After an absence of 25 years, Ford returned to the Australian Rally Championship in 2006 with the Pirtek Rally Team. With the unique rear-wheel-drive Focus, Michael Guest and Mark Stacey took on the challenge of one of the toughest domestic championships in the world of rallying.

With some pleasing performances along the way, it was decided that the Pirtek Rally Team would step-up in 2007 and was placed in the hands of Britek Rallyesport. This same operation had run two seasons in the V8 Supercar Championship Series and for 2007 was welcoming Jason Bright to lead the charge.

The arrival of the Pirtek Rally Team to the Britek stable was paralleled with the introduction of the Super 2000 regulations in rallying around the world. For the Pirtek Rally Team this meant all-wheel-drive capabilities and a new piece of hardware - the Ford Fiesta. The future of rallying, Super 2000 has been embraced by a number of manufacturers around the world and will see the sport's popularity grow. Put simply the Pirtek Rally Team Fiesta is a two-litre all-wheel-drive forest rocket!

Rallying is the ultimate test of the car and driver. It's a race against the clock as the car slides on dirt, bites on tarmac, dives through water and jumps in the air! Having the right machinery in this environment is all important and having a crew that is brave is essential.

Important to the Pirtek Rally Team's success would be the addition of a second entry. After placing fifth in the 2006 NEC Australian Rally Championship, Darren Windus and Jon Mortimer were drafted into the team.

The excitement of Ford being in a position to challenge for victory has drawn plenty of attention to the Pirtek Rally Team. This has included the addition of some of the most respected names in the sport from a technical, engineering and marketing side of the operation.

Together this group will take to the forest roads of Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. It's a truly national championship that the Pirtek Rally Team is confident it can make its mark in!