BP-Ford will debut a new Focus in

Ford Focus RS WRC 07 to debut in Rally Finland

BP-Ford announced a new evolution of the Focus RS WRC will make its first race at Rally Finland, halfway into the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship season.

The reigning World Rally Team Champions and current points leader for the '07 season have been testing a new evolution of their race proven Focus in Italy and Spain. BP-Ford will debut the M-Sport car competitively for the Neste oil Rally Finland in the first weekend of August.

One of the new Ford Focus RS WRC 07 cars will be piloted by the Drivers' Championship points leader Marcus Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen. Its sister car will be going into the hands Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen. Gronholm heads into the Rally Finland with 9 points over his closest rival, Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb. Hirvonen sits in third place, seven points behind Loeb. This rally is the home event for both drivers in the Ford stable; both will be looking forward to a strong finish in the new car.

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson said both drivers were pleased with the upgrades. "Both Marcus and Mikko have completed plenty of kilometers in testing and they are encouraged. Our designers and engineers have worked extremely hard behind the scenes and they are pleased with the car. There are few visible modifications on the outside but it is underneath the skin where most of the changes are found and I'm looking forward to seeing the rewards in Finland and beyond," he said.

While not a completely new car this is an evolution of the Focus that won the Manufactures' title last year and it comes with many marked improvements. The '07 car was intended with one goal in mind, to continue Ford's fight for this year's Manufactures' championship. As it stands right now Ford has a 28 point lead over Citroen.

Christian Loriaux, the team's technical director, is the one responsible for the changes to the Focus. The improvements were mainly directed towards reducing weight of the car with systems like the engine, suspension, transmission and bodyshell all seeing a weight reduction. Reducing the car's empty weight under the minimum allowed in the rules means more ballast can be added where the team wants it for optimal weight distribution.

"It is important not to think of the Focus RS WRC 07 as a new car in the same way that the 2003 or 2006 models were," added Loriaux. "This is an evolution of the car that won the 2006 manufacturers' world title and which has taken BP-Ford into such a strong position in the 2007 championship. Much of our thinking has concentrated on weight, and the modifications we have introduced save almost 20kg. This allows us to position ballast in the areas where we want to distribute the weight to maximize the handling and balance of the car."

Other improvements are seen in the engine and bodyshell. The engine's lower range has been improved with a lighter flywheel and internal components along with a new single-piece exhaust manifold. The lower range will help the Ford pull itself out of slower turns.

The bodyshell will carry the most noticeable changed with a new rear wing for lower drag and a higher sitting front bumper with vertical cooling vents. The shell was also improved with safety in mind for the co-driver.

"The previous bumper was too low, mainly because when we designed the previous car we didn't have enough time to test alternatives before homologation. As a result gravel was often scooped up onto the bonnet and windscreen which was irritating for the drivers. By raising the height we should eliminate this and also reduce the amount of damage we've suffered to the bumper," explained Loriaux.

Two things not changed greatly are the suspension and transmission. As mentioned both did see a weight reduction but not much else has changed. Later this season the transmission will see a larger improvement.

"We're working on trying to improve the gearchange speed. We have homologated new parts but have not done sufficient work to introduce them onto the car yet. That is for the future," said Loriaux.

Because the 07 Focus RS is built off race winning designs there will be less risk of the team facing any gremlins that new cars are known to experience. However, it will not be until Rally Finland to see just how much more performance the new car brings. The challenge to win won't be any easier as the other competitors have been working and evolving on their own cars during the summer break in the WRC calendar.

Source: [url=http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=262131&FS=WRC]Motorsport.com[/url]