PRESS RELEASE : 3 September 2010

Ford in search of victory hat-trick in Land of the Rising Sun

After winning the last two versions of Rally Japan in 2007 and 2008, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team returns to the Pacific Ocean island of Hokkaido next week intent on sealing a third consecutive win there. Rally Japan (9 - 12 September) takes the squad back to its preferred gravel roads, the team having won two of the last three loose-surface rallies with its Ford Focus RS World Rally Car.

This 10th round of the FIA World Rally championship is the last of the 2010 season to journey outside Europe and returns to the series after a year's absence. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen climbed onto the top step of the podium in both 2007 and 2008 while team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila are on form on gravel, having won in New Zealand and Finland recently.

The rally is again based in Sapporo, Japan's fifth-largest city, in the central Do-oh region of Hokkaido, the country's most northerly island. It is the biggest motorsport event in Japan, with more than 540,000 fans attending in 2008. The jewel in the rally's crown is the 43,000 capacity Sapporo Dome, a modern baseball and soccer stadium that hosted the 2002 World Cup. It will host a spectacular indoor super special stage on each day of the rally, over a course modified since 2008.

The bulk of the competition is based on undulating, medium to fast gravel forest tracks, many of which are particularly loose. The rally is held seven weeks earlier than in 2008, so the cold weather and leaf-covered surface is likely to be replaced by drier roads and temperatures of around 25ºC. However, a strong likelihood of rain could make the tracks slippery and muddy.

Hirvonen has started in Japan on five previous occasions and also has a third place to his credit in 2006. "I enjoyed the type of roads here in 2008. They were fast, flowing and quite sandy. The championship hasn't been there for two years so it will be interesting to see if any work has been carried out on the roads. If not, they could be quite soft and slippery if it rains. Although the rally is earlier in the year this season, I don't think it will make a big difference to the road surface," he said.

"After crashing out in Finland so early, I'm short of recent gravel competition because the previous loose-surface rally was at the end of May. The shakedown in Japan is at Sapporo Dome so there is no opportunity to benefit from a final test on a proper gravel stage. It may take a while to get back into the rhythm again on the first stage, but it shouldn't be a problem. I should have the speed to fight for a win but my main target is to end the year with a series of strong finishes," said the 30-year-old Finn.

This will be 25-year-old Latvala's fourth start in Japan, his best result in 2008 when he was runner-up to Hirvonen as Ford claimed a formation finish. "The stages are fast and although there are trees close to the road, visibility through the corners is good and the speeds remain high. I prefer fast, flowing rallies like New Zealand and Finland. Japan is another rally of that nature although the roads are narrower here.

"My confidence is highest on that type of road and I want to fight for a podium. I had good speed when I won in Finland in July and the Focus RS WRC is competitive in those conditions so I'm confident a top three finish is possible.

"We have to use Pirelli's soft compound tyres and the warmer weather will make it more difficult for them. But the road surface is quite soft and sandy and the distances we must drive on the same set of tyres are not particularly long, so I have no worries about excessive wear," added Latvala.

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr will drive a third Focus RS WRC for the team. "This will be the first time I have competed in Japan, but I am looking forward to the return to a gravel surface and, with my eighth place finish in Germany, I am feeling confident to push for a top 10 finish to claim more championship points," said Al Qassimi.

Team News

* Tyre partner Pirelli will provide BP Ford Abu Dhabi with one regulation tyre pattern. The Scorpion gravel tyre will be available in soft compound only, one of just three rounds in which soft gravel rubber is used. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber and each car can carry two spare wheels.

* Three other Focus RS WRCs are entered. Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin will be rejoined in the Stobart M-Sport Ford team by Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor, while Argentines Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc will drive for the Munchi's Ford team. The rally is the eighth round of the

S-WRC and three Ford Fiesta S2000 cars will start.

* Latvala will drive Ken Block's Monster World Rally Team Focus RS WRC at the 10th anniversary Rallyday at Castle Combe race circuit in Britain on Saturday 18 September. Latvala will join other rally celebrities including Stig Blomqvist, Phil Mills, Nicky Grist, Gwyndaf Evans and Guy Wilks at the non-competitive event.

Rally Route

Organisers have made significant changes, including a totally new final leg. While Sapporo Dome remains the location for the super special stage, the rally base and single service park have been moved to the nearby Tsukisamu Dome. The rally begins with two passes over the Sapporo Dome test on Thursday and these are repeated at the end of each leg, with the stage used eight times in total. The opening two legs journey south of Sapporo and close to Lake Shikotsuko for stages near the towns of Tomakomai, Chitose and Eniwa, which were all used in 2008. The final day heads north-east of the city for two loops of three new stages near the towns of Sunagawa, Bibai and Naie, taking the route further north than in 2008. Drivers tackle 26 stages covering 303.54km in a route of 1220.43km.

PRESS RELEASE: 22 August 2010

Confidence boost for Latvala after strong finish in Germany

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team duo Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila hailed a new-found confidence on asphalt after scoring a solid fourth place finish in Rallye Deutschland today. The Finns, for whom sealed surface rallies are their least favourite, battled for a podium place in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car throughout this ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Afterwards Latvala, winner of two gravel rounds this season, admitted: "This weekend I've been more confident on asphalt than ever before. It's not my favourite surface but I had a really good feeling here and I don't feel so concerned about driving on the surface any more. This is my best result in Germany and it has given me a big boost for the two remaining asphalt rounds this season."

The rally was based in Trier, Germany's oldest city. Three days of competition, the first and last among the tricky vineyard roads on the banks of the Mosel river, offered 405.67km of competition. The middle day was the most demanding, including two passes of the 48km Panzerplatte test in the Baumholder military training area. The road surface there varied constantly, from fast, smooth asphalt to broken concrete and huge kerb stones lined the tracks ready to trap the unwary.

The abrasive road conditions, combined with air temperatures that topped 30ºC yesterday, provided a tough test for Pirelli's PZero tyres throughout the 19 special stages.

Latvala held third for virtually the entire opening day. He extended his advantage over closest rival Sébastien Ogier yesterday morning until a spin on the first pass over Panzerplatte cost 20sec and a position on the leaderboard. The 25-year-old gave his all to regain the time loss but could not claw back the vital seconds on today's final leg, which ended with a speed test in the streets of Trier.

"I enjoyed the weekend and I'm really pleased with my performance. I was happy to fight for the podium. This is the hardest asphalt rally of the year and I was afraid of it, but now I'm not. After my victory in Finland in the last round earlier in the month and a good test here last week, everything fell into place this weekend," added Latvala, who retains third in the drivers' standings.

Hirvonen joined Latvala in the battle for the final podium position during the opening leg. The 30-year-old Finn was fifth, but just 9.8sec from third, at the end of the day. He struggled for confidence initially during the second leg before a set-up change improved his feeling. However, a broken input shaft in the transmission sidelined him on the penultimate stage. He returned for the final leg in eighth, but when the gearbox jammed in first gear on the morning's second stage he retired for good.

"I braked for a tight junction after a long straight and tried to shift down, but the gearbox stuck in third," said Hirvonen. "I managed to select first before it jammed in third again, which wasn't good on a stage with so many tight junctions. I found first and drove the remaining 9km to the finish but stopped on the liaison section to the service park. It wasn't linked to our retirement yesterday.

"I didn't have the confidence that I had here two years ago, especially in high speed corners. That started to improve yesterday afternoon but then I had the problem. I feel we're closer to the pace that we need to be at, but it's difficult to make that final step," he added.

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr finished eighth in the team's other Focus RS WRC. They recovered from 61st after sliding into a ditch during the opening stage on Friday.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson was pleased with Latvala's drive: "After the disappointment of the last asphalt round in Bulgaria, we came back well here. Jari-Matti's win in Finland relaxed him and it was positive for him and the team that he challenged for a podium here."

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "As in Finland, Jari-Matti showed his increasing maturity here. After the disappointment of losing third place yesterday afternoon, he continued to battle and was rewarded with his best asphalt finish for the team."

