Ford has committed itself to a further two years competing in the World Rally Championship for 2012 and 2013.
Driving the M-Sport prepared Fiesta RS rally cars will be lead driver Jari-Matti Lavatala, partnered by Mikka Anttila who topped the world rankings for special stage victories in 2011 and won the final round of the championship in Britain last month.
They will be partnered by former world champion Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson, who have signed a one-year agreement to drive the team’s second Fiesta RS WRC in all 13 rounds. The experienced Solberg won the world title in 2003 and the 37-year-old Norwegian has 13 world rally wins to his name. It will be his second stint with Ford, having launched his world rally career with the team in 1999.
The squad will be named Ford World Rally Team and retains support from long-term partner Castrol for both 2012 and 2013.
Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport managing director and team director, said the new deal was a vote of confidence in his company.
“The performance of the Fiesta RS WRC in 2011 was strong on all surfaces and I’m genuinely excited about what we can achieve in the future,” he said. “We want to challenge for world titles and I have no doubts that our car and driver combination, allied to the infrastructure and expertise of our staff at Dovenby Hall, England, will allow us to do that.”
M-Sport recently completed its ladder of opportunity, adding a first rung to complete a structured path to take young and talented rally drivers from the grass-roots to the top level in Ford Fiestas. From the entry-level MS1 car, drivers can progress via the increasingly more powerful R2, S2000 and Regional Rally Car models to the top-billing World Rally Car.
“Ford has five different Fiesta models in which drivers with potential can graduate from entry level to the WRC. This ladder is the breeding ground of Ford’s future stars, and in the next seasons we will see drivers with ability climb it and begin to emerge at the top,” he added.
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- Unveiled: the 2011 Ford Fiesta WRC Car!
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- 2011 WRC Contenders Revealed
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