DANIEL Barritt and Elfyn Evans will debut Ford’s new Fiesta RS WRC on this weekend’s Rally de Portugal.

The new car may look much the same from the outside, but it’s a different story under the bonnet. Key to the new development is a new engine which delivers more power and substantial increase in torque.

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In addition to the new engine, the car has undergone a full redesign under the bonnet with further developments to the cooling package, transmission, electronics and wiring harness.

Barritt and Evans enjoyed a strong start to the season — holding fourth in the standings and securing their maiden podium at last month’s Rally Argentina.

“I’ve been pleased with our pace in Portugal over the last couple of years, but for various reasons we’ve not been able to translate that into points,” said Evans.

“I’m ready to put that right this year, and a new location with the added excitement of a new car could provide us with the perfect opportunity.

“The team have put a lot of effort into this car and it’s a step forward. The testing has all been positive and we’ve covered a lot of miles, which we hope pays off. We’ve done a lot of work on the set-up to give us a good base going into the first event.”