Inside Rally

Launched in the midst of 2013, the Ford Fiesta R5 has received global recognition and has fast become one of M-Sport’s most successful models. As interest grows, the Cumbrian firm hit a significant milestone this week as the team completed work on the 50th car for delivery.

As the latest concept in M-Sport’s award-winning range of Ford Fiesta rally cars, the Fiesta R5 has become truly global. Eligible for a range of championships at both regional and international level, the diversity of the new Fiesta – teamed with its proven speed and reliability – has attracted interest from around the world.

With close to 70 orders already placed, M-Sport has delivered its latest creation to 21 different countries across mainland Europe, the Middle East, the Baltic States, South America and on home soil in the United Kingdom. The Cumbrian firm has also received seven orders for the upgraded Ford Fiesta R5+ package which incorporates a modified turbo, air-intake system and 34mm restrictor to provide the engine with an added 30hp.

Success was swift and the new Fiesta followed in the footsteps of its predecessors by claiming victory on its debut outing – Jari Ketomaa securing a dominant WRC 2 win at last year’s Rally Finland. The first outright victory was soon to follow, Oleksandr Saliuk powering to first place at the Aleksandrov Rally in his native Ukraine.

Since then, the Fiesta R5 has gone on to claim 27 class wins, ten outright victories and is currently leading the WRC 2 standings as well as a number of regional championships including Estonia, Kuwait and Norway.

The next international outing for M-Sport’s Fiesta R5 will be the Vodafone Rally de Portugal in which no fewer than 14 cars will line up for the start in Estoril.

M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“The [Ford] Fiesta R5 has been one of our most successful models and has helped us continue at the sport’s highest level. To see the new Fiesta performing at such a high level – with international recognition – is extremely satisfying.

“It’s a credit to the efforts of every single member of the M-Sport team and the endless support we have received from all of our customers. Their confidence in our ability to produce a highly competitive product is what drives our success.”

KEY FACTS

Outright victories: 10
Class victories: 27
WRC 2 victories: 4
Currently leading: 4 championships
WRC 2 stage wins: 92
WRC 2 podium clean-sweeps: 2
Orders: 67 and counting…
Number of countries delivered to: 21
Number of shells completed: 50
Number of man hours to build one Ford Fiesta R5: 400
Average overtime per week: 20 hours
Number of testing kilometres: 5,431
Number of days as the only R5 on the market: 234
Number of development drivers: 2
Number of designers: 10
Number of weeks in development: 36
Number of R5+ orders: 7

Thierry Neuville and Hyundai Shell World Rally team looked set to claim their first ever podium after just 2 disastrous events for the new team. However, on the way back to the service park after the final stage of the rally. Neuville’s i20 broke down on the road section.

The car was overheating. It had a damaged radiator and was loosing coolant. There was no water or rivers around to top it up, and no outside assistance allowed to help them fix it. It seemed then that after one of the roughest rallies which Neuville fought through to get that well deserved 3rd place for his new team would end in heartbreak.

The final stage that they completed was the rallies power stage. At the very end of the rally stage the events sponsors handed out their products to the top three drivers. Partly for advertising of course, but also as a reward for their results on a very tough Rally Mexico.

Luckily for Neuville & Co, the Sponsor for rally Mexico were Beer company Corona. After some ‘out of the box’ thinking, Neuville & his co-driver got the bottle of beer they were given by the sponsors, and poured it into the radiator of the Hyundai, using it as coolant in hope that it would be enough to get the car back to service which was over 40km away.

Sure enough, it worked. And despite having to stop when it began over heating again and having to feed the Hyundai more beer, they made it to the end. I’ve always said a Rally isn’t over till its over. But Hyundai and the team were certainly glad when this rally was over. The crowds of media gathered around, waiting for his return. There was a lot of tension during that final road section. But thanks to corona, rally Mexico’s sponsors, Hyundai achieved a great result.

