'Focii' in Touring car action this year
the next Focus ST
as the basis for a new 'global' Touring car, with its race debut planned for the 2011 British Touring Car Championship.
The new Focus ST racer is to be developed with private race teams in cooperation with the company's global motorsport group. Aside from the BTCC, the Focus ST has the potential to run in many national and regional Championships like the China Touring Car Championship, as well as 24-hour endurance races including the classic Nürburgring 24-hour race in Germany, Ford reckons. A common technical specification will be adopted for the race car, which will conform to FIA Super 2000 regulations, and the company has made a commitment to support race teams with data and parts.
The announcement at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas yesterday builds on Ford's reputation for offering race-capable, affordable platforms that can be converted into race cars, the company says. It follows news that the Focus ST road car is also being developed for global markets, although that won't go on sale until 2012.
Focus ST road car arrives in 2013
The ST road car development programme is being undertaken by Ford's global Performance Vehicles group, which comprises Team RS (Europe) and SVT (USA) engineers, who between them have been responsible for products like the Focus RS, Shelby GT500 Mustang and Raptor SVT F150. The new roadgoing hot hatch was previewed at
the Paris motor show
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