After a year in development and nearly five months after its public debut at the 64th Frankfurt Motor Show, Ford’s Focus ST-R will make its racing debut this Friday at the Grand-Am 200 that takes place at the Daytona Motor Speedway.
Competing in the Continental Tire Sport Car Challenge ST class, the racing version of the production Focus ST is a fully prepared competition car. It sports a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine, a new suspension specially tuned for track use, updated brakes and an FIA-approved roll cage.
The Blue Oval of course, is keen to stress the similarities between the production car and the racer.
Ford’s global motorsport activities Jost Capito said: “The road-going Focus features best-in-class handling, powertrains and brakes and has helped us develop a global technical specification for teams wanting to race the new Focus cost effectively.”
For the time being, the Focus ST-R is homologated for American and Canadian touring car racing series only and is available to order from Ford’s North American dealers.
However, Ford expects that customer teams will participate in a variety of series worldwide, including endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
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