i got inside info this morning and i'm sure its 100%, but burns replacement is going to be Fords Marko Martin.
news came from a friend who knows Martin Rowe, 2003 gpN world Champ

which i think will be a good team, because of fords 40% cut next year, gutted for ford as they have just sorted they car!

I'll believe it when I hear it officially

chip.

...I'd love to believe it (how exciting would that be?!), but I'm with Chip on this one :)

Well it's certainly not going to be Colin McRae. Check out www.rallyzone.com!

I would say that Marko will be waiting for a decision from Ford first.

It would be a right battle royal between Martin & Solberg in 2004 if this is the case.

well ford might have to cut 40% of their spending, how could they do all 16 round next year with that budget, they would have to miss a few out.
the WRC should stick to 14 rounds and keep the rece cars.

so marko might be wanting to jump a sinking ship!
i like the focus and i'm gutted they are cutting costs! after finally sorting it!
i'll tell them how to cut costs, scrap the JAG F1 team!!!!

Jump a sinking ship for a single year at Subaru ? Sorry, just doesn't make sense to me . . .


regards, RaptorUK

http://www.F1Album.com

I think these rummors can be rubbished! Just been read rallyforum and there is a 7pages on this and M-sport and

from fordrallyesport.com:

Looking ahead to next year?
Markko:
I hope that we can get even better results than we did this year. The championship is the aim and we shouldn?t aim for anything less than that. We have a great car in the Focus at the moment and people really think that we are a very, very strong package at the moment so we need to aim higher and hope we can do it.

this is the end of speculation. Markko has spoken. Ford continues.

However dose M-sport?

this is the end of speculation.
Lol! Were you born yesterday? Of course this isn't the end of the speculation. That doesn't end until Subaru officially announce the name of the driver car number two. Until then practically anything can happen. At this stage it's even concievable that we could see Martin in a Subaru and Colin McRae in a Ford...

Markko has spoken. Ford continues.
However dose M-sport?
Eh? If Ford continue, so will M-Sport, as it's not like anyone else could just dive in and pick up the reins given that the Monte is only two months away.

Not true, how dodnt you know that ford hasnt been building its own WRC 'in house'???? after all its a bit strange how the M-sport WRC is based on the Mk2 body shell, while the Mk3 'c max' is being realesed?

how dodnt you know that ford hasnt been building its own WRC 'in house'????
:rolleyes: Because you don't just wave a magic wand and make a WRC car!

Quite apart from the fact that there's no logic in wasting all the money that's been spent developing the WRC03 and that the very reason they shut down the Boreham operation is because they realised it was better done elsewhere...

For starters they'd need somewhere to do it. They also have to hire a design/build team, and subcontract out for transmission and suspension parts, as well as hire a test team and actually go out and test the car (which would need to be happening now if they were going to be ready for Monte). Stuff like this is impossible to keep secret, and it ain't happening, so no, Ford aren't developing a new WRC car in-house.

after all its a bit strange how the M-sport WRC is based on the Mk2 body shell, while the Mk3 'c max' is being realesed?
Erm, no, that's not even remotely strange. While the C-Max has been released, which uses the new platform, the new Focus itself doesn't come to market until next autumn, and a WRC version couldn't be homologated until the roadcar is in series production, at the very earliest. The new Focus will be used from the beginning of the 2005 season, provided Ford stay in the sport.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 11/23/2003 1:27:47 AM]

As GreaseMonkey points out - that would be daft. It's a bit like Subaru developing a new rally car and not telling Prodrive! The reason these companies are used is because they are specialists. When Jaguar (Ford) went into F1, they didn' start from scratch, they bought Stewart Racing. It makes no sense to do it all yourself.

Perhaps a more telling fact about the future of Ford is that I did read that Ford M-SPort were due to attend a meeting of the World Rally Drivers Council - or something like that. Can't remeber the proper name, but I do know that you can't attend unless you've paid up to enter the Champoinship, so here's hoping that they do.

Chris

The Focus WRC car is based on the american version of the Focus anyway as the wheel base is different to the european version it allowed them to get a lower centre of gravity hence the cars improved performance on tarmac. The C-max is not a MK3 Focus but rather a mini MPV version of the focus in the same category as the Renault Megane Scenic so I hardly think it likely that unless someone at Ford has gone completely mad they would be planning to go rallying with what is essentialy an estate car.
Or maybe they will suprise us all by turning up at the Monte with WRC spec Fiesta vans piloted by Jimmy Mcrae and Russel Brookes.
They might as well do if people believe half the ludicrous nonsense put up here!

