The Fire That Destroyed This Fiesta RS WRC Will Cost The Ford Rally Team £400,000

Mikko Hirvonen’s Rally Italia Sardegna came to a dramatic end last Friday, after his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC caught fire on a road section between stages three and four.

The car was completely destroyed within minutes and the fire soon spread to the surrounding forest. The event was delayed by 80 minutes as fire crews extinguished the flames. Fortunately Hirvonen and his co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen were unhurt.

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson says the cause of the fire is still a mystery and admitted that it will cost the team over £400,000. He told the WRC website:

“The financial implications to replace it are huge. You’re looking in excess of £400,000 and we don’t insure the rally cars, so that’s a big hit. If you have a big crash then nearly all the mechanical components are usually OK. But with what happened here, there is absolutely nothing we can reuse. Everything is destroyed and it’s a big loss.”