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford's Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin finished sixth in a Focus RS WRC after an exciting final day fight with Kimi Räikkönen. The Britons edged out the Finn by 3.8sec. Team-mates François Duval and Denis Giraudet retired from fifth after a heavy crash yesterday while Monster World Rally Team duo Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino retired from ninth before the opening stage this morning with a broken alternator belt.

Next round

The championship heads to Japan next month for round 10 of the series, and the final event of the season outside Europe. Rally Japan will be held on gravel roads near Sapporo on 9 - 12 September.

Final positions
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 59min 38.3sec
2. D Sordo/ D Vallejo ESP Citroen C4 4hr 00min 29.6sec
3. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 4hr 01min 51.6sec
4. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 4hr 02min 12.2sec
5. P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Citroen C4 4hr 06min 26.0sec
6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 4hr 08min 25.0sec
7. K Räikkönen/K Lindström FIN Citroen C4 4hr 08min 28.8sec
8. K Al Qassimi/M Orr UAE Ford Focus RS 4hr 17min 14.8sec
9. M Van Eldik/R Buysmans NLD Subaru Impreza 4hr 17min 31.3sec
10 P Sandell/E Axelsson SWE Skoda Fabia 4hr 17min 37.1sec

Drivers
1. S Loeb 191pts
2. S Ogier 133pts
3. J-M Latvala 117pts
4. P Solberg 100pts
5. D Sordo 95pts
6. M Hirvonen 86pts

Manufacturers
1. Citroen Total 308pts
2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 222pts
3. Citroen Junior 168pts
4. Stobart M-Sport Ford 118pts
5. Munchi's Ford 40pts

PRESS RELEASE: 31 July 2010

Latvala enters record books with Rally Finland victory for Ford

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila won a thrilling Rally Finland today to earn a place in the history books. The Finns won this eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time by 10.1sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, joining a long list of Finnish greats who have triumphed in their home event.

Latvala and Anttila were mobbed by their fellow countrymen as they took to the podium in Jyväskylä this evening. Twenty-five-year-old Latvala, already the youngest driver to win a world rally, became the youngest winner of Rally Finland since the WRC started in 1973. It was Ford's second consecutive victory in the legendary event following the success of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in 2009, and the manufacturer's fourth win in five years.

After a short opening speed test on Thursday evening, organisers packed 18 more stages and 310.05km of action into just two long and demanding days instead of the usual three, providing a blend of sprint and endurance. The rally was fought out over dauntingly fast roller-coaster forest roads in central Finland, and it lived up to its reputation as the fastest in the championship with average speeds reaching 133.09kph.

The weather was as hot as the action on the stages. The rally began on a day when the thermometers recorded Finland's highest-ever temperature of 37.2ºC. The heatwave gave way to thunderstorms which left much of central Finland without electricity yesterday while many roads were blocked by fallen trees, but the rally ran without interruption.

Latvala moved into the lead yesterday afternoon, building a 9.1sec overnight advantage. He extended that to 22.5sec this morning before road conditions turned against him. Overnight rain, which bound together slippery surface gravel and provided more grip, died out and a stiff breeze quickly dried the roads. Latvala was first in the start order and faced the unwanted task of sweeping loose stones from the surface to leave cleaner and faster conditions for those behind.

His lead dropped to 10.6sec with two tests remaining, but Latvala remained unflustered in the face of huge pressure to record his fourth WRC victory and second win of the 2010 season.

"It's amazing to win my home rally and it's something I have dreamed of since I was a small boy," he said. "The first time I watched this rally was in 1992 when I was seven and the only thing I could think about then was that I would never be able to drive as fast as the stars I was watching. In 2003 I drove this rally for the first time and still I never thought I would win. To win in front of my home fans, in a country where rallying means so much to everyone, is a dream.

"The team had some difficult times in the summer but both drivers led this rally and I won. It's a hugely important victory for the team and Ford. It was only during the final two stages that I really thought I could do it. I've learned that if you relax and make no mistakes then you can have a good rally. There have been so many people watching and it was a fantastic atmosphere – this is the best rally in the world," he added.

Team-mates Hirvonen and Lehtinen retired from the lead yesterday morning after crashing heavily following a jump, while the third car of Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr also rolled into retirement yesterday afternoon. Neither crew was injured.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted to oversee victory in his favourite rally. "After a difficult few months, the team has dug deep and bounced back to win the most celebrated rally in the calendar. There has been so much effort and commitment from the entire team in recent weeks and this is our reward. It was a stunning drive from Jari-Matti. There was a lot of pressure on his young shoulders when Mikko Hirvonen crashed out yesterday but he handled it superbly and displayed great maturity in a difficult situation," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "There is no better place for Ford to win a rally than Finland. It is one of motorsport's classic events and to triumph here, after leading for virtually the entire event, is a dream come true. Jari-Matti joins some of Ford's great Finnish drivers who have won their home event, world champions like Marcus Grönholm, Ari Vatanen and Hannu Mikkola. He faced intense pressure here for two days but the mature way in which he handled it shows how well he is progressing as one of the sport's rising stars."

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford's Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin finished sixth in a Focus RS WRC, two places ahead of Finnish rally legend Juha Kankkunen and Juha Repo. The four-time world champion returned to the sport for a one-off guest appearance almost eight years after his last WRC event. Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor crashed out yesterday in the team's third car.

Next round

The championship returns to asphalt next month when drivers tackle vineyard tracks and military roads in Rallye Deutschland. The rally is based in Trier on 19 - 22 August.

Final positions
1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 31min 29.6sec
2. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2hr 31min 39.7sec
3. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 31min 55.6sec
4. P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Citroen C4 2hr 32min 00.3sec
5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 33min 14.6sec
6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 37min 13.3sec
7. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 37min 20.4sec
8. J Kankkunen/J Repo FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 39min 18.6sec
9. J Hänninen/M Markkula FIN Skoda Fabia 2hr 40min 34.6sec
10 P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson SWE Skoda Fabia 2hr 41min 45.3sec

Drivers
1. S Loeb 166pts
2. S Ogier 118pts
3. J-M Latvala 105pts
4. P Solberg 90pts
5. M Hirvonen 86pts
6. D Sordo 77pts

Manufacturers
1. Citroen Total 265pts
2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 210pts
3. Citroen Junior 155pts
4. Stobart M-Sport Ford 108pts
5. Munchi's Ford 40pts

PRESS RELEASE: 11 July 2010

Ford Focus duo takes double points haul in Rally Bulgaria

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished fifth and sixth respectively in Rally Bulgaria today. It was the first occasion that Bulgaria has hosted a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the asphalt roads in the mountains near Sofia provided a stern test for the Focus RS World Rally Car pair.

Rally Bulgaria was the first sealed surface round of the WRC since October last year. It was based in Borovets, the country's old ski resort, and the route offered 14 speed tests covering 354.10km over three days of competition. One special stage was cancelled during the second leg for safety reasons, reducing the competitive distance to 329.24km. Blistering heat was expected but drivers encountered rain, fog and cool temperatures until the thermometer finally rose to higher levels on today's last leg.

Hirvonen ended the opening day in fourth, finding increased pace during the afternoon after lowering the suspension settings on his Focus RS WRC. However, he dropped a place on the leaderboard early in the second leg after a poor tyre choice. The team's detailed weather information provided by an expert weather service in Britain suggested dry conditions for the opening test, but Pirelli's hard compound PZero tyres were totally unsuited when the roads turned out to be wet.

The 29-year-old Finn lost a minute and, with no realistic opportunity of regaining that time, he settled for a solid points finish. "I had a good feeling with the car and enjoyed the stages, which were extremely fast in places. But the times weren't as good as we hoped, so we have to keep working hard to improve. With no chance of moving up today, we tested a few things for future rallies. Today was better and I think we learned something that will help on the remaining asphalt rallies," he said.

"Fifth brings good points for the team but I hoped for more. Now I'm looking forward to my home rally in Finland later this month where I want to fight for a win," added Hirvonen.

