remark70

A small article from last Sunday's Star Times in NZ ...

18-Apr-04

Rally stars stay Focus-ed

Ford placing its rally drivers in XR8s and V8 drivers in Focus cars at Pukekohe was illuminating ahead of Rally New Zealand. Not so much for the cars, which were standard road versions, but for the speed with which these guys adjust. Fresh off a plane from Belgium, Francois Duval had the XR8 sideways out of Castrol after just two laps. He had never seen the Pukekohe racetrack or driven an XR8. He prefers rallying to the track as "it's more spontaneous - every time the road is different". As for Markko Martin, his XR8's rear tyre was a tread-less smoking mess after just a few laps, but the rally ace was smiling. Meanwhile, defending Aussie V8 Supercar champ Marcus Ambrose found the Focus ST170 a bit slow on the straight - but after a few handbrake turns around the hairpin it got the thumbs up for fun.

Zetec

damn I'd love to see pics or a video of that action!!!!!!!!!!!

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Timmeh

There was another thread on this a little while ago, in the Motorsport section (The Pits).

Ford V8 Champion Swaps Road Cars with WRC Stars

Thanks for the find though!

Cheers... Tim

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