Back at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, Ford pulled off the sheets on the new Fiesta RS WRC rally carr, which will be competing in the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship.
Now that the season opening race is only days away - Rally Sweden on February 10-13 - Ford officially unveiled the car decked in all its racing livery.
Set to be driven by the Abu Dhabi World Rally Team and its driver line-up of Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, and Khalid Al Qassimi, the new Fiesta RS WRC rally car was built by M-Sport and loosely based on the S2000 car that recently took the top step of the podium at the Monte Carlo Rally in 2010.
With a recent triumph under its belt, M-Sport is looking into kicking off the new year on a high note with a lighter yet stronger Fiesta RS WRC that is capable of competing with the big boys of the WRC.
Whether that goal becomes a reality remains to be seen. What we do know is that with the season opening race a few days away, we won’t have to wait too long to find the answer.
Now that Kimi Raikkonen’s rumored return to Formula One in 2011 has gone up in smoke, rally fans of the Iceman can now breathe easy. It looks like your hero is going to stay in the WRC after all.
But as one of the most recognizable faces in the sport, Raikkonen will always be the subject of constant speculation and while the rumor of him returning to the glitzy world of Formula One has been shelved, another rumor is beginning to take shape; only this time, it involves who Raikkonen’s teammate is going to be in 2011.
There has been whispers that the Finnish racer’s name is being mentioned as a potential driver for the Monster Ford World Rally Team where he is going to have no less than Mr. Gymkhana himself, Ken Block, as his teammate.
Take this for what it’s worth because this rumor is trickier to navigate than a field full of land mines. For starters, there’s no telling how much Raikkonen is going to command in the market and given certain financial constraints, accommodating both him and Block on the same team is going to require a lot of ringing cash registers.
Then there’s the issue of endorsements. As we all know, Raikkonen is one of Red Bull’s top endorsers for the brand whereas Block holds the same clout with Monster. Last we checked, those two companies are direct competitors with each other.
So while the Raikkonen-Block tag team looks to be formidable both on the dirt track and up in the WRC suites, there’s a whole lot to be sorted out before it becomes a reality and at this point, we’re not holding our breaths.
In other parts of the world, racing gamers are jumping in delight over the release of the official WRC 2010 racing game. Unfortunately for us here in the States, we’re going to have to wait a little while longer – November 30, according to Amazon – for the game to drop on our shelves. It may sound like an inordinately long time, but given how our patience has been repeatedly tested by the continuous delays of Gran Turismo 5, waiting for another seven weeks doesn’t sound all that bad.
Besides, the wait should be worth it once we get a hold of WRC 2010. The game comes with a number of unique features including 18 different cars, 58 drivers, 13 rally events, 78 race tracks, and around 55 trophies to be won. It sure does appeal to the racing gamers in all of us.
So while we wait for the game to be released on November 30, we can pre-occupy ourselves with this recently-released trailer of the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3-bound video game.
MINI’s entry to the World Rally Championships certainly caught a lot of people by surprise, not because the brand can’t hack it in rally competitions, but because, well, they’re MINI.
It’s hard to take a company seriously, especially one that prides itself on producing some of the weirdest and most eccentric marketing campaigns of any automaker on the planet.
The thing with this WRC entry, however, is that the company is dead serious on it and if you’re one of the cynical types, this video of the company’s Countryman WRC prototype should quell all of your doubts.
The video, which took place at Ponte de Lima in Portugal, shows the WRC Countryman doing some serious rally testing, and with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo-charged engine courtesy of BMW Motorsport, the Countyman WRC prototype is looking mighty impressive in its test run.
We don’t know how that’s going to translate in an actual competitive race, but the car looks to be in good shape, and if they give more time on their testing and development, then MINI could become a player in the WRC when it starts its run in 2012.
Here’s an amazing video featuring some of the WRC’s most dramatic moments, including Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae, Marcus Gronholm, Tommi Makinen and Sebastien Loeb. WRC fans out there, hold your breath; this is a video you should definitely watch!
Whether it be sun or rain, asphalt or sand, the WRC is fun no matter what the weather or terrain brings. Using maximum concentration and perfect cornering are always helpful, but the fact of the matter is, when you drive in the WRC, it’s all about finishing the race. Of course, having the driver and the car finish alive is a preferable scenario.
This video is all about these moments, and words cannot express what this video illustrates, so you suggest you watch it as it will surely be worth your time. By the way, be sure to turn up your volume. The background music is equally amazing! Enjoy the four minutes of World Rally fun!
