiesta RS WRC to reach this point, and for the car to be unveiled in public for the first time is a proud moment for us. We are right on track with our development and the team is delighted with testing to date. Another major step forward will be taken at the start of October when the car tests in full 2011 technical specification for the first time.

"We will have a test car running under the guidance of our technical director, Christian Loriaux. Mikko and Jari-Matti lead our challenge with the new car in the 2011 WRC, so their feedback from the testing is critical, and will provide valuable data for our engineering team to work with," added Wilson.

The Fiesta RS WRC will replace the record-breaking Focus RS WRC as Ford's championship challenger. The Focus RS WRC won back-to-back manufacturers' world titles in 2006 and 2007, and its victory in New Zealand in May was the Blue Oval's 75th at WRC level, making Ford the most successful manufacturer in world championship history.

Ford has sold more than one million of the hugely-successful, latest generation Fiesta road cars around the world since it went on sale in October 2008. Fiesta, Ford's truly global car, is the No 2 best-selling car across Europe.

Also, the latest Fiesta has already proved its abilities in motorsport. The Fiesta SportTrophy International for Fiesta R2 cars is a successful support series to the FIA World Rally Championship and the Fiesta S2000 rally car currently leads the S-WRC support series within the WRC.

American sports icon Ken Block has campaigned a Fiesta rally car in the Rally America championship this season, and the car won gold and silver medals in both the Rally Car and Super Rally events at the X Games event in Los Angeles in July.

"The Ford Fiesta has already established itself as a serious contender in a range of global motorsport activities, and we can't wait to debut our official car in the hugely demanding World Rally Championship next year," said Gerard Quinn.

"We've worked hard to ensure the car is undoubtedly related to the best-selling Fiesta road car which itself is a global success story. Ford's design and product development teams have worked closely and efficiently with our partners at M-Sport whose enormous expertise is key to delivering not just a highly competitive rally car, but also a car that is both stylish and recognisably a Ford Fiesta," he added.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard Aim for the Lead of the Championship

Montréal (Québec), September 29 2010. – Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, both of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (QC) are among the favourites in this weekend’s Pacific Forest Rally, in British Columbia, the penultimate round of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship. At the wheel of their Rockstar Royal Group Mitsubishi Evo X, the team has won four of the past five events in North America and is striving for a sixth win this weekend, which would vault them into the lead of the Canadian title hunt.

Recent winners of the North America Rally Cup, as well as the hotly contested Rally America series in the United States, Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard are attempting to also capture the Canadian championship, a hat trick that has only been accomplished once before. Victorious at the Rallye Défi earlier this month, the duo currently holds second place in Canada, three points behind the lead. The gap between a rally win and runner-up is five points, which means that with a victory, the team will jump into the lead with one event remaining. The Pacific Forest Rally is one that I know well and Nathalie and I have won here on three previous occasions confides Antoine, who adds : this rally could be a determining factor in the championship and we’re going for the victory. There are four teams within seven points of each other at the top of the season leaderboard. It’s a tight battle and we know all too well that it’s never over until it’s over.

The Rockstar Royal Group team is heading into this penultimate 2010 round knowing that the reliability of their Buffum-prepared Mitsubishi Evo X is key. They’re calling for good weather but honestly, I wouldn’t mind more challenging conditions because our new Yokohama A053 tires are competitive in all types of road conditions. The 2010 Pacific Forest Rally is similar to previous years, with the addition of two new roads. We’ll refine our notes during the reconnaissance of the roads that we already know and as for the new roads, Antoine’s very good at making precise notes in two passes and he’s generally fairly confident on stages that we’ve never seen before. One thing is for sure, this will be a good battle for the win ! explains Nathalie.

In addition to the North American title clinched at Rallye Défi three weeks ago, his third including 2007 and 2008, Antoine L’Estage has two Canadian championship titles (2006 and 2007), one American and twenty-three overall victories in Canada and the United States. Nathalie Richard holds five overall national championships (Canada and USA) and twenty-nine national victories on both sides of the border. The North American title she won at Rallye Défi is her sixth in seven years.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard is the only team to participate in the entire 2010 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships, with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Énergie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver's Edge Autosport (OMP), and VP Racing Fuels. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit Coyote Rallye .

Mitsubishi Brigade going for a hat trick

Toronto, Ontario, September 29, 2010 – The 5th round of the Canadian Rally Championship will take place this coming weekend out of Merritt, British Columbia, a small vicinity north-east of Vancouver nested in the Rockies. Barely three weeks after the last event in Québec, the Mitsubishi teams entered have been working extra hours to prepare the cars for the event before setting out to cross the country for the second Western round on the calendar. Leader of the Mitsubishi Brigade, Antoine L’Estage and codriver Nathalie Richard from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC have two events left on a very busy schedule that saw them win the Rally America and North American championships, while taking bronze in the X-Games in Los Angeles. Winner of the last event in early September, they are trailing by only three points in the 2010 standings and will try to lock a fourth victory in BC.

The Winnipeg brother pair of Jan and Jody Zedril only have to take to the road with their production Lancer to clinch yet another title in the Group 2 class, their third in as many years. They hope to widen their lead in the 2WD category with only two events left. Finally, the Polish crew from Calgary, Zebe Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski will feature their well-known yellow Lancer Ralliart in class 5 with hopes of taking the championship in the last two rounds.

“We understand the last month has been a lot of work for our Mitsubishi crews and we hope they earn their share of honours in Western Canada”, said Koji Soga, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada. (MMSC). “The 2010 season should bring many titles and championships for theses very deserving drivers, codrivers and the teams that carry the Mitsubishi flag across the country.”

Pacific Forest Rally : Event profile
Rally teams will gather in Merritt for the usual technical scrutiny and registration Friday morning. The crews will be allowed to travel at low speed through the speed stages for road recce. The event will start late afternoon for a few night stages around the city. After an overnight Parc Fermé, they will rejoin the competition Saturday morning for a long day’s work that will end late at night. Total distance of the event is 496 kilometres with 154 of them in special stages. L’Estage and Richard trail by only three points the Subaru team of defending champions Patrick Richard and Alan Ockwell. A victory is worth 22 points. For more information, please visit the event web site at www.pacificforestrally.com or visit our password free media website at www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca

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