Ford Racing adds Fiesta to their table of racing feast.
07-16-09: It’s good to see an automaker having some fun these days. That’s exactly what Ford has been up to with the upcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta. As you may have heard, 100 people have been handed one of the future cars here in America to go around living in them and blogging to the world about how fun they are. Groovy.
Ford Racing is now entering the fold with the debut this week of the 2011 Ford Fiesta WRC Rallycross race car which is screaming up the treacherous and challenging Pike’s Peak circuit as we write this. Ford Racing and Olsbergs Motor Sports from Sweden have developed a high-performance race version of the new Fiesta. This new car will be the center of Ford‘s rally racing effort going forward.
Advertisement
The Olsberg Motor Sport Evolution team will be campaigning two identically outfitted Fiesta Rallycross cars. They will be driven by veteran rally driver Andreas Eriksson and rally legend Marcus Grönholm starting this week in the annual Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.
While these race cars bear little resemblance to the production car, we had a chance to ask Ford Racing’s Jamie Allison a little about what the rally effort means for the 2011 Ford Fiesta in America. We wanted to know what Ford Racing and SVT might have in store in the way of parts or programs for the car when it hit’s the market.
“ Yes, for Ford Racing we are very fortunate to have this car and the Focus that are both coming from Europe. There are already parts out there for enthusiasts in Europe so there is a bit of a cottage industry out there of servicing the needs of enthusiasts with performance modifications. ”, said Allison. “ We have a little bit of a head start on actually bringing some of that spirit in the European modifications and making them available through Ford Racing and the Ford Racing catalog. Short answer is, we believe there is [a market].” He went on to share that Ford sees a rich enthusiast interest in the new Fiesta and is strongly looking at developing Ford Racing performance parts and performance packs that could be available when the car arrives next year.
As to performance editions of the production car that might roll under the SVT logo, Allison simply said, “ In terms of performance derivatives, I can only point to what there is today. At one point there was a Fiesta ST in Europe, and that showed that there was an interest in the performance derivative and the Focus comes in forms of the performance derivative with the ST and the RS. We hope that someday at Ford we can have performance derivatives with these smaller cars. We will have to wait and see on the vehicle end, but on the parts, actually in Europe a lot of it is rally-inspired. ”. In Europe Ford has offered both the Fiesta and the Focus in a high performance ST version that would be an easy addition in the States under the SVT brand if they felt there was as strong interest.
In any case, it’s a promising sign to see Ford Racing already integrating the new 2011 Ford Fiesta into their sphere of works before it even comes to market. It can only mean more fun is ahead at the Blue Oval.
