The Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team has confirmed it will contest the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship after registering a Manufacturer Team.
The Argentine squad will tackle eight rounds, starting from Cyprus and finishing in Australia, and will be the fifth team to register for the 2009 series. The FIA recently relaxed the entry criteria for Manufacturer Teams enabling single car teams competing on a minimum of eight events to enter the race for the 2009 manufacturer crown.
Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc will be the registered crew on all eight events, and may be joined by additional drivers during the year on a round-by-round basis. Lead driver Villagra, from Cordoba, is the current Argentine Rally Champion. He competed on 10 WRC events in 2008, with a highest finish of sixth on both Argentina and Jordan. He scored nine driver points in total during the season.
It will be the third year of Manufacturer Team participation for Munchi’s, which will once again compete using the championship-winning Ford Focus RS WRC run by M-Sport.
Munchi’s enjoyed an eventful 10 round campaign in the 2008 WRC. Original lead driver Luis Perez Companc retired after Rally Finland last year, however Villagra – joined by guest drivers including Henning Solberg and Barry Clark – went on to enjoy a number of successful outings over the remainder of the season.
In 2009 Munchi’s will aim to consistently score manufacturer points throughout its WRC campaign.
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