Ford launch Fiesta Sporting Trophy within WRC.

M-Sport, the team behind Ford's FIA World Rally Championship programme, has announced that it is to launch a one-make championship in 2006 for the all-new Ford Fiesta ST Group N car that first appeared at the Rally Finland in August.

The 'Fiesta Sporting Trophy' for the 2000cc Group N3 cars will be based around six classic rounds of the WRC. The series will start in Spain before two more asphalt rallies in Corsica and Germany and three classic European gravel rallies in Sardinia, Finland and GB.

It will be administered by International Sportsworld Communicators and will run under the same organisational format as the current Junior and Production World Rally Championships.

"We are looking to create a format that will encourage and support good national drivers to take the crucial step of competing at world level in order to be able to build their experience without the traditional costs associated with this," explained M-Sport boss, Malcolm Wilson.

Marc de Jong's team on behalf of ISC will offer a fixed price package for competing on each event that will include entry fee, catering service, medical support, fixed service area and the logistical support required to ease the progression for teams and drivers from national events.

On-Event technical support for the championship will come from M-Sport, which will attend each round with full parts support.

"We envisage a small team with limited resources being able to use the support structures that De Jong and M-Sport will have in place to be able to make that difficult step forward at a price that will be comparable with competing in many home championships," added Wilson.

"This should be the link from proving speed at national level to being able to compete head-to-head with the established names in the WRC. The ST will prove itself to be a reliable and fun car to drive and we would like to see drivers progressing from these cars all the way to the pinnacle of the WRC within the playing field of the WRC events themselves."

Private competitors will be able to buy a 'kit' of parts from M-Sport at a fixed price of ?9,100 GBP + VAT and build their own car or buy a complete car from M-Sport.

While the championship is aimed at drivers wishing to progress in the WRC, there will be no age limit to the competitors.

"We are pushing to make this the easiest first step into the WRC, but we also want to give the winner the chance to progress forward. Our aim is to provide help to climb the next step of the ladder," concluded Wilson.