Category: Ford

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Ford Motor Shows

Detroit 2015: Ford GT

Ford GT

Ford surprised a few by rocking up to Detroit with this very rad looking GT. Awesome, another iconic V8 from the masters of V8 making. This is gonna be good.

Well, you see, here’s the thing, this new bad ass looking GT isn’t actually powered by a V8 at all. Rather its power comes from a nancy boy hippy loving EcoBoost V6. A vee-bloody-six.

I don’t care if they’ve stuck two turbos on the damn thing, or that it produces 600hp+, it’s a GT and it should be powered by a V8 and that’s all there is to it.

Gee, it looks good though, don’t you think?

It’ll be a long burn with production not commencing until late 2016. Deliveries should just sneak out in time to catch the 50th celebrations of the GT40’s epic 1966 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Henry famously triumphed over Enzo by taking all three steps on the podium.

Of course, the original GT40 had a fair dinkum 7.0 litre man’s man V8 so it deserved to win at La Sarthe. This chai latte sipping hipster model is just taking the piss, right?

You reckon it will be any good?

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

Best photos of the 2014 WRC season

2014 WRC Rally Australia

Following on from our Best of 2014 WEC gallery, we’ve trawled through our 2014 WRC image archive and picked out the best 13 pics from the 13 rallies.

And here they are!

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Ford WRC

M-Sport launches 2015 WRC livery

2015 M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC

M-Sport will be tackling the 2015 WRC season with one of the most youngest driver line ups in the field. Elfyn Evans returns to follow his rookie season with M-Sport and will be joined by Estonian Ott Tanak.

Both drivers have shown good pace on the WRC stage, but neither has much experience. Maybe that’s why Malcolm Wilson has decided the 2015 livery should hark back to Hannu Mikkola’s 1979 Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII and the later 1989 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth of Colin McRae.

You’ll get your first chance to the the new-look 2015 Fiesta, along with all the other WRC machines when Rallye Monte Carlo kicks off on 22 January.

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Ford Motorsports

Ford confirms V8 Supercars exit after 2015 season

Ford V8 Supercar

It’s now official: Ford will pull out of V8 Supercars after the completion of the 2015 season. It’s a story that’s been on the boil for months and was today confirmed by Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano.

“This afternoon, we will announce we will provide support to teams racing Ford Falcons in the 2015 V8 Supercars series but will not renew our sponsorships after the 2015 season,” Graziano said.

“We are electing to invest our funds to continue expanding and refreshing our product lineup while delivering a leading consumer experience.

“You will hear much more about this investment at our ‘Go Further 2020: Experience the Future Today’ event beginning next week.

“There has already been a lot of speculation and confusion about what this means for Ford going forward. Let me be clear about a few key points:

  • Performance is part of our DNA, and will continue to be, as we increase our vehicle offerings and enthusiasts look for a wider range of performance models such as cars like Mustang, Fiesta ST and Focus ST.
  • Ford is proud to launch the FG X Falcon, including building on our performance heritage by racing the new model in V8 Supercars in 2015.
  • This decision is not a short-term plan as we transform our business.

“We are proud of the teams and our history in the series but have made this decision so we can move forward by focusing all of our attention on our great products and consumer experience.”

So, there you have it. A series originally designed to be a two-man show at the expense of all others, will soon lose one of its leading men.

[Source: Speedcafe]

UPDATE: Prodrive Racing Australia (aka Ford Performance Racing) is considering its options beyond 2015, saying it’s possible it will run the FG X Falcon in 2016.

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Ford Video WRC

Thank you Mikko

Mikko Hirvonen,

Mikko Hirvonen retired from the WRC after Wales Rally GB. Via his personal YouTube channel he’s released this thank you video, which includes footage from his final rally and a few short interviews with his colleagues and competitors.

One of the nice guys is leaving one of world motorsport’s best most exhilarating categories. Let’s refelect for a moment and say thanks.

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Ford Video

VIDEO: Ken Block ‘Gymkhana Seven’

Ken Block, Gymkhana Seven

Ken Block goes all nuts about in a fully standert 1965 Ford Mustang on the streets of Los Angeles for his latest Gymkhana clip. Actually, on second thoughts, maybe that Mustang has had a few mods. After all, it is all-wheel drive and does have a fearsome 845 horsepower to play with. It even has its own name: The Hoonicorn.

The clip went live a few hours ago and it’s already racked up 2 million views!

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Wales Rally GB in pictures

2014 Wales Rally GB

Will you just look at all that bloody mud! It’s the signature look for the Wales Rally GB and, for once, being first on the road was a nice advantage for rally winner Sebastien Ogier who made the most of the wet conditions before the stages became too rutted and dug up by all the cars.

There’s some great photos below and we trust you will enjoy your last gallery of rally pics for 2014. Until Rallye Monte Carlo… if in doubt, flat out!

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Citroen Ford Volkswagen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins 2014 Wales Rally GB

2014 Wales Rally GB

Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have capped off a stunning WRC season with their eighth victory of the year at the Wales Rally GB. It’s the twelfth win for Volkswagen from the 13 race calendar and a season of success like this has to be savoured, for you can never expect it to be repeated.

“That is obviously the best way to end a season: with a win,” said Ogier after the rally. “We really had to go flat-out on Friday and had a close battle for the lead with my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. That allowed us to open up a big lead over the rest of our rivals.

“When Jari-Matti made a mistake on Saturday, it obviously completely changed the character of the rally for us. I just had to get the car to the finish line. However, that is anything but easy given the typical conditions here in Wales. All in all, it has been another magnificent season for Julien and me, with a fantastic team behind us.”

