23 Juni 2005

Malcolm Wilson maakt in Griekenland bekend, dat de nieuwe WRC06 uitvoering nog dit jaar ingezet wordt in het FIA WRC competitie van 2005

Hieronder het volledige verslag van Bron: Rally Sport Magazine en wat foto's.

Due to make its competition debut in Telstra Rally Australia in November 2005 is the all new 2006 version Focus World Rally Car.  

M-Sport director Malcolm Wilson told journalists in Greece that the biggest change concerns the all-aluminium engine which replaces the current iron block unit, with its improved car balance opportunities.  Also the use of chain driven (not belt driven) camshafts, the back-to front engine layout (induction on front of the block, exhaust behind), and the traditional transverse transmission system by Ricardo.  

The engine supplier will be Pipo from France, and the unit first ran in France in early June.  Pipo has considerable engine building competition experience, with Peugeot for many years in rallying, and before that also with BMW.  

The car is designed with the new 2006 "cost saving” technical rules in mind, notably the differential changes and the heavy reduction of the number of behaviour recording sensors.  The former factor is one of the main reasons for moving from Xtrac to Ricardo, who have superior simulation equipment.

Many other factors are being built into the new car, including maximising the cooling opportunities offered by the 1800mm maximum body width rule.  

Although work is currently running at 7-14 days behind schedule, homologation is still planned for 1st November.  This would give time for a new homologation version to be prepared before the 2006 season begins, should unexpected technical difficulties emerge.

Aldus Bron: Rallysport Magazine

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