The all-new Team Aon Ford Focus BTCC car has undergone its final shakedown tests ahead of this weekend’s opening race at Brands Hatch.
The fine-tuning took place at Ford’s Dunton Engineering Centre, in Essex – the home of Ford Team RS – as Ford continued its global support to independent touring car race teams running the all-new Ford Focus.
Developed by Arena Motorsport with technical support from Ford, the new Focus is the first product of this global initiative, which will see development of a common race car to S2000 specification, to compete in major touring car categories worldwide.
UK-based Arena Motorsport – which races in BTCC under the banner of Team Aon – has been a successful long-term competitor in the series and introduced the previous generation Focus ST to the championship in 2009. Just 18 months after their first race with this car, the team and driver Tom Chilton secured both the 2010 Independent Teams’ Championship and Independent Drivers’ Championship titles.
Explaining the involvement of Ford's Dunton Engineering Centre the UK’s largest automotive research and development facility, Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe Motorsport senior manager, said: "It’s always very satisfying to see privateers taking Ford products and racing with them.
Just as we can offer a team support in terms of cutting-edge facilities like the Dunton test track, so teams such as Arena can offer us their experience and skill in developing winning race cars. It’s a truly collaborative effort."
The new Team Aon BTCC Focus is expected to compete in all 10 rounds of the 2011 Championship season.
The all-new Ford Focus road car is the latest product of the “One Ford” philosophy behind the development of global vehicles. It will be sold in 122 markets worldwide and manufactured in Europe, Asia and North America.