Latvala ended the first day in fifth, just 10.3sec behind his team-mate, after stiffening his car's suspension settings midway through the leg. The 25-year-old Finn made the same tyre choice yesterday morning and also lost a minute, and a damaged power steering system in the afternoon loop cost another 30 seconds. He, too, settled for a cautious drive through the final leg.

"I tested soft compound tyres this morning as an experiment to see how they would work in these conditions," he said. "The car was unbalanced and I switched to harder tyres for the final two stages. It was a difficult weekend but I had a clear run and made no mistakes. I can take confidence from finishing after my retirement in Portugal on the last round. I was hoping for a place in the top five, so I'm a little disappointed not to achieve that.

"My driving on asphalt has improved since last year. Earlier in the season I raced in the Nürburgring 24 Hours race and that helped on the asphalt here. When I drove on a circuit with other cars around and sometimes saw them going faster, I realised I might be taking the wrong line in some corners or could exit bends more quickly. It was a good learning process," he added.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson admitted he was disappointed with the weekend. "We completed intensive testing during the summer and after all the hard work we hoped for better from this rally. However, I'm pleased to see that Jari-Matti has improved his pace on asphalt and that's a positive to take away from here with three more asphalt rallies to come," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "To finish with both cars in the points is always good, but it doesn't hide the fact that this was a disappointing weekend. We're not happy with the performance of the car here and we know we need to do some work with our rally partners M-Sport to improve the performance."

The double points haul in this seventh round of the series keeps the BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad in second place in the manufacturers' championship. Hirvonen and Latvala remain third and fourth in the drivers' standings with six rounds remaining.

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford debutants P-G Andersson and Jonas Andersson finished seventh in a Focus RS World Rally Car after a troublefree rally. Team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin were ninth. The Ford Fiesta S2000 clinched first and second in the Group N category. Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor were 10th overall in their debut in the orange car, with Dennis Kuipers and Fred Miclotte taking second in 13th overall.

PRESS RELEASE: 30th May 2010

Hirvonen takes a fighting fourth in Portugal after tense final day

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team's Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished fourth in Rally de Portugal today after a thrilling three-car battle for the final podium place. After three days of flat-out driving in the hills above the Algarve coastline, the fight for third in this sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship was only decided on the final 2km speed test inside Faro's soccer stadium this afternoon.

The Finns had settled for fifth in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car heading into the test, which featured two cars at-a-time racing around a purpose-built track and was broadcast live on Portuguese television. However, when fourth-placed Petter Solberg went off the road in the previous heat and lost 15 seconds, 29-year-old Hirvonen measured his pace in the following duel and climbed to fourth after 18 stages covering 355.32km.

This rally was played out in high temperatures over demanding gravel roads near the holiday resort of Faro. The heat and the abrasive bedrock, which forms the base of the roads in this area, made it a tough challenge for tyres. Drivers had to skilfully manage tyre wear on their Pirelli Scorpion rubber to ensure they retained as much grip as possible towards the end of the long loops of special stages.

Hirvonen ended Friday's opening leg in fourth but ceded a position on the leaderboard during yesterday's longest day of the rally. The 29-year-old began the final leg this morning as one of three cars chasing the final step on the podium, with less than 22sec covering the trio.

He slashed that gap to less than eight seconds on the opening speed test and the trio began the final country stage covered by just 7.4sec. However, Hirvonen's attacking driving took its toll on his tyres and he realised halfway through that he could not close the gap further. He eased his pace and settled for fifth before the excitement inside the stadium.

"What an amazing end to the rally," he said. "After all the drama on the final stage during the last round in New Zealand, I can't believe that it has happened again here. I couldn't have driven any faster this morning. I gave everything to try to catch the two guys ahead but my rear tyres lost their grip and midway through the stage I called off the attack. I knew I couldn't reach them. It was a difficult rally. I didn't have the pace this weekend to challenge for the win and the rally was tough on tyres.

"I tried a different approach this weekend. I was less aggressive, letting my driving flow rather than pushing too much. I thought my driving was good and the car handled well, but the times weren't fast enough. The result wasn't good from a championship point of view but we've done six rallies and there are seven more to come so there's still everything to fight for," added Hirvonen.

Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were unable to restart under SupeRally rules this morning following yesterday's accident, in which they hit a tree at 110kph. The rear of their Ford Focus RS WRC was too badly damaged to repair.

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr finished ninth in the team's third car.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson reflected on a 'disappointing' weekend for the team. "What happened on the final stage proved once again how this sport delivers incredible drama. It also shows that the small, spectator-friendly tests can be just as important as the longer stages out in the country. After a great win in New Zealand earlier this month, this didn't go the way we planned but we have to accept that."

Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's motorsport chief, said: "We can't escape the fact that we didn't enjoy as good a weekend as we had hoped. We now have six weeks before the season restarts and we'll use that time to work as hard as we can to try to regain the form that has already brought the team two victories this season," he said.

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford drivers Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin finished sixth in a Focus RS World Rally Car, climbing a place after team-mates Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor retired with alternator failure on the second stage this morning. Munchi's Ford drivers Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc won their battle for eighth place with Al Qassimi after starting the day tied on time. In the S-WRC support series the Ford Fiesta S2000 claimed first and second places. Jari Ketomaa and Mika Stenberg beat Spain's Xevi Pons and Alex Haro by more than 3min 30sec. Pons retains the series lead.

Next round

After a summer break, the championship restarts with Rally Bulgaria's debut appearance in the WRC. The all-asphalt rally is based in the ski resort of Borovets on 8 -11 July.

PRESS RELEASE: 9th May 2010

FORD SETS NEW WRC VICTORY RECORD AFTER LATVALA WINS IN NEW ZEALAND

AUCKLAND, 9 MAY 2010 – Ford Motor Company today became the most successful manufacturer in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship after Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila secured the company's 75th WRC victory. The duo won Rally New Zealand in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car and moved the company to the top of the all-time win list, smashing a record that has stood since 1992.

The Finns won the demanding three-day mixed surface event by just 2.4sec, also extending Ford's record-breaking run of consecutive points finishes to 124. Ford lies just five points from the lead of the manufacturers' championship, while Latvala lies second in the drivers' standings after five rounds of the 13-rally series.

Ford's tally of 75 victories since the championship was founded in 1973 has helped the company take the manufacturers' world title in 1979, 2006 and 2007 and the drivers' world crown in 1979 and 1981.

Seventeen high profile drivers have contributed to the record effort, which began in 1973 at the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland. They are Timo Mäkinen, Hannu Mikkola, Roger Clark, Bjorn Waldegard, Kyosti Hamalainen, Ari Vatanen, Didier Auriol, François Delecour, Miki Biasion, Gianfranco Cunico, Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae, Markko Märtin, Marcus Grönholm, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.

The most successful drivers are current BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally team lead pilot Mikko Hirvonen and fellow Finn Marcus Grönholm with 12 victories. Grönholm led Ford to the manufacturers' world title in 2006 and 2007 in a Focus RS WRC.

"This is a landmark achievement of which everyone at Ford rightly can be proud," said John Fleming, Ford of Europe Chairman and CEO. "Ford has a long and illustrious motorsport heritage, especially in rallying where our participation dates back more than 70 years. We were involved in WRC when it began in 1973 and it remains Ford's major global motorsport activity. We're there because we're competitive and we win, and when we win our customers win too, as we learn a huge amount from rallying and apply this knowledge to our road cars.

"Our participation in WRC highlights a core attribute of Ford vehicles – driving quality. The WRC is the toughest competition in motorsport for production-based cars. A record-breaking 75 wins at the sport's highest level speaks volumes about the strength, speed and reliability of both our competition cars and our road vehicles," he added.

Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe's motorsport chief, said: "Twenty different manufacturers have enjoyed the prestige of a WRC event victory. Ford is fortunate enough to have stood on the top step of the podium on 75 occasions. The legendary Escort, the Sierra and now the Focus, which is still winning in its 12th and final season as Ford's WRC challenger, have all contributed to a remarkable record and I hope there are many more wins to come."

