Think Like a Racing Driver?


Race strategies, physical conditioning, instant decisions and having the hopes of a team on your shoulders are unique challenges for racing drivers in the sporting world, which require a special kind of character.



John Camilleri - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team fitness trainer.

“You’re dealing with high pressure situations, huge physical challenges and you’re reliant on a large crew to make sure you’re in the best car and best position to do your job as well as possible. 

In that sense it’s unlike participating in any other sport. A fighter pilot is a closer comparison, and like a fighter pilot it takes a certain type of person to thrive as a racing driver.”

During any race, especially an endurance race like the Le Mans 24 Hours, the whole team needs to perform at their optimum and use their unique skills and personalities in the quest for victory.

This image might just be the most shareable social media picture yet – depicting an array of the most tagged places, people and subjects on social media platform Instagram.



These include #travel, #friends and #sunset – with the latter likely to show an upsurge after the clocks change this weekend. The montage also includes the most hashtagged car on Instagram, the Ford Mustang.

Stephan Cesareo, Ford’s Mustang expert in Europe

“Knowing that Mustang is tagged three times more than any other car, we were inspired to create an image that encapsulates all of the things people love to tag – and then of course we had to share it."

Follow +Ford Europe on Instagram!

+Ford Türkiye recently brought champion rally drivers Murat Bostanci and Buğra Banaz together with some invited guest for "Drift Extreme" taking to the snow and ice with the Ford Mustang and Focus RS.

10 social media influencers were invited to the event to experience part of the Ford Performance line up.

All manner of hazards await the all-conquering M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC rally car in this year’s World Rally Championship – but that’s nothing compared to the obstacles the new model from the  LEGO® Speed Champions range might face.



Made with 203 pieces, including a choice of dirt or tarmac wheel trims, the LEGO car comes with two interchangeable bonnets, authentic miniature race-graphics and a driver minifigure with helmet and racing overalls. It is also the first WRC car that LEGO has produced.



Both the rally car and the new LEGO® Speed Champions 1968 Mustang Fastback go on sale on 1 March at LEGO.com/shop.

New @LEGO_Group Speed Champions sets out soon! A @MSportLtd Ford Fiesta WRC rally car kit and a 1968 Ford Mustang kit are available from March 1st.
More details 👉 https://t.co/mvEHj4KYqC 🙌 ^RW pic.twitter.com/tf91p9jLGM

— Ford Europe (@FordEu) February 15, 2018

Have you heard the news? Elon Musk's +SpaceX used a Tesla roadster as the "mass simulator" for the first test launch of their new rocket Falcon Heavy.



It's a huge technological feat, and brought back this 2014 space mission for the Ford Mustang.

Although that was shorter duration, had a smaller budget and was generally slightly smaller in scale :)

Ford announced the Drift Stick in the tail end of last year. A rally-inspired electronic handbrake, developed and designed for Focus RS and approved by rally and stunt star +Ken Block.

Here's some brand new footage. Looks like a lot of fun!

Considering how fast you're driving and possible consequences isn't something that we as motorists are very good at keeping front-of-mind. Speed awareness isn't the fun part of motoring: but it is crucial for road safety.

This video from +Numberphile, a popular maths channel on YouTube, does a great job with a seemingly simple maths challenge of highlighting the way people should think about speed.



Watch the video! And leave us your reaction in the comments.

What will cars be like in the future? +Ford Ireland asked a bunch of kids what they thought the future of transportation would be like. 

Want to know if you’re on Santa’s naughty or nice list this year? Thanks to our latest festive stop motion film, now is the time to find out.

Going interactive for the first time, Mental Block and his Fiesta WRC car are at your command. Get to a decision point in the imaginary world and you can pick the path you want him to take… but will you take the naughty route or the nice route?



You may find yourself burning Christmas trees down, helping push Santa’s sleigh out of the snow or avoiding Brussel sprouts as you race through a kitchen; whichever route you take though you’re bound to meet some familiar characters. At the end, Santa will let you know just what gift you might expect when you wake up on Christmas Day.

It took +Andy Mills a month to create more than 25 scenes including 12 different set builds and a total of almost 3,000 still images. And with hidden scenes to find if you take too long with your decisions or insist on being naughty, it may take more than one go to see it all.


Want to find out what to expect from Santa this year? Then try interactive Snowkarma: Naughty or Nice challenge, but don’t complain to us if Santa doesn’t bring you what you put on your list!

+Andreas Bakkerud might be an experienced rallycross driver, but that doesn't mean he'll pass up the offer of some free driver safety training. And also give a couple of other lucky Driving Skills for Life attendees the drive of a lifetime. 

+Ken Block's got a new motor .... Joining his 2017 Ford Focus RS, which has been decked out in fresh flat black clothes, is a new stablemate: a 1986 Ford RS200!!






