Juha Kankkunen by then lost the title to Mäkinen. Kankkunen stayed with Ford for the 1998 season with Belgian driver Bruno Thiry as his new teammate, after Sainz had opted to re-join Toyota. Ford was already moving resources into developing the new Ford Focus WRC and the team's last year with the Escort WRC was winless. Kankkunen drove the car on the podium on seven occasions, and both Ford and Kankkunen finished fourth in their respective championships. For the 1999 season, Ford signed the Subaru World Rally Team star Colin McRae and Kankkunen moved to replace him at Subaru. Kankkunen's first year
Ford Fiesta WRC Ford Fiesta WRC The Ford Fiesta WRC is a World Rally Car built by the M-Sport World Rally Team for use in the World Rally Championship starting in 2017. It is based upon the 2017 Ford Fiesta road car, and replaced the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which competed between 2011 and 2016. It was built to the fourth generation of World Rally Car regulations that were introduced in 2017. The Fiesta WRC was successful from its début, winning the 2017 Monte Carlo Rally, first round it entered. The car took five wins in its first season, with two for Sébastien