Below we highlight some of Ford's most notable WRC wins and present the driver's view of the success.

- 1973 1000 Lakes Rally Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600
Mäkinen scored Ford's first victory in the inaugural year of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Finn, partnered by British co-driver Henry Liddon, won his home rally by 2min 09sec. Among the competitors he beat were Ulf Grönholm, father of future Ford driver Marcus, and current FIA president Jean Todt, who co-drove for Achim Warmbold.
Mäkinen said: "As with all my victories with Ford in the 70s, this win was aided by the fact that all the various parts of the team worked well together: driver, co-driver, team chief and mechanics. The team spirit was good. This rally was long and there were fewer breaks than nowadays. There were no tactical manoeuvres, any thought of that and the rally would have been over. It wasn't an easy win, I had to fight every kilometre of the way."

- 1988 Tour de Corse Didier Auriol Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Didier Auriol claimed the only WRC victory for the Sierra and his maiden world rally win on home ground in France. Aged 29, Auriol won by 3min 05sec and went onto win the island rally a further six times during his career.
Auriol said: "It was my first rally with Ford and the first time I led a WRC round. I was so surprised to lead that I went off the road soon after and bent my car's rear right wheel. It could have been much worse – I was lucky. The car was physically demanding and I was so exhausted I didn't think I would be able to start the final leg. I did, but on the final stage I pulled the handbrake at a hairpin and dislocated my shoulder! The pain was terrible, but I pushed it hard against the door and the shoulder slipped back into place. I now have that car at my home in France."

- 1993 Rally de Portugal François Delecour Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Frenchman Delecour scored the first of his four WRC wins in Portugal, earning the new-shape Escort the first of its 10 WRC wins in RS Cosworth and World Rally Car specification. He led for virtually the entire event, overcoming a fuel leak following a secret check by rally organisers which led to a hold-up in the event as mechanics were summoned by officials from another location to carry out repairs.
Delecour said: "It was a great moment. Up to that point I was regarded as primarily an asphalt expert and nobody expected me to win on gravel in Portugal. It changed my image from an asphalt driver to an all-rounder. It was a hard rally. I drove the famous Arganil test at about 4am and it was very dangerous because it was icy and foggy. It was such a testing stage."

- 1999 Safari Rally Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC
The late Colin McRae, in his first season with Ford, mastered the legendary Kenyan event – the longest, hottest and roughest round of the championship – on only the Focus WRC's third start. McRae took the lead on the second day and won by nearly eight minutes, claiming Ford's first Safari win for 22 years. McRae's winning car remains on display at M-Sport's Dovenby Hall headquarters in the UK.
Scot McRae, who first won the Safari in 1997, said after the rally: "This win means more to me than my first Safari success. The last day was one of the most nerve-wracking ever because on the Safari you can never guarantee anything until it's over. This is a new car and a new team and that makes this very special. It was a controlled drive. You can't drive flat out and win the Safari but we found a good pace throughout and it worked well."

- 2006 Rally New Zealand Marcus Grönholm Ford Focus RS WRC
Grönholm won the penultimate round of the 2006 campaign to secure Ford's first manufacturers' world title since 1979. Team-mate Mikko Hirvonen finished second. Grönholm led from start to finish, winning every special stage on the opening leg to lay the platform for his success.
Grönholm said: "It was a great feeling to win the rally and secure the world title for Ford on the same day. It wasn't such a hard rally for me because the car was perfect throughout. A one-two result was the ideal way to win the title and I remember that a lot of people stayed up all night at the team's base in the UK to watch the stage times coming in. It was a long night of celebrations afterwards!"

- 2007 Rally New Zealand Marcus Grönholm Ford Focus RS WRC
Grönholm claimed his second consecutive NZ victory after the closest finish in the championship's history. He won by just 0.3sec after a titanic battle over 350km – a margin which equated to 7.5 metres or less than two car lengths! He started the nerve-wracking final speed test with a lead of 0.7sec and kept his cool to claim his fifth victory of the year and his fifth in New Zealand – making him the most successful driver in the event's history.
Grönholm said: "It was an incredible fight all weekend and the best battle in my career. There wasn't room for a single missed gearchange. I stayed calm in the rally car and that's something I learned from many years' practice of attacking. The only big stress came with choosing tyres because the conditions were inconsistent and when it's that close, one wrong tyre choice could have ruined everything," he added.

- 2008 Swedish Rally Jari-Matti Latvala Ford Focus RS WRC
Twenty-two-year-old Jari-Matti Latvala became the youngest winner of a world rally, eclipsing the record of fellow Finn Henri Toivonen. Latvala led for virtually the entire rally to win by 58.3sec. Focus RS WRCs completed a shut-out out of the podium places, with Mikko Hirvonen claiming second and Gig Galli taking third.
Latvala said: "Henri Toivonen is a big hero of mine and in my dreams I wanted to beat his record, so that meant so much to me. I couldn't have dreamed I could win on only my second event in a works team. I started the rally so well and made no mistakes so I was able to control my speed, but it was only on the final day I started to realise I could do it."

PRESS RELEASE : 9th May 2010

Latvala wins Rally New Zealand for Ford after dramatic finale

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila today won Rally New Zealand after a storybook ending to this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. After remarkable drama in the final few kilometres, the Finns won by just 2.4sec in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car - the third closest finish ever. The victory means Ford becomes the most successful manufacturer in the history of the WRC with 75 wins.

Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished fourth in another Focus RS WRC, to enable Ford to close to within five points of the lead in the manufacturers' championship standings with eight rounds remaining. Latvala's victory was his third career success and his first since triumphing in Italy almost 12 months ago. He climbs to second in the drivers' standings and Hirvonen moves up to third.

Ford and Rally New Zealand have a habit of generating excitement in recent years. The team won the manufacturers' world title here in 2006 for the first time in 27 years. Twelve months later Marcus Grönholm won after the closest finish in WRC history, with an advantage of just 0.3sec.

The event returned to Auckland as the host city for the first time since 2005. Organisers took advantage of new-for-2010 rules to increase the competitive distance to 396.50km over three days, making it the longest WRC round since 2004. The action took place on smooth, flowing speed tests to the north and south-west of the City of Sails. The predominantly gravel special stages, regarded as the best in the world by many drivers, were spiced up with the addition of several asphalt sections.

Latvala was one of four leaders during the opening day, which he ended in second. The 25-year-old Finn was frustrated after losing time yesterday and started the final day in third, 33.2sec from the lead but in a better start position than those ahead. He climbed a place on the second of the four speed tests on the Tasman Sea coastline near Raglan and went into the final stage, the legendary 29.67km Whaanga Coast, just 6.2sec from the lead.

Four drivers started with a chance of victory. Petter Solberg was the first to fall by the wayside when he crashed into a telegraph pole and then Sébastien Loeb spun, for the second time in the test, less than 10km from the finish. Remarkably leader Sébastien Ogier then went off the road just three corners from the finish. Amid all the drama, the consistent Latvala kept calm to power to a fairytale victory.

"I didn't think it could happen, it's the most amazing and beautiful win," said Latvala. "Whaanga Coast showed its teeth. I neared the end of the stage and could see a car's bumper on the road but I didn't know which car it was from. I didn't know we had won until three minutes after the finish of the stage and Miikka did the calculations. It's my best win and makes up for my disappointments.

"I can't believe I'm second in the championship. I wasn't the fastest here but I was the most consistent and that paid off when it mattered. I need to carry on doing the job I'm doing as second driver because my strategy is working. It was a fantastic rally over the most beautiful roads in the world," he added.

Hirvonen struggled to find the pace he wanted during the opening two days, and the 29-year-old Finn began the final day in sixth, a minute from the lead. He more than halved that deficit during the opening two stages this morning as he climbed to fifth and then gained another position on the final stage when Solberg crashed out.

