Ford World Rally Team profile

The Castrol-backed BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will be hungrier than ever to reclaim its 2006 and 2007 World Rally Championship manufacturers’ titles in 2010, after finishing a close second in the standings for the last two seasons.

Ford has been synonymous with rallying for 50 years. The Ford Escort made its rally debut in the 1960s, and over the next three decades became a rally icon. In 1979 Ford took its first WRC manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles with Bjorn Waldegard. A second drivers’ title followed in 1981 with Ari Vatanen.

Add to that the fact that the team is the record holder for the most consecutive WRC points finishes and the Castrol-supported Ford squad has rallying pedigree in spades.

New era

The Escort was replaced by the Focus in 1999 with Ford stalwart Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport outfit running the official works team. Former champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz took the new Focus WRC to numerous victories over the next four years, although overall titles remained elusive.

Wilson: "We've got to try and take it that next step this season"

In 2003, the factory Ford team took on a more youthful look on the driving front. Rising stars Markko Martin, Francois Duval and Toni Gardemeister kept the Focus on the top step of the victory podium as a radical reworking of the car by former Subaru designer Christian Loriaux was introduced that year.

119 consecutive points finishes

The new Focus RS WRC quickly proved to be the fastest rally car in the field – and the most reliable. In fact, from the 2002 season-opener in Monte Carlo to the end of 2009, the Focus finished in the points in an amazing 119 consecutive events, smashing all previous records and setting a benchmark that will be hard to match.

Wilson (right) and Hirvonen talk tactics...

Another design hone of the Focus RS WRC for 2006, the arrival of double champion Marcus Grönholm and the return of former rookie driver Mikko Hirvonen proved the perfect combination as seven wins for Grönholm and a first win for Hirvonen helped Ford and M-Sport secure their first manufacturers’ title since 1979. Further improvements and more wins for Grönholm and Hirvonen the following year netted a second consecutive manufacturers' crown.

With rising star Jari-Matti Latvala having joined Hirvonen for 2008, the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team once again had a blend of youth and experience. It was a combination that worked well notching up four wins and second in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.

Running it close

In 2009, Hirvonen finally looked like he would take Ford’s first drivers’ crown since Vatenen in ’81, but missed out by a single point – once again to nemesis Loeb. Nevertheless, Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson is quietly confident for 2010.

"We ran our rivals as close as anybody in 2009 and we've got to try and take it that next step this season," he says. "If Mikko carries on where he left off, I know he'll be even more determined in 2010."