The RS200 is Ken's favorite car of all time. There is 31 years of Ford RS heritage between the two daily drivers.

Watch the video!

Youtube channel +TheSmokingTire got to try out a Lotus Cortina Mk2. It's one of 4,000 original Lotus Cortina Mk2's produced between 1966 and 1970, in a partnership between +Ford Europe and Lotus.

The vehicle, transportation to Florida, and Lodging were provided by +John J Campion.


Article thumbnail credit: +Rafael Martin

See also the +Ford Europe Heritage collection here.

Ford has announced the all-new Ford Performance Drift Stick. A rally-inspired electronic handbrake, developed and designed for Focus RS and approved by rally and stunt star +Ken Block.



For final sign-off, professional rally driver +Ken Block was consulted on the Ford Performance Drift Stick. He pushed for the electronic handbrake to provide every-day drivers with the quickest possible way to get the Focus RS sideways for large-angle drifts.

Ken Block

“I think it’s really cool that Ford Performance is offering customers a way to create large-angle drifts in the Focus RS. Obviously it’s something that I’m really passionate about having been a part of the development of the production vehicle, so it’s exciting to see it come to life. It definitely makes the car even more fun to drive."

Since a hydraulic handbrake would have required substantial modifications to the car that couldn’t be easily reversed, the Ford Performance Drift Stick was developed as an entirely electronic technology. Once the wizardry began, a Ford Performance engineer noted the many similarities in its electronics with a part Ford already sells on a regular basis – the professional calibration tool. Integrating this existing technology resulted in easily plugging a USB cable into the Ford Performance Drift Stick to pull select diagnostic data and upload powertrain calibrations for the Focus RS.

The digital design enables a number of key benefits:

• Instantaneous engagement and release – just five to six pounds of pressure is required to operate the Ford Performance Drift Stick – significantly less than a hydraulic handbrake – for easy, precise use
• Installation and removal is easy, as there is no welding, hole drilling or calipers as necessary in a hydraulic kit
• It also connects to the onboard diagnostics port on the car, allowing it to function as a professional calibration tool

Like the RS’s exclusive drift mode, the Ford Performance Drift Stick is intended for track use only. It is currently available for customers in the United States and Canada. The kit includes the Drift Stick lever, mounts and circuit board with professional calibration functionality. The car’s warranty is unaffected by its installation.

A robot has been created to move like a human behind – and perfectly simulate how drivers and passengers get in and out of their car seats.

Engineers used pressure maps to establish a “perch pattern”, the data enabling them to test the wear and tear of materials, using the robotic bottom – or “Robutt” – to mimic the most common paths.

Durability engineer Svenja Fröhlich

“From the first moment we get into a car, the seat creates an impression of comfort and quality. Previously, we used pneumatic cylinders that simply moved up and down. With the ‘Robutt’, we are now able to replicate very accurately how people really behave.”

Based on an average-sized large man, the “Robutt” was used to simulate ten years of driving in just three weeks as part of testing for the new Fiesta – sitting down and getting up 25,000 times. The new test is now being rolled out for all our vehicles in Europe.

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the most well-known hill climb in the world, billed as America's second oldest, continually running race (the Indianapolis 500 is first), it's also one of the first places Block ever raced in his career.

+Ken Block

"When I was young, I caught the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on TV once or twice. Even as a kid I remember dreaming about racing there some day because it looked so epic. Eventually I did, back in 2005, but it was in a Group N rally car which didn't have much power up in that high and thin air! It was an underwhelming experience because of the horsepower issue, but I loved the road and mountain - and I had always wanted to go back and do it right. So, to drive it like I get to drive in my Gymkhana videos - and do it in the Hoonicorn with 1,400 horsepower - well, that truly is a dream come true!"

For Block, filming Climbkhana at Pikes Peak was a unique opportunity. While the road closes once a year for the Hill Climb, no one has ever been given the access to turn the landmark location into a playground. For production duties, Block once again brought his long-time friend and business partner at Hoonigan, Brian Scotto, to direct, but they also added a new face to the Hoonigan Media Machine formula: Eight-time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Champion and Radical Media Director Jeff Zwart.











Jeff Zwart, Climbkhana's co-director.

"I have raced at Pikes Peak for 16 years and through the years I thought I had seen everything, but to witness Ken's skills on basically my home mountain and get to direct him at the same time, it was truly something amazing. Nothing but respect for him and his whole team, both on the racing side and production side!"