"It was a difficult weekend but I was able to climb up today and score valuable points for the team and myself," he said. "After yesterday I thought there would be no chance of a good result. I struggled and the mistake I made cost a lot. I need to think about why I had no speed yesterday. If I could start the weekend again I would change my Friday set up."

Delighted BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson said: "This sport has a habit of producing the unexpected. The last three days have been full-on excitement and the drama we witnessed takes some believing. Jari-Matti displayed great maturity. We worked hard with him after last season to develop greater consistency and maturity, and he showed how far he has progressed."

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn hailed Ford's 75th WRC win. "Ford is a stalwart supporter of world rallying and our 75th victory is a landmark achievement. Ford has won with the Escort and we have won with the Sierra but it's fitting that the Focus, our most successful rally car, should claim our 75th victory in its final season as our WRC challenger."

News from other Ford teams

The Ford Fiesta S2000 claimed a clean sweep of the podium positions in the S-WRC support category. Jari Ketomaa and Mika Stenberg led home Xevi Pons and Alex Haro by 54.1sec, with Martin Prokop and Jan Tománek third. The Fiesta S2000, which will form the basis of Ford's all-new Fiesta WRC for the 2011 campaign, has won the opening three rounds of the category. Pons leads the championship.

Next round

The opening half of the season ends on gravel with the Rally de Portugal. It is based in Faro on the Algarve coast on 27 - 30 May.

PRESS RELEASE: 30 April 2010

New Zealand gravel rush excites Ford's Finnish drivers

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will tackle the longest round of the FIA World Rally Championship for almost six years when it makes the arduous journey from Britain to New Zealand next week. Organisers of Rally New Zealand (6 - 9 May) have fully embraced new-for-2010 rules to increase the competitive distance in the North Island to just under 400km, the most since Rally Deutschland in August 2004.

Not that Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila will complain as the flowing, cambered gravel roads are regarded among the best in the world. Despite spending more than 24 hours in the air en route to the rally base in Auckland, the Finnish quartet eagerly awaits the opportunity to tackle New Zealand's speed tests in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Cars on the rally's return to the WRC after a year's absence.

The event returns to Auckland after being based further south in Hamilton since 2006. The move allows the route to venture north onto roads in the Whangarei and Kaipara districts that have not been used since 2005. Short remote service zones away from the city are a feature on each of the three legs and mixed surface special stages are also prevalent as organisers give the rally format a shake-up.

The roads in the Land of the Long White Cloud are as smooth as a billiard table and wind through lush, green countryside, inviting drivers to attack. The scenery is as stunning as the roads, and the picture postcard views over the Tasman Sea from the classic Whaanga Coast stage on the final day are among the best in the championship.

Hirvonen, who climbed to second in the drivers' standings after his podium finish in Turkey earlier this month, has a strong record in New Zealand with a second and two thirds from his last three starts. The 29-year-old is a confirmed fan of New Zealand's stages.

"I'm excited to be going back there again," he enthused. "It's a great country and we always receive a warm welcome in Auckland. Then, when I get out on the stages, I remember just why it's alongside Finland as my favourite rallies in the championship. It's fast, it's smooth and it's fun. And there's a bigger emphasis on endurance, with more competitive kilometres and limited time during the day for service. It's good to have a longer rally.

"Every rally has something unique and here it's the cambered roads. They encourage a driver to attack, but they can also catch you out. When the car crosses the camber it often jumps. If you are on the wrong side of the camber when you brake for a corner, you can find yourself in trouble because the car will just slide.

"It's autumn in New Zealand and the weather can be cool and wet. That won't be easy with hard compound tyres because it will be difficult to get heat into them, but it will be the same for everyone. They will bite into the gravel, but trying to find good grip on the asphalt, especially when it's at the start of the stage, won't be so easy," added Hirvonen.

Latvala, who is fourth in the drivers' standings, has started Rally New Zealand four times, with a best finish of fifth in 2007. However, the 25-year-old will make new pace notes for the entire rally.

"I've only driven the roads north of Auckland once before, and that was in 2005 in a Group N car," he said. "I remember them to be faster than the stages south of the city. Notes for a World Rally Car need to be very different from those for a Group N car. My style of notes has also changed since the rally was last in the championship two years ago, so I will make fresh notes for the whole rally.

"The character of the stages reminds me of my home event in Finland, but without the jumps. The car feels as if it is dancing in the road through the flowing corners. The roads are normally used by the public so the surface is hard and smooth and they are in good condition, so they are kind to the cars. Despite the long flight, I'm happy to go back to Auckland. It's a great city, the stages are fantastic to drive and it's the opportunity to put my crash in Turkey on the last round out of my mind," he added.

Team News

* Tyre partner Pirelli will provide BP Ford Abu Dhabi with one regulation tyre pattern. The Scorpion gravel tyre will be available in hard compound only. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber and each car can carry two spare wheels.

* Three other Focus RS WRCs are entered. Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor and Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin are nominated by the Stobart M-Sport Ford team in Focus RS WRCs, while Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc will drive for the Munchi's Ford squad in a similar car. The rally is the fourth round of the S-WRC support championship and four Ford Fiesta S2000 cars are entered.

* Despite the delays encountered by team members and cars returning to England following the Rally of Turkey due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, the team's air freight left for New Zealand on schedule on Wednesday. It is due to arrive in Auckland over the weekend.

Rally Route

The move back to Auckland brings a new service park at Queens Wharf in the heart of the city, although mid-leg remote service zones will be used each day in Whangarei, at Hampton Downs motor racing circuit on the edge of the city, and in Raglan. The opening leg journeys north to the Whangarei and Kaipara districts before ending with a short test at the Auckland Domain, home of the city's War Memorial Museum. The second leg heads south-west to the Franklin and northern Waikato area on roads used in 2008. All the day's country stages are mixed surface and the leg also includes two asphalt tests at Hampton Downs. The final leg is unchanged from 2008, and journeys further south to stages on the Tasman Sea coastline, including two passes through the classic Whaanga Coast. Drivers face 21 stages covering 396.50km in a route of 1496.51km.

PRESS RELEASE: 18 April 2010

Hirvonen nets podium for Ford in gruelling Rally of Turkey

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished third in the Rally of Turkey today after the most demanding round of the FIA World Rally Championship season to date. The Finns' bid for victory was ended this morning by a combination of bad weather, which forced the cancellation of two speed tests, and a puncture after their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car struck a rock.

Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished eighth in another Focus RS WRC after a superb recovery drive following an accident yesterday morning. The double points haul keeps Ford in second place in the manufacturers' standings, 15 points from the lead. Hirvonen remains third in the drivers' championship, five points ahead of fourth-placed Latvala.

After five previous encounters in southern Turkey, this fourth round of the championship moved north to Istanbul. After a start ceremony in the shadow of the famous Blue Mosque, the rally crossed from the European part of the city to the Asian quarter, where the rally was based. Rocky roads north-east of the city near the Black Sea coastline proved a tough challenge for cars and tyres, while organisers took advantage of new rules for 2010 to spice up the action further with mixed surface speed tests.

Hirvonen led initially and ended the opening leg in third after intense competition which saw the top six cars covered by just 27sec. He retained third during the second leg and started the final day just 17.3sec from the lead. However, torrential overnight rain turned this morning's opening two special stages into a mudbath and they were cancelled. It reduced today's competitive distance by a third and with fewer kilometres in which to close the gap, Hirvonen attacked hard once the action started.

However, in treacherously muddy conditions, he slid wide 1.5km from the start of the 19.22km Ballica test and hit a rock, puncturing the rear left tyre. He lost more than 45sec driving to the end of the stage and dropped to fourth. However, he regained third on the next stage when Dani Sordo retired and drove cautiously through the final two tests to consolidate a podium position.

"I decided to chase the victory this morning but the two cancelled stages didn't help me," said 29-year-old Hirvonen. "The car slid wide at a very fast place and hit a rock, puncturing the tyre. The tyre was destroyed after 10km but we decided to continue and only lost about 45sec, so that was the right decision. The impact also damaged the lining of the wheel arch and the car filled with dust and grit. It was so bad I couldn't see properly.

