Work has begun on Ford’s all-new 2029 World Rally Championship challenger.
After unveiling its plans for a full factory return to the WRC at the end of September, focus looked to have shifted back to the evolution of the Ford Fiesta M-Sport will run as an interim car next season.
DirtFish has learned, however, that work is already underway on a car which won’t break competitive WRC cover for more than two years.
Following his test of the 2027-spec car in Spain, M-Sport director Matthew Wilson flew to Ford Performance Technical Center in North Carolina to conduct early simulator work on the ’29 car.
While Wilson wouldn’t be drawn on details of the work, he said: “We’re full steam ahead. I think it’s fairly clear that we want to hit the start of 2029 with a very strong car and the homologation for that car’s got to be completed at the end of 2028 – which is just over two years away.”
The new car is understood to be a clean sheet of paper, carrying nothing over from the current Fiesta Rally2 or Puma Rally1.
In terms of next year’s Fiesta WRC Kit Car-specification Rally1, Wilson reported positive early running on both asphalt and gravel in Catalunya.
“Obviously, like a few people have said, it’s important that we’re looking at this with the reference point of a Rally2 car,” said Wilson. “And compared with the Rally2, the aero changes definitely make a difference – it’s subtle, but it’s a decent step in terms of the rear wing and the front bumper.
“In terms of the engine, the restrictor size going up one-mil, everybody’s done the numbers and it’s not huge but there is more power. Things like the boost control, running the logger instead of the pop-off [overboost valve] is good.
“You definitely feel that you’ve stepped up from a Rally2 car. Is it going to be enough to beat the Toyotas? We’ll have to wait and see, but from the data we’ve looked at I think next season is going to be close.”
While much of the focus is on Ford’s new 2029 car, Wilson pointed to the importance of the interim 2027/28 Fiesta.
“It’s a car [that] keeps Ford, and keeps M-Sport, in the championship,” he said. “It keeps us relevant and right in there. We’ve seen other manufacturers do this – look back to when Citroën stepped back from the WRC [in 2006] before they came with the C4. The [Kronos Racing] team ran the Xsara and kept everything together and kept them at the top level. That’s what this car will do for us.”