In perhaps his best achievable result in his final WRC start Mikko Hirvonen ended his career on the podium, a bit over 37 seconds behind Ogier. It was a great way for the popular Finn to say goodbye to his fans.

“I couldn’t really think of a better way to end my career,” Hirvonen said. “We had a great fight all through the weekend and to finish with the second place is absolutely fantastic.

“Today it was a bit emotional for sure. Before this morning I manage to be pretty on it and concentrate on the rally, but today it was a bit more difficult!”

Mads Ostberg finished third, meaning the healthy sight of three different manufacturers on the podium was a pleasing way to end the WRC season, dominated by Volkswagen.

Ostberg’s points proved valuable for Citroën and allowed them to claim second place in the manufacturers’ championship, just two points ahead of M-Sport (Ford).

Given their all-conquering season Volkswagen might have hoped the final event could end like the championship standings, with their drivers filling the first three places. But for some minor errors by Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen that might have been the case too. The Polos certainly had the pace in the muddy conditions, but not the consistency from the men behind the wheel.

Still, 2014 has been a great season for Volkswagen and we hope Citroën, Ford and Hyundai can raise their game in 2015.

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Ford WRC

Mikko Hirvonen says it’s time to slow down

2014 WRC Rally Rally-Spain

Not everyone in the WRC can be a good bloke, but we can’t imagine there’ll be too many people willing to say a bad word about Mikko Hirvonen. And that’s why, at the age of 34, it’s a real shame to see the likeable Finn announce his retirement from top level motorsport. The upcoming Wales Rally GB will be his final WRC event.

Hirvonen and long-time co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen have started 162 rallies together, collected a total of 15 wins, 68 podium finishes and but for an incredible run of championships from Sebastien Loeb could have hoped for more than being four-times runner up in the WRC.

“I have so many incredible memories from the last thirteen seasons,” Hirvonen said. “I have had the chance to achieve my childhood dreams!

“I have travelled all around the world, met some fantastic people and have loved every rally and every fight that I have had with some exceptional drivers. I won some and I lost some but, for sure, I will look back on these moments to the end of my days with a great big smile on my face.”

Co-drivers often get left in the background and Hirvonen’s thoughts on sharing a car with Lehtinen are worth sharing: “‘Privilege’, because it has been a privilege to work with Jarmo. None of this would have happened without him.

“We met for the first time at Helsinki airport in 2001, before flying to Italy where we were meant to be competing in our first rally together. It was the beginning of a great friendship.

“In these thirteen years, full of laughter, adventures, wins, losses and passion, we have experienced everything together. And I know that it’s not over yet! We’ll share many more experiences, because there are still a few great pages to be written in our notebook!”

Whatever the future holds for Mikko and Jarmo we wish the very best of success.

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Spain in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Rally-Spain

Rally Spain is the only mixed surface event on the WRC calendar. The opening day is on gravel, the remaining two days are on tarmac. It’s a huge test for the crews to work on the cars and make significant changes to setups during relatively short service stops. It’s also a big test for the drivers, who switch from cars with massive suspension travel and small brakes to firm riding track-day weapons with huge brakes.

The surface change played a key role in Sebastien Ogier’s victory, too, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala struggling on day one, only to find his feet on the smooth tarmac roads in Catalunya. What was a lead of around 30 seconds after the first day was whittled back to a lead of 11 seconds by the rally’s end. Still, that was enough for Ogier to secure back-to-back world championships.

You’ll see from the images below that the dust on those gravel roads not only affected the outcome of the rally, but provided some truly spectacular images as well. Of note in Spain also, Ken Block took some time out from burning rubber to make one of his rare WRC appearances.

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Ford Volkswagen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins 2014 Rally Spain

2014 WRC Rally Spain

Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have wrapped up their second world rally championship after taking victory in Rally Spain yesterday. The French duo needed just one more point than Jari-Matti Latvala to defend their title and despite a relatively slender 11 second winning margin they always had Latvala’s measure.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to become world champion for a second time! I’m over the moon, it was a real battle to defend the title,” an excited Ogier said after his victory. “In particular, my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala showed an incredibly strong performance in the last few months. Now Julien and I have a great sense of happiness and relief.

“Big thanks to our fantastic team at Volkswagen. Not just for giving us a fantastic car throughout the season. But also for the unique solidarity that we have. It doesn’t matter whether things are going well or badly—the team stands by every driver crew and that is extremely motivating. I’m happy and proud to be part of this team. Today we will have a big world championship party, that much is clear!”

Rally Spain is run on a mix of gravel and tarmac and on the opening gravel stages Latvala struggled with his car and spent the rest of the rally chasing Ogier’s tail. The Finn did well to fight back and claim second place, he also claimed the fastest time in the power stage and three bonus championship points. Latvala is now 31 points behind Ogier and with just Wales Rally GB left to race and 28 points on offer he’ll have to make do with second once more.

Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen finished third in Spain, which leaves him fourth in the championship and the best placed non-Volkswagen driver. Hirvonen cannot catch Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished seventh, meaning Volkswagen drivers will finish the year 1-2-3 in the overall drivers’ standings.

Mads Ostberg was fourth in his Citroën ahead of Hyundai duo Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville. While Hyundai and Neuville are the only combination to take victory from Volkswagen this year, we must pray that Hyundai and the other teams can increase the pressure on Volkswagen’s title defence in 2015.

For now, though, well done to Ogier and Volkswagen for their unrelenting dominance.

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally de France-Alsace in pictures

2014 WRC Rally France

It’s been a massive weekend of motorsport. We’ve had the Bathurst 1000, the 6 Hours of Fuji and the Russian Grand Prix is currently sending the world to sleep. So if you’re still awake take this chance to relive the 2014 Rally de France-Alsace, won by Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala.

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