Cosworth must improve reliability

The Ford team has suffered from numerous engine problems so far this year with Colin McRae's two-litre unit blowing in Portugal and throttle trouble forcing him to bow out in Monte Carlo. Francois Delecour fell foul to engine gremlins in Cyprus, while Carlos Sainz retired from second place with a blown piston last time out on the Safari.

McRae and Sainz lie second and third in the drivers' championship, 10 and 14 points respectively behind Tommi Makinen while Ford trails Mitsubishi by six in the team standings. Wilson is concerned that his team's problems have been more to do with the Focus' engine, rather than the car itself.

"Colin's Safari problem is the first failure that I would attach to us," said Wilson of the steering problem which ended the Scotsman's chances in Africa three weeks ago.

Wilson is quick to point out however, that he does not believe Cosworth's Formula 1 workload for the Jaguar Racing team is affecting the World Rally programme.

"There is not a crossover between F1 and world rally," he said. "It's a separate department in a separate area. It's a dedicated facility just for the world rally engine. I genuinely believe that it is nothing to do with resources being taken away or anything likely that."

Ford has recently bought a 1 million pounds transient dynamometer, which is to be installed at Wilson's M-Sport facility in Cumbria. The engine branch of the World Rally team may be brought in house in the long term, but the current deal with Cosworth runs until the end of 2002.