CAR

PIRTEK RALLY TEAM FORD FIESTA - NOT YOUR USUAL SMALL CAR

To be successful in top-flight rallying you must have a car that's tough and fast. The Ford Fiesta is probably not the first car that springs to mind, but this "pocket rocket" has what it takes to beat the very best on forest tracks across Australia and around the world.

Rallying has had many eras that have defined the sport. In the 1960s it was the mighty Morris Mini, the '70s was the Ford Escort, the '80s was the advent of all-wheel-drive with the likes of Audi leading the way, and the '90s was all Mitsubishi Lancer Evos and Subaru WRX. Now as we approach the end of the first decade of the new millennium there is a new term - Super 2000.

Under the previous regulations you had to have a road-going version of an all-wheel-drive road car to truly be successful in competitions such as the NEC Australian Rally Championship. What this meant was a two-horse race between Mitsubishi and Subaru. So what if either or both of these manufacturers changed their minds about building such models? It would leave the rallying world high and dry.

To get ahead of this, the governing body of world motor sports - the FIA (Federation International Automobile) introduced Super 2000 in mid 2006. Put simply under Super 2000 regulations you can take a standard car, add a two-litre non-turbo engine and a dedicated all-wheel-drive transmission. The result is the return of excitement to the forest.

It must be noted that the Super 2000 category is not designed to compete head to head against the Turbo charged World Rally Cars as seen on the World Rally Championship. Although the Super 2000 class is able to compete on World Rally Championship events these vehicles are primarily targeted at regional and domestic series' where cost control is critical to growing the sport. The ingredients of the Super 2000 category mean that the excitement is heightened while making the cars truly competitive against the current crop of Production-based 'Group N' rally cars.

Controlling the costs is a key area. In fact the rules currently permit just one supplier of the transmissions, Sadev from France. This is one of a number of examples where development costs are controlled and thus making the sport affordable. This is turn will generate widespread interest in the sport and encourage competitors to look at Super 2000 as the most viable way to be competitive.

For Australian and other competition in the southern hemisphere, it was decided that an independent Ford operation could start a Super 2000 operation. After running its own team in 2006, Ford Australia decided to outsource the Australian rally program. Britek Motorsport which runs in the V8 Supercar Championship Series decided to take up the challenge of running the Pirtek Rally Team. Not just a one-car team, rather two entries for Michael Guest / Mark Stacey and Darren Windus / Jon Mortimer.

That challenge was to totally build a Super 2000 campaign from the ground up. With the rules designed around high-volume selling small cars, what was the best Ford option? The basis of any car must be the right fit, no matter what the size. After detailed consideration and evaluation, the Fiesta quickly became the obvious choice. Not only was it small and nimble, but the car itself was very strong. Much like the Mini in the 1960s and the Escort in the '70s - the Fiesta is the right car at the right time.

The Fiesta had already been campaigned over the last four years in Europe as a 1.6-litre front-wheel-drive rally car in a category called Super 1600. Therefore the Pirtek Rally Team had a great base to work from. A Super 1600 Fiesta rally car was sourced from Astra Motorsport in Italy and on 1st of December (2006) that car arrived at the Pirtek Rally Team headquarters in Melbourne.

Then in an incredibly 18 weeks that car, along with a second shell that arrived in late January, were totally transformed into Super 2000 Fiestas. Motor racing breeds very special people, this project brought out the best in everyone involved. This included well over a hundred suppliers in Australia and throughout the world.

The world competition debut of the Super 2000 Ford Fiesta in the hands of the Pirtek Rally Team took place on Saturday 31 March on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. In fact both cars only turned a wheel for the very first time on Thursday 29 April! That first round brought a fifth place outright in the second leg for Darren Windus. An amazing effort for the team after less than 70-kilometres of running!

The return of non-turbo rallying means the return of the great sound of motor sorts to the forest. The Fiesta revs to a whopping 8500RPM.

What this did show is that Super 2000 and certainly the Pirtek Rally Team and its Ford Fiesta has a very bright future. That future is not just on Australia gravel but also rally roads across the world. It's a car that's not to be missed.

FORD FIESTA SUPER 2000 / FORD FIESTA ZETEC (STANDARD ROAD VERSION)

Technical Specifications