The Rally Deutschland kicked off today and the Monster World Rally Team got right to work as Ken Block and his co-driver, Alex Gelsomino, started testing the Ford Focus WRC outside of Brauneberg, Germany, a town 45 minutes east of the Rally Deutschland start. This race marks the first time Block will race on tarmac in the World Rally championship.
During all of this testing, the Monster World Rally Team had enough time to stop and interview Ken Block. Here’s what the racer rally had to say...
"With zero tarmac rounds in the Rally America series, Alex and I are at a huge disadvantage here in Germany," says Block. "We have only raced two tarmac events before, and while we did win both of those events, I have no expectations of keeping up with the veteran drivers here."
"Sitting in the car with Jari-Matti made me well aware of how much I still have to learn about tarmac driving." says Block. "It’s going to be a challenge, but a good one. This test was one of the best days I have ever had in rally car. I am really looking forward to improving my skills on sealed surfaces as I put down more and more stage miles on tarmac not just here in Germany, but over our next two rallies as well."
Check out what else Block had to say by checking out the video!
Reports are coming out that the reinvigorated Swedish brand, Saab, is also set to make its return to the most prestigious rally racing series in the world, which, if everything pushes through, could happen in the 2012 season.
Saab has been absent from the rally scene since 1979 and the brand’s return to the WRC could be in-line to the recent revival the automaker is enjoying under its new ownership.
Details are still sketchy at best, but there appears to be mutual interest from both Spyker - that’s Saab’s new owner, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months – and officials from the WRC for Saab to make its rally comeback. Given the brand’s rich history in rally racing, we’re going to be surprised if their return to the WRC doesn’t happen.
In the event that Saab does come back to rallying, it is expected that the brand will be fielding a modified 1.6-liter turbocharged Saab 9-2, which, interestingly, will also be the same platform that the MINI Countryman will be using when it makes its own return to the world of rally racing.
Mini is an interesting little car brand. The car is fantastic, but the following the vehicle has is far more impressive than the vehicle itself. Owners of Minis practically have their own club even traveling the length of the U.S. together for charity. Mini owners are proud of their bitesize vehicles and now they can add another tally to the Mini side.
The 2011 World Rally Championship will receive another participant this year and for many years to come as the Mini Countryman WRC takes its place among the other racers. Mini will not participate in all of the races in 2011, but come 2012, they will take in every race offered by the WRC.
Having been worked on since early 2009 by ProDrive, the Countryman WRC complies with the FIA’s Super2000 regulations and will feature a 1.6L four cylinder turbo charged engine from BMW Motorsport. Its first test will occur in Fall 2010.
So what if Porsche beat them in their own competition; MINI’s not exactly the type of brand that just lays down to anybody. Now, they’re looking at embarking on their next challenge, and this one’s an absolute doozy.
According to a report by Autosport, MINI, together with Prodrive, will be announcing a World Rally Championship program. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to translate that: MINI is headed to the WRC!
Details are limited and still pending an announcement, which is expected to be done this week, but word from Autosport has it that MINI’s first WRC offering will be based on the new Countryman and has already been in the pipeline for quite some time now at Prodrive’s Banbury headquarters. The MINI WRC Countryman will also undergo its first testing pretty soon and, according to David Lapworth, Prodrive’s technical director, “When we start testing on our rally car development program, it will be intensive. We still have a good timescale to work towards for testing and we’re happy with where we’re at.”
MINI’s WRC debut will most likely happen at the middle of the 2011 season where it is expected to miss the fist four races and will be launched sometime in May, possibly ahead of the Rally Italy.
Kimi Raikkonen and Ken Block may be rookies in the world of the WRC, but they certainly brought their reputations as two of the best race car drivers in the world when they made the jump to the World Rally Championship.
Block, a former Rally America Rookie of the Year and Raikkonen, a former Formula One champion, took part in a Super Special Stage during the kick-off event leading up to the 2010 WRC Rally Portugal. As part of the event, both Block and Raikkonen competed against each other on-board Block’s Ford Fiesta and Raikkonen’s Citroen C4.
While it was nothing more than an exhibition for the fans, the race had some ramifications for both Block and Raikkonen after the two agreed to a 100 euro bet. Needless to say, that was all it took for both drivers to push their rally chariots to the limit and, after a race that featured a steady diet of lead changes, it all came down to an exciting photo finish with both drivers posting the same exact time of 2:11.00!
Check out the video after the jump for the dramatic race.
