Ford Focus (ex-McRae)

Lot 249 - 2002 Ford Focus WRC (Ex-Colin McRae)

COYS AUCTION : Autosport
Saturday 15th January 2011, 19:00

Europe's most important International Motor Sport Exhibition held over five days, this show is a must for anyone involved in Motor Sport, either as a professional or an enthusiast. Coys will hold their annual major sale of Sport, Sports Racing and GP motor cars at this event.

VIEWING:
Thursday 13th January from 1pm until 7pm
Friday 14th January from 10am until 7pm
Saturday 15th January from 10am until 6pm

LOCATION:
The NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT

Estimate: Refer Department
Registration Number: Y129 XEV
Chassis Number: WFOBXXB2AB1229419

At the start of the 21st century the Ford Focus WRC became the company's latest weapon in the World Rally Championship. For years Ford's upper management and marketing was not very keen to invest in rallying. The company's previous contender, the Escort RS Cosworth and its subsequent Escort WRC, was pushed to the outer limits of evolution and development for almost five years, a very long time by WRC standards. Escorts had been Ford's rally contenders for more than 25 years and brought to light many famous drivers such as Stig Blomquist, Ari Vatanen or Juha Kankkunen.

The Escort's racing results, although not shameful, were not in par with other manufacturer's entries. Additionally drivers were coming and going to Malcolm Wilson's team. It was more than time to introduce a new car. Malcolm got the go ahead from Ford management in early 1998, not leaving him too much time to develop the Focus WRC.

The project, codenamed C170, was led with the outmost secrecy. The Wilson team led its first tests in General Motors' testing facilities in the UK, due to the fact that the location was very well protected against spies. The base car (the road version of the Focus) was engineered with rallying in mind. Ford's engineers produced a very rigid body shell (present in all street versions of the Focus), making the car 10% stiffer than that of the cooking Escort RS Cosworth.

Ford took profit of the fact they were designing a brand new car and started from a clean sheet. The engine was a new turbocharged version of the Ford Zetec E 16V engine, and the transmission and drive train were completely different compared to those of the previous car. The Focus followed the current trend in World Rallying, that being 'smaller the better', and was a very compact car with greatly reduced overhang, making it very stable and nimble at speed.

As a Ford works driver Colin McRae won the hearts of rally fans with his attacking driving style and won 25 world championship events in his career. In 1995 Colin McRae became Britain’s first World Rally Champion and the youngest driver to win the series. He was a true rally legend and in 2009 was voted as the all-time greatest motorsport hero by readers of weekly newspaper Motorsport News, topping the poll ahead of Formula One aces Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark.

This car was driven by Colin McRae and Nicky Grist on the 2001 Rally De France (Tour de Corse) finishing 11th overall, in the 2002 Swedish Rally (finishing 6th overall) and the memorable 2002 Cyprus Rally where he led until five stages from the end, then overturned twice, but still finished in 6th place.

The car was later owned by Jon Ingram who sold the car to the current owner. The car has been prepared by BTR Preparations for the past few years and kept strictly to WRC specification. In recent years the car has been used in rounds of the British National Rally Championship, and prepared in advance of each event. The current specification includes:

Ford Motorsport engine delivering 300bhp+
X-Trac transmission and driveshafts
Reiger suspension
Carbon clutch
Reiger suspension
3 x 9 inch LDS diffs with magnesium housing

This Focus WRC will be presented in the Martini livery it wore in the 2002 Cyprus Rally, is to as close to original spec as possible, and presents rally fans a once in a lifetime opportunity that really cannot be missed.

For further information or to arrange a viewing, please contact our sales department.