Friday 12 March 2010 16:26

MUNCHI'S FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM

Team Principal: Malcolm Wilson
Drivers:  Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc
Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 08
Established: 2007
WRC starts (by end 2008): 40
WRC wins (by end 2008): None
Tyres: Pirelli
Driver titles: None
Manufacturer's titles: None


Highlights:
2008:  The team opened their points tally in Mexico where Villagra
finished seventh and Solberg finished fifth.
Villagra also scored points in Argentina, Jordan and New Zealand while Solberg
was in the points in Italy.
Luis Perez Companc competed in his last event for Munchi's at Rally Finland.
Barry Clark also took on driving duties for the team finishing tenth at the Rally
of Turkey and was drafted in at the last minute to finish 12th at the Jordan Rally.
2007:  Highest finish (sixth in Manufacturers' Championship)
Luis Pérez Companc achieves best result (fifth Rally Japan)
Federico Villagra achieves best result (seventh rally )
Three stage wins
Highest single event points-haul (Rally Japan - 8 points)

Profile:

Embarking on its third campaign in the FIA World Rally Championship is the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team. Named after a popular chain of ice-cream parlours in Argentina, the team are running the 2008-spec Ford Focus RS.

Current Argentine national rally champion Federico Villagra will contest eight rounds under the new, relaxed FIA rules which allow manufacturer teams to enter only one car on each event. The team began its campaign at Rally Cyprus and is contesting WRC rounds in Portugal, Argentina, Sardinia, Greece, Finland, Australia and Spain.

Both successful competitors in their home country of Argentina, Companc and Villagra were nevertheless two of the least experienced international rally competitors in the 2007 field. Unsurprisingly their goal for the season was to learn; to familiarise themselves with the rallies in the series, and to improve their pace as they went along. And looking back at the season that's exactly what they did.

The best event of the year for the Munchi's team was Rally Japan, when Companc and Villagra finished fifth and seventh respectively, their best WRC finishes to date. In fact, Companc only narrowly missed out on fourth place.

After winning 14 Manufacturers' championship points in 2007, the objective for 2008 is to score more. With a useful amount of experience under their belts, and the competitiveness of the Ford Focus WRC07, don't be surprised to see some top-ten times from the Munchi's Ford team this season - especially on their home ground in Argentina.