The Ford Focus WRC is a car developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a series of automobile rally races across the world, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. ...

Toni Gardemeister drives the Ford Focus WRC at the 2005 Rally Deutschland

Image File history File links Focus2005. ...

1999

The first]] version of the car was built in 1999 to replace the Ford Escort WRC. It made it's debut in the Monte Carlo Rally with Colin Mcrae and Jean Joseph behind the wheels of the two cars. The car's first championship win was the Rally of Portugal. See also Ford Escort (North American) The Ford Escort is a sub-compact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. ... The Monte Carlo Rally (officially Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo) is an automobile racing event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco who also organize the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco and the Monaco Kart Cup. ... Colin McRae is the second-most successful World Rally Championship driver of all time, having won 25 WRC rallies. ... Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (October 29, 1811 - December 6, 1882), was a French politician and historian. ...

During the season many drivers drove the second Focus of the team - Jean Joseph for some tarmac events, Petter Solberg for dirt and mud events, and Thomas Radstrom and Piero Liatti for the San Remo tarmac roads. Petter Solberg (born November 18, 1974 in Askim), from Spydeberg, Norway, is a professional rally driver. ... Sanremo (official spelling; or San Remo — the second was official but its due to a mistake — nowadays only the form Sanremo is commonly and officially in use) is a town of some 50,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in northwestern Italy. ...

2000

In 2000, Colin Mcrae and Carlos Sainz drove the Focus WRC in all of the events of the season. Carlos Sainz, born 12 April 1962, has been a rally driver since 1980, and competed in the World Rally Championship since 1987. ...

2003

In 2003, Ford released a newly designed Focus WRC for competion during the second part of the season. The car, with most parts redesigned from the ground up, featured a lighter body shell and a new aerodynamically enhanced front bumper and wing.

2004

Ford drivers Markko Martin and Francois Duval drove the two works Fords in 2004. Martin managed to win the French, Spanish and Mexican rallies, giving him third place in the overall championship. Both drivers left at the end of the season to join Peugeot (Martin) and Citroen (Duval)

2005

The 2005 season saw Ford take on two relatively inexperienced drivers; Finn Toni Gardemeister and Czech Roman Kresta. Gardemeister achieved some podiums early on in the season and showed good pace.

Privateers included Dani Sola and ex-works Subaru driver Mikko Hirvonen. On the Spanish round (Catalunya) Hirvonen achieved the first podium of his career in a privately entered M-Sport Focus.

2006

From the start of the 2006 season, Ford will use a brand new Focus WRC. This follows the launch of the new road-going version of the car in 2005. Marcus Gronholm has been confirmed as a Ford driver for 2006.