The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team was a private team competing in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

, founded by rally driver Luís Pérez Companc, son of Argentine entrepreneur Gregorio Pérez Companc,Luis Perez Companc: Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team
on Medium.com, 4 Aug 2017 also a car enthusiast and collector. The team made its debut in the 2007 Swedish Rally. The cars were prepared and run by the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

based M-Sport operation and Martin Christie is the team principal.

History

2007 season

The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team was founded by

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

rally driver Luís Pérez Companc, using the name of his family's ice cream parlor chain, Munchi's (which name had been taken from the nickname of María Sundblad, Pérez Companc's wife).Munchi, la más rica
on ''La Nación'', 26 Jan 2021 The team competed in the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

for ten rounds. The drivers who started the season for the team at the Rally Sweden were Pérez Companc and Juan Pablo Raies. Companc finished the rally in 15th, but his teammate Raies retired before the start of the event. Despite scoring eight points, Raies was replaced by Federico Villagra halfway through the season in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Villagra would go on to score just two points. The best result for the team came at the 2007 Rally Japan when Companc and Villagra finished fifth and seventh respectively, scoring six points for the team. The team finished last in the constructors' championship with 14 points. However, the initial season for the team was simply to familiarise themselves with the series and the car.

2008 season

For the 2008 season the team contested ten rounds. Federico Villagra drove all ten rounds for the team, while Luís Pérez Companc, who also began driving in the FIA GT Championship in 2008, shared the second car with Stobart Ford regular Henning Solberg, Aris Vovos and Barry Clark, the reigning Fiesta Sporting Trophy International champion, who contested 3 rounds of the championship for the team.

2009 season

With a healthy amount of experience under their belts and the competitiveness of the Ford Focus RS WRC, the Argentinean duo of Villagra and Companc gathered a strong haul of 23 points in the 2009 season. They also had their best WRC finishes, finishing

Acropolis Rally The Acropolis Rally of Greece () is a Rallying, rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually dur ...

and Rally Argentina in fourth position overall.

2010 season

For the 2010 season the team took part in 8 rounds out of 13. Federico Villagra drove the 8 rounds with various co-drivers in Ford Focus RS WRC 08 car. At the end of season, the team scored 58 points and ranked 5 of the Manufacturers' championship. Villagra scored 36 points and finished 9th in Drivers' Championship.

2011 season

It was announced that Federico Villagra is going to continue in 2011 with Ford. Currently with Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

WRC results

Gallery

Image:Frederico Villagra-2007 Wales Rally GB 001.jpg, Federico Villagra at the 2007 Wales Rally GB Image:Luís Pérez Companc-2007 Wales Rally GB 001.jpg, Luis Pérez Companc at the 2007 Wales Rally GB Image:Aris Vovos - 1 SSS - 2008 Acropolis Rally (1).JPG, Aris Vovos at the 2008 Rally of Greece Image:MEX 2008 RB 09 parked 1.jpg, Federico Villagra at the 2008 Rally Argentina Image:MG 2400 (30x20) (300dpi).jpg, Federico Villagra at the 2008 Rally Argentina Image:Federico Villagra - 2009 Rally Portugal.jpg, Federico Villagra at the 2009 Rally de Portugal

References

External links

Munchi's Ford World Rally Team
at WRC.com (archived) {{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Ford Team RS World Rally Championship teams Argentine auto racing teams Intercontinental Rally Challenge teams Auto racing teams established in 2007