"We only made one mistake but we ended the day on the podium where we started, so it's not so bad. After what happened, third was the best we could achieve. It's not what I hoped for this weekend but the puncture destroyed my hopes of a win," he added.

Latvala ended the first leg in sixth but rolled just 1km after the start of the opening test on the second leg. He dropped nine minutes before spectators lifted the car back onto its wheels and lost more time on the remaining two tests before service as the turbo boost pipe was damaged in the crash. He slid to 17th but climbed to 12th by the end of the day. A fast, but cautious, drive today enabled the 25-year-old to move up to eighth.

"It was an up and down weekend," he said. "Sitting in the car upside down wasn't a good place to be yesterday morning, but we scored manufacturers' and drivers' points so in the end it wasn't so bad. This was the hardest event of the year and the most demanding rally for the car that I've ever driven on. After the accident I thought I could take something from the rally, but I'm surprised to finish as high as eighth."

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson was pleased Hirvonen recovered to claim a podium finish. "Sadly our chances evaporated with the cancelled stages, but Mikko salvaged third on what was the hardest event in the championship. The situation in the manufacturers' championship is virtually unchanged as only one point separated us from our rivals on this rally," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "The conditions here have been widely accepted as the toughest so far this season. However, we had no mechanical problems with our cars and Pirelli's tyres performed superbly in the most arduous situation. It was refreshing to see how competitive our drivers were and how closely-fought this rally was. Hopefully this will distance the sport from the controversies that followed Rally Jordan."

News from other Ford teams

The privately-entered Ford Fiesta S2000 of Dennis Kuipers and Frederic Miclotte finished ninth and the car headed the S2000 category for the third consecutive WRC round.

Next round

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad faces its longest journey of the season for round five. Rally New Zealand is based in Auckland on 6 - 9 May and is primarily a gravel event on fast and flowing roads on North Island, but with short asphalt sections included in several tests.

PRESS RELEASE: 3 April 2010

Happy returns for Latvala as Jordan delivers podium present

Birthday boy Jari-Matti Latvala celebrated turning 25 today when he and co-driver Miikka Anttila finished second in the Jordan Rally in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team pair claimed their best result in the FIA World Rally Championship for almost a year after conquering intense heat and rocky desert tracks in the Arabian kingdom on this third round of the 2010 season.

The runners-up position promoted the Finns into second in the drivers' championship standings ahead of team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen in a similar Focus RS WRC. Hirvonen finished 20th, restarting this morning and completing the event under SupeRally rules after retiring from fifth yesterday morning when he hit a bank and broke his car's front left suspension.

Appearing in the WRC for only the second time, the Jordan Rally was based on the shores of the Dead Sea, south-west of the capital city of Amman, and at 420 metres below sea level, the lowest point on earth. Appropriately for Easter weekend, the 21 speed tests covering 339.48km ran in areas steeped in history through stories made famous in the Bible, including the Baptism site where Jesus Christ was baptised in the Jordan River, and Mount Nebo where Moses was buried overlooking the Holy Land.

Latvala dominated Friday's opening leg, picking his way skilfully through the rocky desert landscape to build a 30.2sec advantage. As a result he was first in the start order yesterday, and lost time as he swept slippery loose gravel from the road surface to create a cleaner and faster line for those behind to follow. He ended the day in third, 27.7sec from the lead but with an ideal start position for today.

A flurry of tactics at this morning's restart shuffled the start order as drivers deliberately incurred time penalties to engineer a more favourable start position for their team-mates. Latvala was now fourth in the running order but, crucially, main rival Sébastien Loeb was second rather than first and avoided the unwanted role as road opener.

Latvala attacked initially but, after two narrow escapes, soon called off his pursuit of the leader and settled for a worthy second place. "It's a much better birthday than last year when I thought I might die after crashing and rolling 200 metres down a hillside in Portugal," he said. "Second is a great result, although I felt a little disappointed this morning when I realised I wouldn't be able to win. I kept the pressure on in case he made a mistake and I could capitalise, but I also had to stay relaxed.

"This is my third good result in three rallies this season and this run has boosted my confidence. The tactical decisions this morning changed the course of the day. It had a huge effect with Loeb second in the start order. The difference between first and second in the order is huge in terms of road cleaning, while second and third or third and fourth is only marginal," added Latvala, who won three special stages on Thursday and two today.

Hirvonen ended the opening leg in fifth but crashed out less than 3km into yesterday's opening stage, breaking the suspension. "I made a mistake and took too tight a line over a crest. The car hit a small gravel bank on the inside of a right bend and the impact threw it into the air and across the road. I was lucky not to roll, but it landed on the left front wheel and the suspension broke," he said.

Lying 20th and with no chance of regaining lost time, the 29-year-old Finn was happy to deliberately incur a time penalty by restarting early this morning to improve Latvala's road position. He paced himself through the final eight tests, run in temperatures as high as 33ºC, to finish 20th and score valuable points for the team in the manufacturers' championship.

"It was a disappointing weekend," he admitted. "I made a silly mistake but that was going to happen at some point. I just wish it hadn't happened here this weekend. It's unlike me and I want the old Mikko back. The team did a good job of repairing my car and today I drove carefully, checking my pace notes and taking no risks. It's not the same as when you are fighting for victory and attacking because it's hard to keep the rhythm. The roads were extremely slippery and the most technical of the rally."

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson said: "I'm pleased we set competitive times and won stages again. Jari-Matti's performance was a big boost because the pressure was on him after Mikko made an uncharacteristic mistake. His result was a reward for a mature and sensible drive."

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "After the disappointment on the last round in Mexico, we promised we would bounce back here, and we did. Jari-Matti was the class act of the first day and remained in the battle for victory until today. It was a confidence boost for the whole team."

Next round

Round four of the series takes the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team to a new-look Rally of Turkey. The base has moved from the south coast holiday resort of Kemer to Istanbul in the north – the gateway between Europe and Asia. The rally, on 15 - 18 April, remains on gravel and spans both continents.

PRESS RELEASE: 26 March 2010

Ford drivers hunt for highs in Jordan's Dead Sea lowlands

After experiencing the high point of the FIA World Rally Championship season in Mexico earlier this month, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team journeys to the lowest point on earth in the Middle East next week. The squad, which leads the manufacturers' standings with the record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car after two of 13 rounds, tackles the Jordan Rally (1 - 3 April) which is based 420 metres below sea level on the arid shores of the Dead Sea.

The rally debuted in the WRC in 2008 when it became the first round hosted by an Arab country since 1976. Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen won two years ago and the Finns, along with team-mates and fellow countrymen Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, have their sights set on another strong performance in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The low-level location of the gravel speed tests clustered near the Dead Sea will offer a boost to the performance of the Focus RS WRC. In contrast to Mexico where low air pressure at altitudes of up to 2700 metres meant less oxygen was available to burn the fuel in the engine, resulting in less power, the opposite will be true in Jordan. However, temperatures that are expected to approach 30ºC will ensure the power output will not be as high below sea level as it would be with cooler and wetter conditions.

The rally takes advantage of new-for-2010 rules to run from Thursday to Saturday, to fit in with the Islamic weekend. The heaviest rain in Jordan for 20 years earlier this year decimated large parts of the route, making many scheduled special stages impassable and severely damaging the service park. Huge efforts, involving the army and the Government, helped rebuild the roads although the damage in some sections was too great to repair and the route has been slightly shortened.

The desert roads are gravel but 29-year-old Hirvonen said the stages were unlike any other loose surface round. "The surface is hard and it feels like driving on asphalt. There will be loose gravel on the surface for the first pass through the stages, so the car will need a slightly soft set-up. But when the stages are repeated and the roads are clean the set-up will be harder, almost like we use on asphalt. There are no ditches there and in some bends it's possible to make big cuts, so we can't make the car too low. It's a compromise set-up between gravel and asphalt," he said.

