With the World Motor Sport Council agreeing to run the S2000 chassis with a 1.6 litre turbo engine, Ford has decided to take a head start on the issue of development.
The Fiesta S2000 will be fitted with the current 2.0 litre turbo charged engine used in the Ford Focus WRC. This is a tactic that has been used by Citroen in the development of the DS3 using the C4’s engine. Ford hopes that by using the chassis and engine package, they will be able to gauge how the car will perform with the recently elected engine. The test will be performed on the island of Sardinia today and tomorrow. Ford was quick to say that this was a planned step in the Fiesta’s development and not a page out of Citroen’s playbook.
It is understood that both Ford and Citroen will not be in position to launch the new engines until at least September. The S2000 chassis and 1.6 litre turbo engine will be classified the new WRC machines next season as the Focus and C4 continue their 2010 swan song.
