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FORD'S NEW TOY; Focus RS WRC manages a successful maiden voyage.(Motorsports)
Byline: WES RAYNAL
Ford took a big gamble for the 2003 FIA World Rally season. First it dismissed former world champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz-the company felt McRae and Sainz, with contracts in the $5 million-to-$10 million range, were simply becoming too expensive. Comparative rookies Markko Martin and Francois Duval-neither of whom has won a WRC event, let alone a championship-replaced them. On top of that, Ford decided to introduce an all-new car four races into the schedule, at New Zealand on April 11-13.
Why shuffle the deck so much? It's not as if Ford was unsuccessful last year. The company won three rallies (Sainz won in Argentina while McRae won Greece and Kenya), had its two main drivers place third and fourth in the championship, and finished second to Peugeot in the manufacturers' race. Not bad. Plus, the old Focus' reliability record was never in question; it was the only team to score at least one point at every World Rally last year. But like most of the field, the old Focus, even with McRae and Sainz, couldn't keep up with the Peugeots. The Focus was good on the gravel rallies, but Peugeot was the most dominant on snow and tarmac. Prior to the new car's introduction Ford sat third in the championship behind Citroen and Peugeot, with no wins. Thus, the shakeup.
The new Focus was shown to the press in the America's Cup village in Auckland two days before the New Zealand rally. Frenchman Christian Loriaux, who last year moved to Ford from Subaru, designed the car; Loriaux said he is working on an all-new Focus he expects to have done for the 2005 season.
The new Focus is 174.89 inches long, has a 103-inch wheelbase and is 56 inches tall. It weighs 2706 pounds. The dimensions and the weight are about the same as the old car. The FIA, the WRC sanctioning body, limits horsepower to 300, and the Focus' 2.0-liter turbocharged ...
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