Developed by Arena International Motorsport, with technical support from Ford, the world's first touring race car based on the all-new Ford Focus has made its global debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. This innovation emerged from Ford's global initiative to support private teams in creating one common race car to S2000 specification in order to help them win major touring car categories worldwide. Just weeks after the road-going Ford Focus was made available to customers, the race car version was set to take the track for the first time in the ultra-competitive British Touring Car Championship.
Team Aon from Arena International Motorsport had been a success in the UK series with the previous Focus ST model. With driver Tom Chilton steering, they only had to wait 18 months since their first race for the team to secure both the 2010 Independent Teams' Championship and Independent Drivers' Championship titles.
The new Team Aon Focus touring car is expected to compete in all 10 rounds of the 2011 British Touring Car Championship. Jost Capito, Ford's director of Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development, said, "There has been tremendous interest in new Focus from the racing community and it's the perfect fit for a global touring car. This new BTCC Focus is the first result of a collaborative effort between Ford and race teams around the world that have already built and raced successful Focus race cars. The teamwork has resulted in a global technical platform for racing using a common Focus with a safety cage built to FIA regulations - a competitive platform that can be tailored for regional competition, based on different rules."
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