The Ford Fiesta RS WRC is the World Rally Car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford Europe and M-Sport for use in the World Rally Championship 20112016. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Focus RS WRC, which competed in various versions since 1999. It is also built to the new World Rally Car regulations for 2011, which are based upon the existing Super 2000 regulations, but is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine (1.6 L turbo Ford EcoBoost engine[2]) rather than the normally aspirated 2-litre engine found in Super 2000 cars. M-Sport and Ford introduced a Super 2000 version of the Ford Fiesta at the beginning of 2010, which forms the base of the WRC car.

Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Mads Østberg driving his Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the 2016 Rally de Portugal.
CategoryWorld Rally Car
ConstructorFord Europe/M-Sport
PredecessorFord Focus RS WRC
SuccessorFord Fiesta WRC
Technical specifications[1]
ChassisReinforced body with welded, multi-point roll cage
Length3,963 mm (156.0 in)
Width1,820 mm (72 in)
Wheelbase2,480 mm (98 in)
EngineFord EcoBoost engine 1.6 L (98 cu in) 4-cylinder, 16-valve turbocharged
Transmission6-speed M-Sport / X-Trac six-speed semi-automatic transmission gearbox with hydraulic shift
Weight1,200 kg (2,646 lb)
TyresMichelin
Pirelli
DMACK
Competition history (WRC)
Notable entrantsUnited Kingdom M-Sport World Rally Team
Czech Republic Jipocar Czech National Team
United Kingdom DMACK World Rally Team
Netherlands Ferm Power Tools World Rally Team
United Kingdom Ford World Rally Team
Qatar Qatar World Rally Team
Norway Adapta World Rally Team
Notable drivers
Norway Mads Østberg
Czech Republic Martin Prokop
Poland Robert Kubica
Wales Elfyn Evans
Italy Lorenzo Bertelli
Estonia Ott Tänak
France Eric Camilli
Norway Henning Solberg
Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Belgium Thierry Neuville
Finland Juho Hänninen
Finland Mikko Hirvonen
Finland Jari-Matti Latvala
Norway Petter Solberg
United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi
Russia Evgeny Novikov
Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah
United States Ken Block
Argentina Federico Villagra
Netherlands Dennis Kuipers
DebutSweden 2011 Rally Sweden
First winSweden 2011 Rally Sweden
Last winUnited Kingdom 2012 Wales Rally GB
Wins
6

Stobart Ford World Rally Team drivers Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg have carried out much of the development work on the car during 2010, with Per-Gunnar Andersson and M-Sport managing director and Ford team director Malcolm Wilson have also driven the car.[3]

From 2017 onwards, it was replaced by the Ford Fiesta WRC, but some private owners still enter this car to participate in rally competitions.

WRC victories (Fiesta RS WRC)

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No. Event Season Surface Driver Co-driver
1   2011 Rally Sweden 2011 Snow   Mikko Hirvonen   Jarmo Lehtinen
2   2011 Rally Australia Gravel   Mikko Hirvonen   Jarmo Lehtinen
3   2011 Wales Rally GB Gravel   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila
4   2012 Rally Sweden 2012 Snow   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila
5   2012 Rally de Portugal Gravel   Mads Østberg   Jonas Andersson
6   2012 Wales Rally GB Gravel   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila

RRC version

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In 2012, the RRC version of the Fiesta was launched to comply with the regional rally rules of the FIA; it is basically a Fiesta RS WRC, only with an S2000-specification rear wing, a slightly different front bumper, a lighter flywheel and a 30mm restrictor instead of a 33mm one found in the WRC variant. The Fiesta's with RRC specification can be converted to WRC specification in 6 hours.[4]

WRC-2 victories (Fiesta RRC)

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No. Event Season Driver Co-driver
1   2013 Rally Sweden 2013   Yazeed Al Rajhi   Michael Orr
2   2013 Rally México   Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari   Killian Duffy
3   2013 Rally Argentina   Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari   Killian Duffy
4   2013 Rally Australia   Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari   Killian Duffy
5   2014 Rally de Portugal 2014   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Giovanni Bernacchini
6   2014 Rally Argentina   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Giovanni Bernacchini
7   2014 Rally Australia   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Giovanni Bernacchini
8   2014 Rally Catalunya   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Giovanni Bernacchini
9   2015 Rally México 2015   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Matthieu Baumel
10   2015 Rally Argentina   Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari   Marshall Clarke
11   2015 Rally de Portugal   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Matthieu Baumel
12   2015 Rally Italia Sardegna   Yuriy Protasov   Pavlo Cherepin
13   2015 Rally Australia   Nasser Al-Attiyah   Matthieu Baumel
14   2015 Tour de Corse   Julien Maurin   Nicolas Klinger

Ford Fiesta RS WRC 'Evolution'

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In Rally Finland 2014 M-Sport launched a facelifted version of the Fiesta RS WRC. Despite the change on the front of the car, it's still the same under the bonnet. M-Sport later revealed the 'Evolution' version would come in 2015.

Before Rally Portugal 2015, M-Sport launched the 'Evolution' specification of the Fiesta RS WRC. Unlike the first version's engine which was built by Pipo Motors, the new Fiesta RS WRC's engine is completely built by M-Sport, with technical support from Ford. The car has also undergone a full redesign under the bonnet with further developments to the cooling package, transmission, electronics, wiring harness and differentials.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Evans, David (10 February 2011). "WRC Preview: Tech Insight". Autosport. Vol. 203, no. 6. Haymarket Publications. pp. 60–61.
  2. ^ "PARIS SHOW PREVIEW FOR ALL-NEW FORD FIESTA RS WORLD RALLY CAR | Ford Motor Company Newsroom". Archived from the original on 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
  3. ^ http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=376511&FS=WRC [dead link]
  4. ^ "Ford Fiesta RRC". Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
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