The new Ford Focus is a beautiful package; it now remains for us to adapt it to work in the conditions that prevail locally, and for me to become comfortable with the feed back I am getting from the car. We have been dealing with the adjustments one by one, very time consuming but with a new car there is a new learning process.

The first one we tackled was the lack of engine performance on the first rally we did. This turned out to be simple, but had complexities that made it difficult to resolve. As soon as we had one problem fixed it revealed another, all related to the fact that the wiring harness is brand new and had been adapted to my old existing engine and ecu harness from the Escort. However, the technical resources required to solve these problems were made available and utilized to the MAX, due to the enthusiasm and commitment of my sponsors, namely "Hammy" @ McEnearney Quality Inc. My thanks to TEXACO and MICHELIN for understanding the need to keep the car away from them and their marketing aspirations during this week, whilst we addressed the various challenges so the true potential of the FOCUS could be revealed. The FOCUS is getting away from the line quickly now and the other engine related performance problems are also behind us.

Dave and the rest of the McEnearney crew, ie. Brian, Ob, Dustin, Bannie, Rob, & of course, Rally Mum continue to do ALL to resolve the issues with the suspension, that gave us all such a difficult time at the rally sprint, but still a Ford came through at the end of the day and took the honors, driven very aggressively and effectively by "Hammy Vatanen" ,and supported by the same crew.

To sum it all up I would say that these problems will be dealt with and the car and crew will be very ready for RB05, SO STAY tuned.

Sheriff