To tackle the extreme elevation gains experienced along the way up Pikes Peak, Block knew that he needed more horsepower for his 1965 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR. So, Hoonicorn V2 was born. A 1,400 horsepower, twin-turbo, methanol-fueled machine that lights up its sticky Toyo® Proxes® R888R™ tires in every corner and properly updates the infamous build made famous in Gymkhana SEVEN, Wild in the Streets Los Angeles. Unfortunately, extreme engine builds and altitudes can prove challenging. Block and his crew experienced multiple production setbacks, having to go to the mountain on three separate occasions over 12 months due to both weather and development issues to be able to finish the film.

+Ken Block

"This car is insane. I feel it genuinely wants to kill me! Before we added the twin turbos, it was the most fun car I've ever driven. Now it's still quite fun to drive, but it melts tires ridiculously quick. To have this thing be such a beast and then take it to this very dangerous mountain, well, I thought I'd maybe finally taken on a project that might be too much for me to handle. This is the most powerful AWD-type car in the world to be driven this way, so I'm genuinely glad I didn't die making this video!"

The film was produced by Hoonigan Media Machine and premiered at The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles.

A simple head nod or hand wave from a driver is usually enough to indicate it’s OK for a pedestrian to cross the street. But how will a self-driving car, with no human aboard, communicate with walkers, cyclists or people operating other cars on the road?

+Ford Motor Company partnered with Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to investigate the most effective means – and to gauge people’s reactions to potential solutions. This meant concealing a driver, behind a fake seat, in a car that otherwise appeared to be an autonomous vehicle with no occupants.


John Shutko: Ford human factors technical specialist

“Understanding how self-driving vehicles impact the world as we know it today is critical to ensuring we’re creating the right experience for tomorrow.”

As light signals are already the standard means of indicating and braking, these were determined to be the most effective means for a self-driving vehicle to signal to its intentions. We equipped a test vehicle with a light bar on the windshield – with different states to show when the vehicle was driving autonomously, about to stop and to move off –while six high-definition cameras offered a 360-degree view of surrounding areas to capture the behavior of other road users.


More than 150 hours of data over approximately 1,800 miles of driving was collected, including encounters with pedestrians, bicyclists and other drivers. Now researchers will use this data to understand how other road users respond to the signals.

Andy Schaudt, project director, Center for Automated Vehicle Systems, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

“This work is of value not only to vehicle users and manufacturers, but to anyone who walks, rides or drives alongside an autonomous vehicle in the future. We are proud to support Ford in developing this very important research.”

We are already working with several industry organisations to push towards the creation of a common visual communications interface that most people can understand across all self-driving vehicles; and are initiating research into a potential solution for a communications protocol with those who are blind or visually impaired.

John Shutko: Ford human factors technical specialist

“Preparing for a self-driving future is going to take all of us working together. That’s why we’re developing and advocating for a standard solution so it can be adopted by the industry and applied to all self-driving vehicles.” 

Have you ever looked at a car from the front and thought you saw a face staring back at you?

Don’t worry, you’re not seeing things. Ford's designers think of the front as the personality of the car, with headlights for eyes and a grille for the mouth. And the Cars films from Disney showed just how easily that can come to life.

But much of the inspiration for the exterior designs comes from animals, such as the agile athleticism of cats.

Today, on International Cat Day, lets celebrate all things feline. Through the years, many Fords have been named after cats, including the Cougar, Kuga and Puma. There was also the Ford Panther platform, used for a wide range of American sedans, plus the dual-fuel Bobcat development engine.


Beyond the name-plates, you’ll see feline elements in lots Ford cars. The alert and aware cats’ eyes inspire the headlights on some of our cars, showing a focused, assertive look that’s intended to give the driver confidence.

Then there are the strong, powerful haunches on the rear wheels that make it appear the cars are ready to pounce in feline fashion.


Cats are considered to be “purrfectly” proportioned, and a domestic cat is as comparatively powerful and athletic as a tiger or cheetah. The legs are just the right length for the body, and it’s these feline proportions that our designers try to emulate.

Jordan Demkiw, Exterior Design Manager, Ford of Europe.

“A car’s athletic yet stable exterior is largely due to the proportion of the wheels to the body, the body to the ground and the body to the glass. This all needs to be perfectly balanced to create that look. Similarly, cats have a well-balanced proportion which reflects those attributes we look to achieve.”

But it’s more than felines that inspire Ford designers, who also look to the sleek, aerodynamic bodies of sharks and the strong postures of horses to add a predatory and powerful demeanour to Ford cars.

So it’s no wonder the Focus RS seems to crouch like a cat on the prowl, and the Ford Mustang gallops down the road like a thoroughbred racehorse.

Regular YouTube fav' Justin, aka +Fezza, recently took his Focus RS to the track .... with his kids.



Their reaction? "That was good ..."
Kids eh, what can you do ..... 😄

Pics taken from the Facebook pages of various auto brands. Can you identify them?