Autosport Awards
Rally Car of the Year: Ford Focus
The brand new Ford Focus 06 has won International Rally Car of the year at the Autosport Awards
The car enabled Ford to seal its first WRC manufacturers' championship for 27 years, while Marcus Gronholm gave them their first win in Great Britain since the same year, 1979.
John Fleming of Ford Europe said: "It's been a wonderful year. We'd like to win more frequently than every 27 years, but we have a great car and a great team."
After receiving the award from Alan van der Merwe and Alan Green, team boss Malcolm Wilson added: "It's taken longer than I expected to build this team.
"You don't build a successful team overnight, but I won't be here for another 27 years. We had a fantastic start to this year in Monte Carlo, and then we won our favourite event in Britain for the first time in as many years, which is great."
In total, the Focus won eight of the 16 rounds, with Gronholm missing out on the world title by just one point in his first year with the team.
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