Last year, Ford announced that the Fiesta supermini will be axed in June 2023 without a direct successor, but M-Sport assured everyone it will continue building Fiesta-based rally cars. True to that promise, the motorsport engineering company revealed the Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo, featuring a number of upgrades in order to compete with the recently revealed Renault Clio Rally3.
The rally car is designed for FIA’s Group Rally3 category and improves on the recipe of its predecessor which was originally introduced in 2020. As we can see from the official photos published on social media by M-Sport Poland, it boasts a redesigned exterior with new aero.
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The Fiesta Rally3 Evo features a new body kit designed after the facelifted supermini. The front gains the larger grille that goes without the Ford oval emblem, and the bumper intakes of the ST flavor. Besides the flashy orange livery with black graphics, the rally car is distinguished by the bonnet vents, the roof-mounted scoop, the single exhaust pipe, and a new rear wing.
M-Sport didn’t get into details about the rally car‘s specifications, but hinted at shorter gearbox ratios, new front brake ducts, and revised damper setups for both gravel and tarmac. The outgoing Rally3-spec Fiesta is powered by a tuned version of the turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine sending power to all four wheels through a five-speed sequential gearbox by Sadev.
Besides the Rally3, M-Sport will continue building the Rally2 and Rally4 variants of the Fiesta. However, in the hybrid Rally1 category which is the flagship class of WRC, the supermini has been replaced by the Ford Puma.
