Since its debut in 1999, the Ford Focus World Rally Car has earned a place in motorsport history as one of the sport's great rally cars. Here we highlight some of the car's landmark moments during a career that brought back-to-back manufacturers' world titles in 2006 and 2007.
1999• Focus World Rally Car makes its debut in the Monte Carlo Rally• Focus claims its first victory when Colin McRae wins Kenya's Safari Rally on only its third event• McRae follows up with a start to finish victory in the next round in Portugal.
2000• Focus claims its maiden asphalt victory when McRae wins Spain's Catalunya Rally by just 5.9sec• McRae and Carlos Sainz finish first and second on the Acropolis Rally in Greece.• Focus takes another 1-2 finish in Cyprus. This time Sainz leads McRae.
2001• New homologation sees the car named Focus RS WRC for the first time• McRae wins in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece• McRae leads the drivers' series going into the final round in Britain, but retires after a huge crash on the first day
2002• Sainz and McRae finish in the points on the Monte Carlo Rally - the start of a record-breaking run of consecutive points finishes• Sainz achieves a record-equalling 24th WRC win in Argentina after two drivers ahead of him are excluded at the finish • McRae joins the record-equalling band by taking his 24th victory in Greece, before topping the all-time tally when he takes win number 25 in Kenya
2003• The all-new Focus RS WRC debuts in New Zealand • The car takes its first victory in the hands of Markko Märtin in Greece. • Thousands of Estonians paint Jyväskylä blue and white as they watch Märtin's emotional win in Rally Finland.
2004• Märtin and François Duval claim a 1-2 finish in Mexico on M-Sport's 100th WRC entry with Ford• Focus establishes itself as the top car on asphalt as Märtin wins consecutive rounds in France and Spain
2005• Toni Gardemeister is a surprise early leader of the drivers' championship after finishing second and third in Monte Carlo and Sweden• New Focus RS WRC debuts in Australia and both Gardemeister and Roman Kresta set fastest times after no pre-event testing
2006• Marcus Grönholm scores a debut win in the Focus in the Monte Carlo Rally• Grönholm takes seven wins during the season as the Focus lifts the manufacturers' world title in New Zealand with one rally remaining• Mikko Hirvonen scores his first WRC win in Australia
2007• Focus retains the manufacturers' world title at the penultimate round in Ireland• The car wins eight rounds of the championship• Grönholm's win in New Zealand is the closest in WRC history – just 0.3sec
2008• Jari-Matti Latvala becomes the youngest winner of a WRC rally when the Focus triumphs in Sweden• Hirvonen's victory in Turkey creates WRC history as the Focus claims its 100th consecutive points finish• Focus breaks another record when Hirvonen becomes the first driver to score points in every championship round
2009• Focus wins five consecutive rounds – Italy, Greece, Poland, Finland, Australia – to create the best winning run Ford has enjoyed in WRC.• After a thrilling battle that lasts until the final morning of the final rally, Hirvonen is pipped to the drivers' title by just one point.
2010• Focus RS WRC starts its final rally as an official Ford entry car in Britain• Rally GB is the 174th world rally for Focus as Ford's official entry• In the previous 173 starts, Focus has won 44 rallies, claimed 43 second places and 55 third place finishes.• Focus has scored points on 131 consecutive world rallies – a record unmatched in WRC.
