While the majority of hot-hatch fans will be most excited about the debut of the production Ford Focus ST at the 2011 Frankfurt show, the engineers back in Dearborn would like to make sure the car also finds love from those who spend just as much time on closed circuits as they do on freeways. As such, the production car shares the stage in Germany with this turn-key racer, known as the Focus ST-R.
Like Ford�s fleet of Mustang racers, the ST-R doesn�t stray too far from its production counterpart. The body goes essentially unchanged, a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine lives under the hood, and sitting alone inside an otherwise stripped interior is a production dashboard and center stack. (Ford even fits pedestrian-Focus door handles to the inside of the ST-R�s otherwise bare-metal doors.) To prepare it for race duty, engineers at Ford Racing in North America�with technical support from Ford�s Global Performance Vehicles division�added an FIA-regulation roll cage, upgraded brakes, and a retuned suspension that makes none of the compromises something employed on a daily driver does. All a customer needs to do is add communications equipment�and perhaps some sponsor decals, if said customer happens to be so fortunate.
With the Focus ST-R, Ford intends to raise awareness of itself as a serious motorsports power, and the company has its eyes on more venues than drag strips and places where hairy people drink Budweiser in the infield. A Focus is already running in the British Touring Car Championship, and of course the smaller Fiesta is well-known in rally-racing circles and by the Ken Block fan club. Might we be seeing a Focus ST-R in Monster Energy Drink livery soon?
Availability will start in North America, where Ford hopes teams will race the ST-R in Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC, or the Canadian Touring Car series. When cars are offered overseas, we�ll no doubt see one or two running with the VW GTIs and other sport compacts that run the N�rburgring 24 Hours and other such events. Back here in the States, interested parties can buy an ST-R right from a local Ford dealer. You�ll need about $100,000. That might sound like a lot for a Focus, but isn�t expensive at all for a turn-key race car. And, if you want something cheaper, there�s always the road-going ST.
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