Until now, grip from all four corners of a rally car has meant one of two things. A World Rally Car or Rally2 machine, both packed with technology and no shortage of performance. M-Sport put the car through its paces in Sardinia, on roads similar to those tackled by the WRC’s best at Rally Italia Sardegna, and we jumped in to sample Rally3 power first hand. As with all new cars, you build a mental picture of what’s coming. The Fiesta Rally3 pulls 215bhp from its 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine and, as with any rally car, the key comes with the commitment to using every one of those 215 horses. In the next series of corners, he left the car a gear higher and rode the torque instead. “There’s been a big gap in the market, the gap between the leading two-wheel drive car and what was R5 and is now Rally2. The Fiesta Rally3 will be available in January next year.

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