"It's the most difficult rally of the year on which to make pace notes. It's fast and high speed sections are punctuated by small crests. But suddenly the rhythm can change and you come over a crest to find a series of hairpin bends. There are no trees or bushes in the desert to use as sight lines so the notes must be pin-point accurate. We've analysed the reasons why we weren't as competitive as we had hoped on the last round in Mexico and tried a few options during our test in Sardinia this week. I'm confident we'll be fully competitive in Jordan," added Hirvonen, who lies second in the drivers' table.

Latvala finished seventh in Jordan in 2008, after lying in the top three for much of the rally. Like Hirvonen, it is the road surface and the rhythm changes that he identifies as key aspects of the event.

"In 2008 the roads had a fine layer of sand lying on top of a hard, smooth base and it made them slippery during the first pass," said Latvala, who hopes to celebrate his 25th birthday in style on the final day of the rally. "The sand was swept away and in the second pass the roads were so hard and grippy that you could see black braking marks from the tyres on the surface – just like asphalt. It has rained hard there recently so I expect the surface might be a little softer and more loose this year.

"The roads are man-made in places and it means there is no natural flow to them so they are difficult to follow. They often turn immediately after a crest and I was nearly caught out on a few occasions two years ago. My pace notes were not accurate enough and I need to improve them on next week's recce.

"The roads were built with rocks as a base and they are visible on the side of the track. In corners where it's possible to take a cut, these stones are dragged out by the cars and it's easy to damage the suspension by hitting a rock while trying to save a second or two," added Latvala.

Team News

* Tyre partner Pirelli will provide BP Ford Abu Dhabi with one regulation tyre pattern. The Scorpion gravel tyre will be available in hard compound only. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber and each car can carry two spare wheels.

* The team completed a successful pre-event test for both the Jordan Rally and next month's Rally of Turkey in southern Sardinia on Wednesday. Both Hirvonen and Latvala drove a Focus RS WRC. Hirvonen completed 778km, with his team-mate covering 367km during the final two days.

* Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr, who were due to drive a third Focus RS WRC for the team, will now be at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta S2000 in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship category. After victory on the second round in Kuwait earlier this month, they will continue their title challenge in Jordan. The MERC category is held over the second and third legs of the main event.

* For the third consecutive rally, Ford is the most popular manufacturer in the entry with 10 of the 35 entry cars carrying the Blue Oval. Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor and Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin are nominated by the Stobart M-Sport Ford team in Focus RS WRCs, while Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc will drive for the Munchi's Ford squad in a similar car. Five Fiesta S2000 crews will start in the third round of the S-WRC support series.

Rally Route

There are few changes from Jordan's 2008 WRC debut, with the service park based at the Dead Sea. Most stages are fully or partially below sea level west of the capital city of Amman, although new roads north of the city will be used on the opening morning after the start ceremony amid the ruins of the stunning former Roman city of Jerash. They journey through historical and biblical sites around the Jordan Valley and Rumman forests, including the Baptism Site, where Jesus was baptised in the Jordan River, and Mount Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised Land before he died and was buried there. All but one of the 11 different stages will be used twice and some sections of road will be used four times. The second leg contains the marathon 41.45km Jordan River test, a twisty stretch of road which runs north to south through 'no man's land' alongside the Jordan - Palestine border. Drivers tackle 21 stages covering 339.48km in a route of 911.78km.

PRESS RELEASE: 7 March 2010

Ford maintains world championship lead after Mexican double

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team retained the lead of the FIA World Rally Championship after a double points haul in Rally Mexico today. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished fourth on the demanding dirt roads in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, with team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila 27.6 seconds behind in fifth. The results mean Ford leads the manufacturers' standings by six points after two rounds of the 13-rally series.

High altitude and slippery gravel roads in the hills above the rally base of León, 400km north-west of Mexico City, characterised the event, returning to the championship after a year's absence. The speed tests climbed to 2730 metres, and the thin air at that height meant engines 'ran out of breath', losing up to 30 per cent of their power. Loose gravel on the surface was a huge disadvantage to the early starters, who swept away the stones to leave a cleaner and faster line for those behind.

Hirvonen and Latvala were first and third in the start order on Friday's opening leg and Hirvonen endured the worst of the conditions. The 29-year-old Finn, winner of the opening round in Sweden last month, ended the leg in sixth, one place behind Latvala. Better start positions yesterday offered the opportunity to climb the order and Hirvonen and Latvala were second and third fastest respectively in the leg. However, they did not regain as much time as was hoped and moved to fourth and fifth.

Today's final leg was short and consolidating their positions was the sole target for the Finnish pairings. Latvala deliberately slowed on the final countryside special stage to allow team leader Hirvonen, making his 100th WRC start, to move ahead and take extra points to aid his challenge for the drivers' title. They ended 27.6sec apart after 21 tests covering 347.55km.

"It was a difficult weekend and after winning in Sweden I hoped for a better result here," admitted Hirvonen. "I'm happy that we scored good points for the team, but I made too many mistakes with my driving. I never really found a good rhythm and I felt I couldn't push as hard as I wanted to. When I tried, the car ended up sliding wide and I dropped even more time. I tried lots of different things but I never really found the answer.

"I never had the pace to fight for the win, so taking all that into account, I have to be happy with a solid finish. It's important to keep the points ticking over so early in the season and that's what we ended up doing here," he added.

Latvala said he was disappointed not to challenge for a podium, but happy with the eventual outcome. "It's a second good finish for me this season, without mistakes, and that boosts my confidence for the next rally. My speed improved as the weekend went on. My car set-up was too soft initially but when we realised that, it was too late to retain the time we had lost. It was unfortunate we started the weekend with a soft set up after a wet pre-event test.

"I slowed about 500m before the end of the last proper stage to let Mikko move ahead of me. I'm the second driver and that's my job. It made no difference to the team's points tally and I was happy to help him," added Latvala.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson said it had been 'one of the most difficult rallies for some time'. "We lost too much time on the first day but we don't know why. We need to find the reasons, and we will, but at the moment it's a bit confusing. There's a lot of work to do but we'll dig deep and come back fighting. Mikko couldn't find his confidence on the opening day when he was first on the road. Jari-Matti did a great job for the team, helping Mikko and finishing ahead of our rivals' second cars. That's exactly what we asked of him at the start of the season," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "We came to Mexico as championship leader and we go home still at the top of the standings. It was a tough weekend for us and the results weren't as good as we had hoped. But sometimes you have to scrap hard to earn a result and that's what we did here. To take away good points after a less than perfect weekend is a sign of our determination."

News from other Ford teams:

Stobart M-Sport Ford drivers Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor finished sixth in a Focus RS World Rally Car with team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin in 16th. Wilson restarted under SupeRally rules this morning after retiring yesterday when his car became stuck on rocks. Munchi's Ford duo Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc were seventh while Monster World Rally Team drivers Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino were 18th. Block also restarted under SupeRally rules today after sliding into a ditch and breaking the suspension of his Focus RS WRC yesterday.

Next round:

Round three of the series takes the BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad to the Middle East for the Jordan Rally. It is based on the shores of the Dead Sea, near the capital city of Amman, on 31 March - 3 April.

PRESS RELEASE: 26 February 2010

Hirvonen's centenary adds spice to Mexican independence fiesta

Two hundred years after Mexico's native Indians began their bloody fight for independence against Spanish rule in Guanajuato, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team next week takes up the call to arms in the mountains near the city for a battle of a different kind. The team journeys to North America for Rally Mexico (4 - 7 March), the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, intent on extending its lead in both the manufacturers' and drivers' standings.

Victory for Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and third for team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in Sweden earlier this month means the team heads both championships with the Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Hirvonen's win moved Ford level at the top of the WRC's all-time standings with 74 victories and the 29-year-old Finn celebrates an anniversary of his own in Mexico – his 100th WRC start.

