Ford Confirm Two More Years

Ford announced on the eve of Neste Oil Rally Finland that the company will continue an official presence in the FIA’s world rally championship for two more years, with support from their “senior partners” BP and Abu Dhabi. Drivers will continue to be Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala and cars will again be prepared by M-Sport. In 2010 they will continue to run the current model Focus RS WRC and in 2011 the new Fiesta Super 2000. This encouraging news came on the same day that BMW announced its impending withdrawal from Formula 1. Gerard Quinn, Ford’s Senior Manager Motorsport said: “We think that this decision will be pivotal for the future of the sport and we hope our decision will encourage other manufacturers to make similar decisions.” M-Sport’s Team Director Malcolm Wilson said “We think this will give a clear message that we believe the WRC has a strong future.” Citroen Racing personnel have already stated they want to continue their presence in the WRC, but only if they are not alone.

Now Citroen Confirm as Well

Immediately following Ford announced their plans to continue participation in the World Rally Championship, Citroen did likewise - also covering the years 2010 and 2011. No announcements were made concerning sponsors, but Citroen Racing director, Olivier Quesnel, said the WRC on account of having costs contained “Is an excellent promotional vehicle. It is important to keep expressing ourselves through motorsport. We are currently working with our existing driver line-up. I am confident that Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo will be continuing their adventures with Citroen Racing in the future.” Only limited news about the development of the company’s new World Rally Car design is available, on account of the fact that the car will be based on the new production C3 model which has not yet been publicly launched. It is assumed that the Wold Rally Car, like that from Ford, will be powered by a normally-aspirated two-litre engine, to ease complications of developing not only a new car but also a second type of engine at the same time.

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