M-Sport Ford finally wins factory support: Great 2028 news
The M-Sport Ford team will run as a full factory operation again in 2028, Ford Racing announced Thursday, Oct. 1, ending a long stretch in which the British outfit carried the Ford name in the World Rally Championship without works backing. Ford will begin supporting the team directly in 2027, and a new Ford-developed rally car is due in 2029, Road & Track reported.
The news may sound odd to casual fans, since Fords never left the WRC. What changes is who is behind the cars.
What factory status means for M-Sport Ford
M-Sport has kept Fords on the WRC start line for 15 years as a privateer, Road & Track noted. Ford’s own works team has been absent since 2012, according to the FIA, as Total Apex noted in its first report on the Ford WRC return.
With Ford back as a factory partner, the team gains the carmaker’s direct involvement in both developing and running its cars. Road & Track wrote that the added resources should lift the program enough that M-Sport Ford can again be expected to chase wins and titles once the new car arrives.
The partnership itself is old. M-Sport has run Ford’s rally program for 30 years, according to Motor1, and Ford’s WRC history spans more than five decades of Escorts, Sierras, Focuses, Fiestas and Pumas. Ford says the lessons from those cars reached its showrooms, from the 1970 Escort Mexico to today’s Ranger Raptor pickup, Motor1 reported.
The M-Sport Ford car timeline: Fiesta first, new model in 2029
The road to a new car takes three steps:
- 2027: M-Sport retires its Puma-branded car and switches to a modified Rally2 Fiesta built for the WRC’s new technical rules, with direct Ford support starting, per Road & Track.
- 2028: The team becomes a full Ford factory entry.
- 2029: An all-new car designed and developed by Ford debuts.
Ford said the 2029 car will be derived from one of five “multi-energy” electric and hybrid passenger cars it plans for Europe, Motor1 reported. The company has not said which model it will be, and no driver lineup has been announced.
Why Ford wants back in
Ford of Europe President Jim Baumbick pitched rallying as a test bench for those road cars. “The WRC is the ultimate proving ground for control and driver engagement, and that is the exact spirit and lessons learned we are injecting into our next generation of passenger vehicles,” he said, according to Motor1.
The timing also lines up with the 125th anniversary of Ford Racing, which Ford is marking with moves like its 1901 Sweepstakes tribute livery. Mark Rushbrook, Ford Racing’s global director, called the brand’s “50-year legacy in the WRC” one of its proudest.
The WRC itself is changing. New owners Cosmobilis and Park Square Capital recently took over the series’ commercial rights, and new technical regulations start in 2027, Motor1 reported. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said Ford’s return as “a full works manufacturer” adds “real momentum” to the championship. He also noted his own history with the brand. “I had the privilege of driving for Ford during my own career so welcoming them back is a particularly special moment for me,” Ben Sulayem said, according to Motor1.
Ford already returned to Formula 1 this year through Red Bull Ford Powertrains and plans a top-class World Endurance Championship entry in 2027, according to Motor1. Add its rally-raid program and the M-Sport Ford works team, and the brand will compete in four FIA world championships, Ben Sulayem said.
What’s next
The first visible change comes in 2027, when the M-Sport Ford Fiesta replaces the Puma. Details on the 2029 car and the 2028 driver lineup have not been announced. For more car news, see our Special Interests section.