Fords in Full Force for Maine; New Fiestas Fielded
Through the years American rallying has had its car of choice. At one time the field was full of Datsun 510s. They were fast, inexpensive and parts were readily available. Then came the Mazda RX period when RX2s, RX3s and RX7s filled the fields for the same reasons.
Subaru has had its turn at the front for years but maybe the next marque may become the blue oval from Ford. Certainly it could be a background battle at the New England Forest Rally this weekend.
At the top of the marque marquee is Chris Duplessis’ Ford Fiesta R2. The car made its American debut at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally a memorable one. Duplessis, the 2010 Rally America 2WD National Champion, stormed to an eight minute lead in class before an unfortunate mistake and a misplaced rock ended the charge within sight of the finish. It was a disappointing debut to be sure but one that didn’t keep Duplessis from finishing first in class and 13th overall with the R2 at the Mt. Washington Hill Climb a couple weeks later.
Duplessis is fast. The Fiesta R2 is fast. Chris, in fact, might have something to prove. NEFR is his home event and the rally headquarters isn’t far from his family’s Pooh Corner Farm Green House business. He’ll have an extra incentive to do well this weekend and Chris with an incentive is hard to beat!
In addition to his Fiesta, there’s the Fiesta of 2009 Rally America 2WD National Champion Dillon Van Way plus Fiesta entries from Billy Petrow (2011 Broken Motorsports Ford Fiesta) and Verena Mei who ran at Sno*Drift with Wyatt Knox as his co-driver. This time she’s listed in the driver’s seat.
In all there are ten Ford products of varying age and brand. That’s a far cry from the 21 Subaru products in the entry list but, considering the head start from Subaru, Ford is making an interesting entrée into the sport. We know about the battles for points at NEFR. Maybe there’s another battle forming backstage. Stay tuned...
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Written By: Bill Wood - http://ByBillWood.com
Photo: http://WorldRallySport.com | Mike Proulx
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