The Focus RS WRC was developed to replace the Ford Escort WRC. The RS designation stands for Rallye Sport; WRC denotes the FIA World Rally Car specification. Like all World Rally Cars of the period, the car is extensively modified from the production version, sharing only the basic body shape and some shell components. It features permanent four-wheel drive in contrast to the road car's front-wheel drive layout.
The 2009-specification car used a Ford 1998cc Pipo-built four-cylinder Duratec WRC engine with a Garrett turbocharger (with a mandatory 34 mm inlet restrictor), Pi electronic engine management, an air intercooler, and a catalytic converter. Transmission was handled by an M-Sport-designed active centre differential with Pi electronic differential control units, an M-Sport/Ricardo five-speed sequential gearbox with electro-hydraulic shift, and an M-Sport/Sachs multi-disc carbon clutch.
The Focus RS WRC debuted at the 1999 Monte Carlo Rally with Colin McRae and Simon Jean-Joseph at the wheel. Despite setting many fastest stage times, both cars were excluded after scrutineering found an illegal water pump. McRae gave the car its first victory two events later at the 1999 Safari Rally, finishing over fifteen minutes ahead of the second-placed Toyota of Didier Auriol.
Through the early 2000s McRae and Carlos Sainz accumulated wins for Ford, but the team came close to the manufacturers' title without clinching it. McRae lost the 2001 drivers' championship by just two points after crashing out of the final round.
In 2003 Ford introduced a redesigned car, the Focus RS WRC 03, featuring a lighter shell and a new aerodynamic front bumper. Estonian driver Markko Märtin drove it to two victories that season and took three further wins with the evolved 2004 car.
The 2005 season was winless, prompting Ford to launch an entirely new car for 2006 — the Focus RS WRC 06 — powered by a Duratec engine developed by French engine specialist Pipo Moteur. In the hands of Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen, the car won eight rallies in 2006 and delivered Ford its first manufacturers' championship since 1979. The 2007 car defended that title, with Grönholm and Hirvonen winning across multiple events. The WRC 07 debuted with a 1-2 finish for Grönholm and Hirvonen at the 2007 Rally Finland.
In 2008 the Focus RS WRC 08 made history at the Swedish Rally when Jari-Matti Latvala used it to become the youngest-ever driver to win a world rally event. The 2009 variant debuted with a 1-2 finish at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna. In 2010, Latvala won the Rally Finland with the Focus WRC 09, which proved to be the car's final victory before the model was retired in favour of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Over its twelve-season competition life the Ford Focus RS WRC appeared in 173 World Rally Championship events, recording 44 victories and 142 podium finishes. It won two manufacturers' world titles (2006 and 2007) but no drivers' title — the closest approach was McRae's 2001 campaign, lost by a two-point margin. The car won the Autosport Rally Car of the Year award in 2000, 2001, 2006, and 2007.
Key wins across the car's career included:
1999 Safari Rally (McRae/Grist) — first victory for the model
2006 Monte Carlo, Sweden, Acropolis, Finland, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and Wales Rally GB — eight wins securing the manufacturers' title
2007 Sweden, Norway, Sardinia, Acropolis, Finland, New Zealand, Japan, and Wales Rally GB — second consecutive manufacturers' title
2008 Swedish Rally — Latvala becomes the youngest WRC race winner
2010 Rally Finland — final victory for the Focus RS WRC
The car was succeeded by the Ford Fiesta RS WRC from the 2011 season onward.
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