RALLY: Ford Focus to star in Rally of Germany
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
April 18, 2001FORD FOCUS TO STAR IN RALLY OF GERMANY BERLIN - Ford announced today (Tuesday) that it will be entering two Ford Focus RS WRC rally cars on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland in July.
Ford's French ace Francois Delecour will pilot his regular 'RS' branded car while Austrian star Raimund Baumschlager will drive his striking Red Bull liveried machine.
Both the four-wheel drive, 300 bhp Ford Focus rally cars will be prepared in M-Sport's UK facility at Dovenby Hall, Cumbria, the home of the Ford Martini World Rally team.
For 2001, the Rallye Deutschland (6-to-8 July) will be run to a new, more compact format, designed to meet the criteria for an FIA World Rally Championship event. The ADAC hope that the running of the July event will demonstrate that Germany should host a future round of the world series.
"We are delighted to bring the world-class Ford Focus rally cars to Germany for this significant event," commented Martin Whitaker, European Director of Ford Racing, while attending the pre-rally press conference in Berlin. "The Rallye Deutschland will, I'm sure, prove to be an excellent show-case for both the exciting sport of world rally and for Ford's products. The rally passes close to our headquarters and our production facility near Cologne and is therefore of particular interest to Ford of Europe. Today's high-tech WRC rally cars produce astounding performances and the event will provide a splendid opportunity for media, rally fans and Ford employees to appreciate these cars at first hand."
"The World Rally Championship is clearly Ford's most important global motorsport activity. But top-class rallying outside the world championship can also provide a splendid platform on which to demonstrate the speed, durability and advanced technology of the Focus - the world's top-selling road car," concluded Whitaker.
Text provided by Susannah Priestley
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