Ford vows to assist FIA with World Rally Championship issues

Speaking at the AUTOSPORT International show, where Ford and M-Sport have unveiled the official 2012 colour scheme for the Fiesta RS WRC, Ford's European motorsport director Gerard Quinn said that Ford is committed to resolving the problems as quickly as possible.

The FIA informed North One Sport last week that its contract to promote the sport had been terminated after it found it in breach of the agreement.

"These are very difficult times," said Quinn. "We will work in collaboration with the FIA to get the sport back on track. Last year we had turned the corner and we were making very good progress with the sport. We want to continue that.

"For us as a consideration it was really important before Christmas. We worked with the FIA and we as a company sought assurances from the FIA that it was important for us as a manufacturer making a huge commitment to the sport that we had guarantees for example that there would be a promoter for the WRC.

"And that we had things like live TV in Germany and the UK markets, not just for us but for the other manufacturers as well.

Quinn admitted that had the crisis blown up before Ford had made its commitment to the WRC, which happened just before Christmas, it could have affected the Blue Oval's decision to continue in the sport.

"Certainly I think that is something that was critical to the sport and the survival of WRC and making sure we had a sustainable future with Ford," he said. "It would have been something that could have, but I don't want to talk about that because we have made a decision.

"We need to look ahead now, we have a very exciting sport and we need to make it the best world championship in the world. It's a world class event.

"We want to bring more manufacturers in and make it the pinnacle of motorsport."

Quinn added that he hoped the influx of manufacturers in the WRC would continue and that Volkswagen's impending entry was a key factor in Ford's decision to commit to rallying for the next two seasons.

"Part of the decision-making process was that it was important to know who you are competing against," said Quinn. "To see other manufacturers coming into WRC, irrespective of what is going on there right now, I'm sure we'll fix all of that.

"But the important thing is that manufacturers still have the belief that WRC is the place to be. So it's really good to have the likes of Citroen, Volkswagen and Mini in there. We look forward to taking them on in the next two years."