Category: Ford

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Ford Motorsports

V8 Supercars: Ford’s Car of the Past?

Ford V8 Supercar

According to the rumours Ford will pull out of V8 Supercars at the end of the 2015 season. This, despite US powerhouse Penske signing a deal with Dick Johnson Racing. As it stands there will only be six Fords on the grid next year.

The mainstream media is bemoaning the end of the classic Ford v Holden rivalry. To be honest, it was that rivalry, and the organsiers’ pursuit of it post the Nissan GT-R era, that lost me to local touring car racing. It was just too contrived and too insular for me. I liked the variety of the pre-V8 Supercars era. Where I used to follow the local tintops with great enthusiasm I became moderately interested around Bathurst, but that was it.

Preivously, I’ve been sceptical of the Car of the Future concept, but thankfully for fans of the sport manufacturers like Nissan, Mercedes and Volvo have come on board.

Now that Ford looks increasingly likely to pull the pin—a reasonable decision given the lack of local product you would think—I find that my level of interest in this decision is incredibly low.

So, Ford will leave V8 Supercars. Does anyone really care?

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Video Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Australia video highlights

2014 Rally Australia video highlights

If you missed any of the TV footage from Rally Australia fear not, because here’s just under four minutes of all the best bits. Follow this link to the Best of Rally Live YouTube account if you’d like to see more.

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Australia in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Australia

In our biggest WRC gallery yet—there’s 88 photos in all—here’s your chance to relive Rally Australia. If you’re a Volkswagen fan this might be one to bookmark becuase for the first time in their WRC existence the German juggernaut claimed a clean sweep of all three podium positions.

Also taking a clean sweep were the photographers plying their trade down under. These are some of the best rally pics we’ve seen all year and we’re chuffed to be able to share them with you all.

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Germany in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Germany

WRC cars in aggressive tarmac trim, the stunning beauty of the Moselle Valley, as far as world class rallying goes, it doesn’t get much better than this.

So strap yourself in and enjoy reliving Thierry Neuville’s maiden WRC victory. There’s some awesome photos in our latest rally installment; we hope you’ll like them.

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Video Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Germany video highlights

2014 WRC Rally Germany video highlights

Here’s around four and a half minutes of world class rally action recorded during the weekend’s Rally Germany. The event saw Thierry Neuville notch his first win for himself and his Hyundai team.

We’ll have a photo gallery from the event online in the next few days, until then you ca enjoy this footage from Rallymedia.

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Ford Land Rover MINI Video

For the Love of Cars

Mini Cooper Mk1

Awww, look at that Mk1 Mini. Even in that battered state it’s just delightful! It’s a Cooper, too. How can you not love that car. Imagine if it was restored into a condition that was even better that the day it rolled off the factory floor.

Thanks to the UK television series For the Love of Cars, produced by Channel 4, we don’t have to imagine what that Mk1 Cooper would look like in mint condition, because they’ve already done it for us!

There’s seven episodes in full and the series is currently airing here in Australia on the ABC. Six cars in total get some quality love and attention from Ant Anstead and his team, while Life on Mars star Philip Glenister breaks down the barrier between Gene Hunt and real life as the show’s host.

It’s a format we’ve seen before, most notably with Wheeler Dealers, but For the Love of Cars is more about the quality of the restoration than it is about making a quick buck. Sadly we don’t get an in-depth look at the restorations, but we do get a great reminder of what made these (mostly) British cars so great.

The classic cars restored during the series are listed below and the seventh episode shows the results of all the cars when sold at auction:

Of course, thanks to the wonder of the internetz you can see these episodes whenever you so choose (see below). We recommend you find the time to do so.

The best thing this show does is put a smile on your face; for the love of cars!

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Finland in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Finland

It seems to be the year of winning your home event. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won their home grands prix in Formula 1. Now it’s Jari-Matti Latvala’s turn and he got to spray the champagne first after he won Rally Finland.

Sebastien Ogier will be hoping he can do the same when Rally France rolls around in October. He might just need to as well. Ogier is still very much the man to catch, with a 44 point lead over Latvala, but there’s still five rallies up for grabs.

After the break there’s over 70 images from the Finnish forests and, of course, plenty of spectacular “yumps”!

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Datsun Ford Motorsports Video

VIDEO: 1979 Castrol International Rally

Colin Bond, 1979 Castrol International Rally, Canberra

Frustrated that you can’t watch Rally Finland without a Foxtel account and want to get your WRC fix? Here’s some footage from 35 years ago that will remind you what rallying is all about. It’s from the 1979 Castrol International Rally, held in the forests around Canberra.

This is the home territory of your AUSmotive editor and while I usually stick to the tarmac when heading for the forests this is an area I know well.