Both the US and European Focus have exactly the same drivetrain platform.

The differences are cosmetic and emissions.

Mark

Why would they have used the american car then? Is the body different in such a way as to make acheiving a lower centre of gravity possible?

As has been said the wheelbase is identical on both European and American Focuses. You can't really be blamed for parroting this error though as many "respected" tomes, including Motoring News, have said it.

The US Focus ST is longer, but the extra length is in the bumpers, not the chassis itself. The main reason it was used as the homologation base of the new rallycar is that the increased space inside the longer front bumper enabled the rallycar to adopt a much more optimised radiator/intercooler/airflow arrangement than was previously possible.

While the new rad/IC arrangement is lower than the old one, it's not the main reason the Focus WRC03 has a lower CofG. That is primarily down to Christian Loriaux starting from a clean sheet of paper and optimising every aspect of the car's design (right down to the location of the wiring within the car, and the weight of the driver's display panel) with a low centre of gravity in mind.

BTW, while you're right about the C-Max being a Megane Scenic competitor, it's much more than simply a "mini-MPV version of the Focus". It is the mini-MPV version of the all-new Focus that is coming next October, and uses the new car's platform.

I don't think Zetec14 was suggesting that Ford go rallying with the C-Max, he was wondering why Ford don't go rallying with the new (2005) Focus. The reason for that is simple - the 2005 Focus hasn't been released yet.

Zetec14's comment about the 2005 Focus being a "Mk3" is slightly fallacious though. The current one is the Mk1 facelift, and the new one (of which the C-Max is the first example) is the Mk2.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 11/23/2003 4:25:17 PM]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Shouldn't believe all I read in the press eh!

:) Nope!

MCRAE CAN STILL DO THE SUBARU DRIVE ASWELL AS THE DAKAR FINISHES BEFORE THE 2004 WRC SEASON STARTS!

And doesn't the rear spoiler have to fit in the plan shadow view of the car (sort of like the silhouette but from above rather than from the side). So the bigger American spec bumpers allow the latest rear spoiler to be bigger and stick further out the back into the airstream.

MCRAE CAN STILL DO THE SUBARU DRIVE ASWELL AS THE DAKAR FINISHES BEFORE THE 2004 WRC SEASON STARTS!


how????

monte 23rd - 25th which means shakedown 22nd (recce for a good few days before I guess)

Dakar start 1st Jan runs for 3 weeks finishing 22nd

please explain??????

Yes, not to mention the fact that his Dakar commitment would prevent him doing any meaningful pre-Monte testing.

And doesn't the rear spoiler have to fit in the plan shadow view of the car (sort of like the silhouette but from above rather than from the side). So the bigger American spec bumpers allow the latest rear spoiler to be bigger and stick further out the back into the airstream.
Yep, I always used to think that any aerodynamic parts had to be contained within the car's overall length, thus, as you say, the longer rear bumper would permit a broader rear aerofoil to be run. However. the Impreza WRC2003's rear foil seems to overhang the bumper by a margin, so maybe this area of the aerodynamic design is freer than it used to be. I presume there's still a correlation between the car's overall length and the maximum size of the rear aerofoil though.

Thats going to be a little bit difficult seeing that ford have confirmed that they will be taking part in next years world championship, with Markko and Francios duval.

The rear spoiler has to be within the confines of the rear bumper, the Subaru meets this requirement.

http://www.swrt.com/cpimages/294799.jpg

MCRAE CAN STILL DO TESTING FOR SUBARU NOW IF HE SIGNS, BEFORE THE DAKAR WHICH ENDS ON THE 19TH JAN NOT 22ND, I'M SURE IF HE WANTS THE DRIVE BADLY HE WILL PUSH HIMSELF TO DO BOTH, THATS HOW HE IS.

Ford have just announced that they will be in next season, so Marko has a drive next season.

well my source is bad then. sorry, only trying to give out good info, caused a good discusion though.

Lol! As the old saying goes, it ain't over til the fat lady sings! Wrchjm, is there the slightest chance you could stop SHOUTING? ;)