The rally, which returns to the series after a year's absence, is a key part of Guanajuato state's bicentennial celebrations. It is based in the large city of León in the centre of the country, 400km north-west of Mexico City. The compact route comprises speed tests in the mountains to the north and east and most climb above 2000m on hillsides awash with cacti and water crossings, making this the highest round of the season. The altitude takes its toll on cars as the thinner air means engines 'run out of breath' and can lose up to 30 percent of their usual power.

The road surface is essentially hard-packed gravel, although some parts are sandier and can become rough during the second pass. Most special stages are fast and flowing, although there are slower, more technically demanding sections as well. There are also tests at two short spectator-friendly venues, one in León city itself, immediately next to the single service park at the Poliforum.

Hirvonen has four Mexico starts to his name, third in 2007 being his best result. The 29-year-old Finn will be first in the start order during the opening leg following his Swedish success, but is happy to carry the role of creating a clear driving line for his rivals on the gravel tracks.

"Leading the championship can have its disadvantages, and I now run first on the road for the opening gravel rally of the season. My rivals have better road positions than me so it will be difficult, but I'll still try to find a way to challenge for the win. I'm not underestimating the difficulties, but I wouldn't swap my win in Sweden for a better start seeding," he said.

"Sweden was the perfect start to the championship for both me and the team. It's important that we build on that in Mexico and continue to take the brave decisions that paid off in the opening round. The first gravel rally of the season is always an interesting one because, with the majority of the championship on that surface, it gives pointers as to how the season may play out," added Hirvonen, who flies to León today (Friday) to acclimatise to the high altitude and the eight-hour time difference between his home country and Mexico.

This will be the fourth Rally Mexico start for Latvala, who finished third in 2008, and a podium in Sweden has left the 24-year-old feeling calm about the challenge ahead. "I've not enjoyed as good a start to a season for five years and it's a completely different sensation to go to Mexico feeling relaxed and under less pressure," he said.

"I tested for two days in Spain this week but the weather was more suited to Rally GB than a hot event like Rally Mexico. It rained so the roads were muddy and the morning temperature was -2ºC. At least I managed to find a good feeling with gravel tyres again and I tried a few small changes with the car.

"Mexico's high altitude affects the engine's performance and because there is less power, the car takes longer to reach top speed. It's important to keep the correct line through corners, particularly in uphill sections, because a mistake costs more time than usual while the engine regains its power. The roads are generally wide and fast but there are twisty sections during Saturday's stages. They're not rough, but there are many small river crossings where the water runs down from the mountains that have a concrete base. When you hit them at speed they can damage the car," added Latvala.

Team News

* Tyre partner Pirelli will provide BP Ford Abu Dhabi with one regulation tyre pattern. The Scorpion gravel tyre will be available in hard compound only. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber and each car can carry two spare wheels.

* The team completed a five-day pre-event test in northern Spain yesterday to prepare for Rally Mexico. Latvala completed the opening two days before handing over to Hirvonen, who drove for two days on gravel before ending the test with a day's asphalt work.

* Ford is again the most popular manufacturer in the entry with nine of the 35 entry cars carrying the Blue Oval. Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor and Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin are nominated by the Stobart M-Sport Ford team in Focus RS WRCs while Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc will make their season debut for the Munchi's Ford squad in a similar car. Also debuting is the all-new Monster World Rally Team, for whom Ken Block / Alex Gelsomino will drive a Focus RS WRC. Three Fiesta S2000 crews will start in the second round of the S-WRC support series.

Rally Route

Organisers have stayed faithful to their tried and tested format with few changes from Mexico's last WRC appearance. The major difference is the introduction of a short street stage in the middle of the opening two legs just behind the service park at León's Poliforum. Otherwise, just one Sunday morning test offers new roads. It is a highly compact rally, covering just 884.58km with 40 per cent of that being competitive, and the opening day's Ortega test climbs to a breathtaking 2737m – the high point of the season. The rally begins on Thursday evening with a colourful ceremonial start in Guanajuato, where more than 60,000 people are expected to pack the streets. The town is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, famed for rich veins of silver and gold discovered centuries ago and extensive underground tunnels. All the action takes place north and east of León and the opening two legs end with two passes over a super special stage at the city's race circuit. The track hosts a double run on Sunday to close the rally. Drivers tackle 22 stages covering 354.60km.

PRESS RELEASE: 14 February 2010

Hirvonen begins WRC season with victory for Ford in Sweden

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen started the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship in style with victory in Rally Sweden today. The Finns won the opening round by 42.3sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after three days' competition in the ice-bound Scandinavian forests. The win moved Ford level at the top of the all-time standings with 74 WRC victories.

Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished third in a similar Focus RS WRC, 1min 15.4sec behind their fellow Finns. The double podium gives the BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad a 10-point lead at the top of the manufacturers' standings after the first of 13 rounds.

Rally Sweden is the only true winter rally in the series. Drivers tackled 21 speed tests covering 345.15km in the Värmland region of central Sweden. Temperatures plunged to -22ºC, but clear blue skies provided picture postcard scenery in the wintry forests. Snow covered the tracks in the barren Scandinavian countryside, but beneath lay a softer than expected ice base. Exposed gravel poked through during the second pass over the roads and posed tough challenges for drivers, as they struggled to prevent stones ripping the tungsten-tipped studs from their tyres to leave little grip.

Hirvonen's tyre management played a crucial part in his victory. After making minor set-up changes to his Focus RS WRC, the 29-year-old ended Friday's first leg with a 6.2sec lead. He stretched that to 16.6sec yesterday when his decision to fit new Pirelli Sottozero rubber to the front of his car in the middle of the afternoon enabled him to blitz closest rival Sébastien Loeb by 16sec in two stages. He measured his pace through today's final leg to secure his 12th WRC win.

"After losing the title last year by a point I knew I had to win more, rather than settle for consistent points finishes, so this is the ideal start," said Hirvonen. "It was a big win for us and I want many more this season. It's the first time I've won the opening round of the year. I tried to be more aggressive from the start in all aspects of my performance. It was a brave decision yesterday to change the tyres when I did but it paid off and those kind of decisions make the difference between winning and losing.

"It was such a hard rally for the tyres on the exposed gravel and you can't imagine how nervous I was driving the final stage. I have a year's more experience of a title battle than this time last year and I think that showed here. I need to continue in the same way for the rest of the season," he added.

Latvala, handed the role of supporting Hirvonen, did his job to perfection. The 24-year-old settled into fourth on the opening day but was frustrated at being unable to find the speed of which he knew he was capable. He made minor set-up changes yesterday and pressured third-placed Dani Sordo into two mistakes to climb into a podium position. Latvala took no risks today and, with the pressure removed, he relaxed into his driving and was fastest over the final two tests to take his tally to five stage wins.

"This result is a great boost to my confidence," he said. "I did what I was asked by keeping my consistency and it's a great start for the team. It wasn't an easy rally because I struggled for speed on Friday. I was frustrated because I was thinking too much about driving carefully but I got over that yesterday, started to relax and my times improved."

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr finished 13th in the team's other Focus RS WRC. "I wanted to learn over the course of this rally, and I feel I have achieved this. I had little experience in these conditions, but as the rally progressed I have grown in confidence. There were some surprises on the stages, some tight corners and good action, but I enjoyed it," said Al Qassimi.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson hailed Hirvonen's victory. "His drive on the second leg yesterday was by far his best performance in the way he managed both the day and, particularly, his tyres. He is putting his experience to good use. He has progressed steadily over the years to the point that he is now beating the world's best driver. Jari-Matti played the perfect support role to Mikko and I could not have imagined a better start to the season," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "It was important to get out of the starting blocks quickly this year and that's exactly what we achieved with a thoroughly professional performance from the whole team in the most arduous working conditions. We lead both championships and this victory puts Ford within one win of becoming the sport's most successful manufacturer."

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford's Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor finished sixth in a Focus RS WRC, one place ahead of team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin. Returning double world champion Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen were 21st after a troubled rally, but nevertheless claimed manufacturers' championship points for the team.

Next round

The championship switches to gravel next month for the first of four rounds outside Europe. Rally Mexico is based in León on 4 - 7 March.