Clearly, this was a simpler time when all you needed was a Ford Escort or a Datto 1600 (a Stanza if you were really fancy pants) and the balls to have a crack. T-shirts were the only attire needed behind the wheel and long sleeves only ever came out if it was raining. Even the pacenotes are low key.

Familiar names such as Greg Carr, George Fury, Kevin Bartlett and Colin Bond all feature and long-time motorsport fans from Australia will notice a relatively slim Will Hagon behind the mic on the victory dais.

A quick shoutout, too, for the Southern District Motorsport Association who played a key role in hosting the event and is still active today.

The clip runs for 50 minutes and if you set aside the time you should enjoy this.

[Thanks to Tim for the tip]

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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Poland in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Poland

While it’s true we have missed out on regular WRC updates you haven’t missed out on anything you couldn’t have guessed for yourself. And that’s Sebastien Ogier has won another rally and is well on the way to his second world championship.

Also happy with his time in Poland was junior Volkswagen driver Andreas Mikkelesen who achieved his best WRC result to date. It was good to see Thierry Nueville at the somewhat pointy end, too. Let’s hope Hyundai can figure more prominently in the second half of the season.

Ogier leads Jari-Matti Latvala by 50 points in the title race. And if you were in any doubt about Volkswagen’s current WRC dominance then consider that Latvala, only in second in the championship, has enough points on his own to lead the manufacturers’ standings.

So now you’re up to speed on where the WRC is at and we promise you won’t have to wait over a month for a Rally Finland update!

2014 WRC Rally Poland

  1. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC – 2:34:02.00
  2. Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R WRC – +1:07.7
  3. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 WRC – +2:13.5
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Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Italia in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Italia

You may have noticed our WRC coverage has dropped off the radar for a bit, well in a mad panic before this weekend’s Rally Finland we’re going to bring you back up to speed. First, let’s take a look at Rally Italia, where we have assembled over 75 images from the four major teams for you to enjoy.

Sebastien Ogier won in Italy, extending his championship lead to 33 points over his Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. You may also recall this was the rally where Mikko Hirvonen’s backside got a bit hot.

2014 WRC Rally Italia

  1. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC – 4:02:37.8
  2. Mads Ostberg Citroën DS3 WRC – +1:23.1
  3. Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC – +1:32.8
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Ford WRC

That’s one expensive barbecue!

Mikko Hirvonen, 2014 WRC Rally Italia

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson has revealed the cost of Mikko Hirvonen’s burnt out Fiesta RS WRC is beyond £400,000 (AU$718,000).

“The financial implications to replace it are huge,” Wilson told wrc.com “You’re looking in excess of £400,000 and we don’t insure the rally cars, so that’s a big hit.

“If you have a big crash then nearly all the mechanical components are usually OK. But with what happened here, there is absolutely nothing we can reuse. Everything is destroyed and it’s a big loss.”

M-Sport wants to investigate the cause of the blaze, but due to the severity of the damage the team isn’t sure if the wreckage will hold any answers.

“We’ll take the car back to the UK but it will be difficult to identify anything,” added Wilson. “Unless something like the propshaft has broken and gone through the fuel tank. Then it will be pretty obvious, even though the car is destroyed.”

[Source: WRC]

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Ford WRC

Mikko Hirvonen lights my fire

Mikko Hirvonen, 2014 WRC Rally Italia

Mikko Hirvonen’s Rally Italia came to an abrupt and fiery end last night after his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC became engulfed in flames during a liaison stage.

The Finn started the rally well, leading the event after Thursday night’s special stage. He had slipped just out of the top five the following day as the rally began to hit its straps and it was between SS3 and SS4 where things really went south for Hirvonen.

“I have no idea what happened and I don’t think we are ever going to find out,” a bemused Hirvonen explained. “It was really strange. Straight after the stage [SS3] everything was OK and operating as it should. We stopped, took our HANS and helmet off, checked all the tyre pressures, had the usual look around the car and everything was fine.

“After we set off again, the car caught fire. We smelt the smoke and as I looked back the rear-right corner was covered in flames. We stopped straight away but they were already over the roof. I managed to empty three fire extinguishers but it didn’t do anything to calm the blaze. There was nothing we could do to save the car.”

Thankfully, Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen were able to escape without injury. Team boss Malcolm Wilson says he is keen to find the cause of the fire.

“Obviously we’re all relieved that Mikko and Jarmo are both OK after today,” Wilson said. “The car has been completely destroyed and there is nothing to be rescued which is a big blow to the team.

“We’re still waiting to get the car back, but having spoken with Mikko it seems to have started somewhere towards the right-rear wheel which is something we do not really understand.

“There’ll be a thorough investigation back at Dovenby Hall to work out exactly what happened.”

A short video can be seen after the break.

[Pics: @carlrue & @andrespocoyo]

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