Around the Block
Ford Performance gives us a look at the development of its WRC Focus RS
By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Ford Motor Company
Recently we shared with you the reveal of the livery for the Hoonigan Racing Division World Rallycross Championship machines piloted by Ken Block and Andreas Bakkerud. A racing variant of Ford’s latest hot hatch, the Focus RS RX was developed with the drivers and Ford Performance engineers working hand-in-hand.
Now Ford Performance is giving us a behind-the-scenes look at that development via a new four-part video documentary series, dubbed Project RX. This series will follow the collaboration of Ford Performance engineers, UK speed specialists M-sport and the Hoonigans as they use production-style engineering to develop these cars.
“Rallycross is a sport that requires the best… it requires you to perform at levels that are world class,” Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Performance, said. “We’re going to use this to prove our technologies and capabilities. The partnership [with M-Sport] is unlike anything we’ve done in the past, and this car is going to be the best.”
Each episode will focus (no pun intended) on a different aspect of the development via interviews with the engineers and drivers.
“We’ve been doing a bit of to and fro with the design studio,” Nolan Halliday, Aerodynamics Engineer, Ford Performance, said. “At the end of the day, even the guys in the studio admit that this car is out to win races. It has to look good, but it has to perform.”
The trailer hit the web yesterday, so in case you missed it, this previews the full four-episode mini documentary…
[video=youtube;9MPjFuU-Q8c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MPjFuU-Q8c[/video]
Check out the first of four episodes of this behind-the-scenes look right here…
[video=youtube;KG6E24ixFEY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= KG6E24ixFEY[/video]
“This project has been probably the most dynamic involvement of my team in a car like this,” Ken Block, Ford Focus RS RX Race Driver, Hoonigan Racing Division, said. “Trying to race at the highest level of the sport and doing it with factory help and with a race shop like M-Sport has been incredible.”
We can’t wait to see more of this series, but you won’t have to wait long to see the two-car team in action, as the Focus RS RX will return to WRC battle on May 6-8 in Hockenheim, Germany. For the full schedule, you can visit the official site here.
Today Ford Performance released the first in a four-part video series offering a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the Focus RS RX for World Rallycross Championship competition.
This video series will cover the collaboration of engineers from Ford Performance and M-Sport, as well as feedback from the drivers, Ken Block and Andreas Bakkerud.
