The Global RallyCross Championship has been around for four years, and Ford is on the verge of winning its fourth-straight GRC Manufacturer’s Title at the season-finale double-header event in Los Angeles this weekend. To show what kind of work it takes to field such a dominant team, Ford Racing takes us behind the scene at the Olsbergs MSE (OMSE) shop in Sweden.
Former rally car driver Andreas Eriksson takes us on a tour of OMSE to show what goes on behind the scenes to create Ford’s rally racing effort. The shop is responsible for the Ford Fiesta ST used in GRC as well as rally-racing Fords in other racing series including for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and the shop is currently restoring a former Pikes Peak car.
Measuring almost 24,000 square feet, the OMSE shop has the capability to design, create and fabricate the race cars from the powertrains to the roll cages to the custom body wraps designed and installed in-house. The shop also houses a gym, sleeping quarters and a restaurant for OMSE’s 46 employees.
One interesting tidbit is the fact that each GRC Supercar takes requires 16 people and approximately 400 man hours of work to create including the construction of the 270 feet (70 meters) of roll cage inside the car. Since GRC began in 2011, OMSE has helped propel Ford to 20 GRC wins and 50 podiums, and for 2014, its season consists of supporting cars in 21 races in 14 countries around the world.
Google News