Neuville may not drink and drive, but his i20 certainly did. Alcohol really can be the solution to some of life’s problems. Think we all know what Hyundai will be drinking tonight at the after party.

Photo below taken by the legendary Colin Clark of the bottle of beer that saved the day

It was a job well done for the M-Sport World Rally Team today as Elfyn Evans secured a career-best fourth place at Rally Mexico. Mikko Hirvonen also fought back to eighth place – demonstrating his potential to challenge for the top positions through the loose-surface terrain.

Following an inspired drive on his first venture to the Mexican event, Evans was one of the success stories of the weekend. Having been in the fight for the podium positions, the youngster showed real maturity with flashes of speed on what is only his fourth event behind the wheel of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

With his mind firmly fixed on developing his skills as a world-class driver, the Welshman refused to be drawn into any unnecessary risks. Despite having the upper-hand over rival Thierry Neuville through the opening speed tests, experience played its card and the rookie opted for the sensible approach – unfazed by the tempting prospect of a maiden FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) podium.

This weekend’s event marks a landmark for both Evans and his co-driver Daniel Barritt – each surpassing their previous ‘bests’ of sixth and fifth respectively. Learning with each new kilometre, the British duo are creating the foundations for what is set to be a very impressive development year.

In the sister M-Sport Fiesta RS WRC, Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen came back strongly following their earlier disappointment. Having been forced to accept Rally 2 regulations with a high temperature reading on the IDU (driver injector unit) through Friday’s second pass of ‘Las Minas’ (SS8), the Finns refused to give up the fight.

Testing a number of set-up configurations for the up-coming loose-surface events, Hirvonen looked at one behind the wheel of his Fiesta. After setting a string of top-three stage times on Saturday’s tricky leg through the Sierra de Lobos mountains, the Finn continued his strong showing today.
Saving his tyres over the opening speed tests, the popular driver went on the attack for the points-paying Power Stage. Despite running first on the road, he set the third fastest time to add an additional point to those secured in his creditable comeback to eighth place overall.

Come the end of an encouraging event, the M-Sport World Rally Team will be full of confidence as the WRC returns to Europe for the gravel tracks of Rally de Portugal in three weeks’ time.

Elfyn Evans (4th) said:

“I certainly didn’t come here expecting to finish fourth – simply to finish would have been an achievement given how little experience we have on these kinds of stages and how many of the top drivers were caught out!

“We put in some strong performances on some individual stages and identified a few areas for improvement as the weekend went on. It’s all part of the learning curve and we’re really looking forward to Portugal.”

Mikko Hirvonen (8th) said:

“It was a real shame that we had the problem on Friday, but that is part of the game sometimes. We would certainly have been fighting for the podium – maybe even the second place as well – but there are still a lot of positives to take from this event.

“I believe we can definitely fight as the season goes on. We were able to try a few things with the car over the last couple of days, and I am feeling really happy with what we have learnt. We have a few ideas on how we can make further improvements and with more testing coming up I think we can develop even more and be a real threat on all of the rallies.”

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It has been a very encouraging weekend for us. Elfyn [Evans] is progressing really well and his fourth place – his best ever finish in the WRC – is thoroughly well deserved. He wasn’t drawn into any unnecessary battles and did exactly what was asked of him – all in all a very mature drive from a driver who has the potential to do extremely well in the future.

“It was also good to see Mikko [Hirvonen] get his spark back. The problem on Friday was a real disappointment for the team, but the way he fought back proves that he has lost none of his ambition or his determination to win. He goes to Portugal with his confidence high and the potential to be a real contender for the top positions.”

WIN NUMBER TWO – IN WRC 2 – FOR PROTASOV

Yuriy Protasov and Pavlo Cherepin secured a second victory in the WRC 2 category today, to take a clear lead in the championship standings.

Matching the speed of their rivals, the Ukrainian pairing – who pilot an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5 – adopted a tactical drive through Mexico’s challenging stages to finish inside the overall top-ten for the second time this season.

