The BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally team has been a strong contender in the Manufacturer's Championships. With two back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, the team is looking forward to a hat-trick in the coming season. Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala and Khalid Al Qassimi will be leading the charge for the Cumbria, England, based team.

Malcolm Wilson, of M-Sport, convinced Ford in 1997 to run their World Rally Championship campaign. The Ford Escort Cosworth that they were handed was rather difficult to handle however the experienced Carlos Sainz managed to notch up wins in Indonesia and Greece on their way to the Third place standing for that season.

Juha Kankkunen and Bruno Thiry took the wheel for the team in 1998 although work was underway to prepare the new Ford Focus WRC. The duo was impressive in 1998 but the season didn't give Ford much to gloat about. The Focus WRC was launched in Monte Carlo in the 1999 season along with a new face behind the wheel, the master himself, Colin McRae. The first half of the season was wonderful as both the car and the driver delivered what they had promised. McRae won the tiring Safari and the Portuguese events but the second half of the season went into a rut, denying Ford the title.

The Scotsman was competitive throughout 2000 with wins in Spain, Greece and Cyprus as well as in 2001 with wins in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece but somehow, nightmarish beginnings and ends to the seasons meant that he, and Ford, were out of the title contention.

The 2002 season saw a more reliable car and McRae and Carlos Sainz won three rallies and scored points on each and every round. Both drivers were on their way out of the team and a tighter budget in 2003 saw the team bring forth Markko Martin and Francois Duval. The car also underwent changes and a meaner Ford Focus WRC, from Christian Loriaux, came in at mid-season. Markko won in Greece and Finland but the reliability of this extremely fast machine was in doubt and made sure that the car didn't allow the team to fight for the title. Markko began 2004 with the same gusto and won at Mexico. The car underwent heavy revisions and made it's debut. The impact of the new car was immediately felt and at the end of the year, the Focus WRC was the quickest on asphalt. This gave Markko two wins at France and in Spain.
Car developments in 2005 meant that the Ford's budget was slimmed down even more. Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta were given the opportunity and they delivered good results consistently but there weren't any mind-blowing results or any rally wins. In 2006, the brand new Ford Focus WRC came into the picture with a full fledged debut in Monte Carlo. The driver lineups had changed with Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen. The team went on to have a highly successful season with the driver duo winning 8 rallies amongst themselves. This brought them their second manufacturer's title.

What seemed extraordinary in 2006, was repeated in 2007 with another 8 wins and a manufacturer's title. Gronholm scored six wins and missed out on his Third Driver's Title before retiring. Ford will be looking to make it 3 wins in 2 seasons with Hirvonen taking Gronholm's place as the lead driver and Jari-Matti Latvala being promoted to the support role.