Focus on track for victory
Contesting the honours on the new 2.5 kilometre rally track, designed by former Ford star Hannu Mikkola, will be the latest Ford Focus RS WRC rally cars, one in BP-Ford World Rally Team livery and the other in Stobart colours. Ex-Ford WRC driver Markko Märtin will pilot the BP-Ford car on Friday and Saturday and Team Director Malcolm Wilson will take the wheel on Sunday. Malcolm's son Matthew, who finished 10th on the Acropolis, will drive the second car.
Estonian Märtin drove 44 WRC events for Ford between 2002 and 2004. He won five rallies and finished third in the 2004 drivers' championship.
Following Ford's sixth victory in eight years on the recent Acropolis rally - and its 60th FIA World Rally Championship win - Ford currently leads the World Rally Championship with 114 points, 28 ahead of Citroën. Team leader Marcus Grönholm heads the Drivers' Championship with 65 points, nine clear of his nearest rival, while teammate Mikko Hirvonen lies third on 49 points.
Rides in both the BP-Ford and the Stobart Focus RS WRC rally cars are being provided to the Richard Burns Foundation and to patients from the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Ford GT's final incarnation
The Ford GT is a regular and much-loved attraction at Goodwood, and past years have seen all three of the famous Le Mans 1966 winners on the hillclimb, plus Dan Gurney (1967 Le Mans winner) driving Ford's own car. The new Ford GT has also been seen at Goodwood every year since its announcement, and for this year's Festival a new version will be on hand to thrill the spectators.
To mark the end of production of the latest Ford GT, Roush Technologies has developed a limited edition of 10 cars, designated the Roush 600RE. This exclusive machine boasts a number of features including an engine upgrade to increase power and torque giving it even greater levels of performance. The 600RE has also been given additional styling features inside and out. It will be marketed solely through Avro Motor Cars in Surrey.
GT500 – the mighty Mustang
The 500 horsepower Ford Shelby GT500 will thunder up the Goodwood hillclimb for the first time this year.
The GT500 follows collaboration between performance car legend Carroll Shelby and the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT). Shelby first put his name on a Mustang back in 1964 when he was asked to inject some high performance into Ford's brand-new pony car. The result was the GT350R, a lightweight, handling-focused race car that earned the Mustang its first performance credentials.
The new Ford Shelby GT500, which draws its design inspiration from the classic Shelby Mustangs, uses Ford's supercharged 5.4-liter MOD V-8 engine, similar to that of the 2005 Ford GT. Helping to apply the 500 bhp to Lord March's garden path will be Ford's T-56 six-speed manual gearbox.
Ford iosis X – exciting Ford crossover concept in Goodwood Technology pavilion
Illustrating the Ford design team's commitment to a new “kinetic design” form language will be the iosis X, an exciting five-door sports-crossover concept. While not intended to be representative of a specific future production model, iosis X does demonstrate the Ford design teams 'energy in motion' philosophy, and shows how different Ford cars will be in the future.
In developing the concept, the team was keen to exploit what appears to be an emerging trend for sporting crossovers or SUVs and a movement away from the traditional two-box styling. As well as its muscular, dynamic form, iosis X incorporates many design innovations in lighting, mirrors, paintwork, instrumentation, seating, and storage. It also features a glass floor, and styling elements designed to meet pedestrian impact legislation.
Formula Ford, 40 years on
Formula Ford, though relatively modest in cost and speed, is undoubtedly one of motorsport's great success stories, and the progenitor of many other single-make formulae. Many great champions started here: James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, Ayrton Senna, and Emerson Fittipaldi to name a few. It also provided inexpensive racing of a highly competitive nature for thousands of aspiring race drivers around the world. At the Festival of Speed this year, Ford will be celebrating the Formula's 40th anniversary.
At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Ford engines traditionally power more cars - and more types of car - on the hillclimb than any other marque. As well as the cars mentioned above, this year's cavalcade of Ford-power will include 11 Formula One cars, a historic Miller-Ford V8 from 1935, RS Capris from Broadspeed and Zakspeed, a beautiful F3L Sports Prototype, Lotus, Mirage and Rondeau sports racers, a 1988 Thunderbird stock car for American legend Lyn St James, a 1966 Lola Can-Am car, and a Mustang by Italdesign. Truly a feast of power, speed, and style for the motorsport and historic car enthusiast.
A full complement of Ford vehicles will be seen all over the 2007 Festival site, and not just in the competition areas and paddocks. In the biggest Goodwood vehicle support programme yet, Ford is providing Ford S-MAX, Ford Ranger, and Ford Transit models for use by the organisers , officials and marshals.
Ford of Britain Chairman and Managing Director Roelant de Waard, himself an enthusiastic club racing driver, said: "I am delighted that Ford is once again a major sponsor at this excellent event, where families as well as motor sport enthusiasts can get up close and personal with some of the greatest cars and drivers of the past century. Ford's strong heritage in all types of motor sport means that our cars and engines are very much in evidence at the Festival, and this year in the Technology Pavilion we'll be providing a fascinating glimpse into the future as well."
Source: Ford Motor Company
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