With close to a 25 minute lead going into the final day, not even a broken driveshaft – incurred after a heavy landing on SS19 – could halt the youngster on what has been a very mature and impressive drive.

Making it though all 22 stages, the Ukrainian finished 23 minutes ahead of his nearest rival to affect a clean-sweep of WRC 2 victories for M-Sport’s range of Ford Fiesta rally cars so far this season.

Yuriy Protasov (1st in WRC 2 / 10th overall) said:

“We are happier than we could have ever imaged to be at the end of this rally. It was a very good result for us and to have won by such a margin – against so many strong drivers – is a very good feeling.”

M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“With so much drama this weekend, Yuriy [Protasov] didn’t put a foot wrong, and even when he developed a small issue on the final day, he had established such a strong lead that he was able to manage the issue and take the Fiesta home for another thoroughly deserved victory.

“It is very satisfying indeed to see our cars performing so well in the WRC’s premier support series. Thanks to Yuriy’s victory this weekend, a Fiesta has won every single round of the series so far this year and that is a big boost for the teams both on- and off-event who put a vast amount of work into each and every one of our Fiesta models.”

It was a very tough weekend for the WRC crews. Many hit trouble, but one driver who kept his head and his car going was Volkswagens Champ, Sebastien Ogier.

“It was the perfect week, a victory in the rally and the Power Stage,” said Ogier. “I came here very angry after a small mistake in Sweden and that’s the best way to restart my winning ways in the championship. Now we are looking forward to continuing like that.”

It wasn’t just Ogier who was dominant, Volkwagen once again seemed to have raised the bar with their performance by making it another 1-2 victory, with Flying Finn Jari Matti latvala taking 2nd place after Mads Ostberg went out after his ‘viking fix’ repairs to his broken suspension gave out putting an end to his rally.

After a disastrous start to the season in Monte and Sweden for the new-comers Hyundai Shell World Rally Team. They had finally scored some points. Not only that, lead driver Thierry Neuville was in 3rd position after the final stage. However, drama on the way back to final service as the Hyundai’s Radiator was damaged and loosing coolant. There was some very tense moments for the team back at service. As everyone awaited Neuville, he was still road side trying to repair the car. Without any water around him to top up the radiator, they used a genius soloution….. Beer! Thats right , the drivers got their hands on a bottle of corona – Who are sponsors of Rally Mexico – and poured it into the Hyundai’s radiator to act as coolant. Toped up with beer, the car made it home to the safety of service, and ensured Neuville’s 3rd place. Hyundai’s first WRC points and first ever Podium.

Kris meeke had a few struggles on his first try in mexico, broken suspension on friday and then his rally came to an end again on the power stage when he hit a rock and spun off, getting stuck and blocking the stage meant that his rally ended on the back of a tow truck. Robert Kubica also hit trouble. He first crashed on the first corner of friday nights super special. He then crashed out again on saturday due to pace note error. Joining him on the crash list was Andreas Mikkelsen. Also having missing info in his notes. The words ‘Don’t cut’ would have helped him to avoid the crash, as he cut a fast left hander which threw the car up into the air, rolling their day to an end.

Fords Mikko Hirvonen seemed to have found his mojo again on the gravel. Battling for 2nd place with Ostberg in sight until an electrical problem put an end to his brilliant run. Hirvonen said, “We had a techn. failure and had to retire. That’s a shame.. Pace was good, we were in the fight & loving it. But it’s part of the game”

Making a career best finish in his debut season in a World Rally Car was Welshman Elfyn Evans, keeping the car and himself out of trouble to finish in 4th. Picking up a lot of experience. In 5th place is Martin Prokop, also keeping out of trouble. Mexican driver Benito Guerra finishing his home event in 6th place.

A driver who should win an award for perseverance is Chris Atkinson. Despite having problem after problem he made it to the end of the rally in 7th, scoring Hyundai’s first WRC points along with his 3rd placed team mate.