Swedish title
Chassis no. WFOBXXBZABXZ29379

- Authentic works Ford Focus WRC
- Impeccable provenance, documented competition history
- Recently recommissioned
- Ex-McRae, ex-Delecour
- 2 podium finishes in 2000 with Colin McRae

From 1997-2012, Ford chose M-Sport, the British team set up in 1979 by Malcolm Wilson, a brilliant rally driver and genuinely passionate individual, to prepare and enter its official rally cars.
For the 2000 season, the team relied on the Ford Focus WRC, which had replaced the Ford Escort WRC in 1999. Naturally, it was considerably modified from the standard Focus. It had a reinforced body with a roll cage, four-wheel drive and a tuned engine, while the whole car was lightened and stripped of anything that was not essential, to turn the Focus into a radical machine for competition.
The team engaged four drivers: Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, Petter Solberg and Tapio Laukkanen. The car we are presenting was assigned to McRae; sadly, this ebullient Scottish driver (the son of Jimmy McRae, five-time winner of the British Rally Championship) would lose his life at the age of 39 in a tragic helicopter accident in 2007. Before then, he won the World Rally Championship in 1995 (driving a Subaru Impreza 555), after clinching two British titles in 1991 and 1992. He was the runner-up in the World Rally Championship three times, in 1996, 1997 and 2001. Altogether, he competed in 146 rallies, winning 25 of them and achieving 42 podium finishes. Considered one of the best drivers of his generation, McRae drove for Subaru, Ford, Citroën and Škoda.

The car we are offering is an authentic works Ford Focus, which began its career in the 2000 World Rally Championship with the registration number V3 FMC, driven by Colin McRae and his co-driver Nicky Grist. As the M-Sport Focus WRC Official Book reminds us, during their first outing, in Sweden, they finished third, but suffered engine problems in the next two rounds, in Portugal and Argentina. They made up for this in New Zealand, coming second, but could have done better still, were it not for a spin on the final day: McRae posted the best time on eight special stages, the highest number of any competitor, but finished 13.5 seconds behind Marcus Grönholm. The results of the rally were nonetheless positive for Ford, who brought home two other Focus WRCs in third and fourth place, perhaps thanks to the help of an active centre differential, a first in rallying.
During the final rally of the season, in Australia, which was also McRae's 100th rally, the Scotsman had to retire due to engine problems, but went on to win the Madrid Rally Sprint in Spain, ahead of his team-mate (and national hero!) Carlos Sainz.
At the start of the 2001 season, the car took part in the Swedish Rally, driven by François Delecour, who finished fifth. It then left the official Ford team and was campaigned for two successive seasons in the Spain Gravel Cup by Txus Jaio and Lucas Cruz, also making two forays into England in November for the World Championship.
From 2003-2007, the car was entered in the Turkish Championship, first under the banner of the Ford Hazir Kart Rally Team and then that of Ford Rallysport Turkey, driven in turn by Serkan Yazici, Adnan Sarihan, Mehmet Besler and Adil Kucusari.
In 2010, the Focus reached Sweden and the company Bilam AB, and was registered as CME 598. As its Swedish 'Wagnbok' indicates, it competed in a few rallies in Sweden in 2010 and 2011, before it was bought by T. Anderson, well known for his famous collection of Ford Focus WRC cars. Two years after his death, his family sold his entire collection to another major collector of rally cars, who owns the greatest number of ex-works rally cars, including 10% of all the Ford Focus M-Sport WRCs.
This car, which has always remained in its gravel rally spec, has been restored and now runs, the owner having done a lot of work on its electronic control units. Its roll cage still has the sticker for its first FIA passport, dated 04-12-99. The chassis plate and the roll cage plate with its M-Sport number are both present, and its history file includes the customs clearance certificate from when it was imported into Sweden.
This car is ready to star at events such as the Festival of Speed at Goodwood, while giving its owner the immense satisfaction of driving a works car used by one of the greatest rally drivers of his time.

Full catalogue and more photos https://www.artcurial.com/en/sale-4315-retromobile-2023-artcurial-motorcars