STARD LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST ROAD-CAR BASED ELECTRIC MOTORSPORT CUSTOMER PROGRAMME WITH THE FORD FIESTA ERX2

AUSTRIA - STARD is delighted to announce the world’s first road-car based electric motorsport customer programme aimed at delivering race-ready competition Ford Fiesta ERX2s onto the market with a bespoke fully-electric powertrain.
 
Based on the Ford Fiesta MK8 ST bodyshell and developed around the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s Projekt E category ERX2 regulations, STARD is leading the way with delivering the first customer car programme to the market for a road-car based model.
 
The Ford Fiesta ERX2 has been developed in-house by STARD in Austria, using knowledge gained from over 10 years of electric motorsport vehicle development. The Ford Fiesta ERX2 incorporates STARDs REVelution powertrain system, using three electric motors, producing 450kW (613bhp) combined power and 1002Nm of instantaneous torque with a top speed of 240km/h, using a four-wheel drive system and two-speed transmissions fitted to both axles.
 
This very first electric customer car programme – with the Ford Fiesta ERX2 built in accordance with the technical regulations for the Projekt E series that will sit within the World RX class structure from 2020 – is focused on achieving unprecedented affordability for a high performance EV race car, with a race-ready price far below that of current ICE [internal combustion engine] rallycross Supercars eligible for the FIA World Rallycross Championship, but with similar performance and significantly lower running costs.
 
A test version of the car was debuted in the hands of Manfred Stohl last weekend at a national event in Hungary, as the first electric car to be raced in rallycross, the Austrian rally legend making history by winning the event against strong opposition.
 
Race-ready Ford Fiesta ERX2s are now available, priced at €374.000 and first examples have already been delivered to customers, such as experienced rallycross team Holten Motorsport in Norway.
 
Detailed technical specifications and further information is available by request, and will be released publicly in due course.
 
Manfred Stohl, Stohl Group President:
“At STARD we have been actively working on electric powertrain systems for motorsport since 2008. It feels great to finally start to reveal these revolutionary products to the public. At this stage I would also like to thank Ford for the forward-thinking support towards this project, which was an important element in this ground-breaking undertaking. The opportunity to race a Ford branded electric race car in the Projekt E series already from this year will certainly be of high value to many customers. I had the pleasure of driving one of our test cars on its competition debut last weekend at Kakucs and it was fantastic to make history and take the powertrain concepts first victory.”
 
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director Ford Performance Motorsports:
“We are happy to support STARD with this project and it will be exciting to see how this develops going forward. We wish the project all the very best for the forthcoming season and we will be watching with interest as STARD built Fiesta ERX2s go racing.”

Michael Sakowicz, STARD CEO and founder:
“I believe this is the start of a new era for customer and private motorsport. The primary target of the STARD Ford Fiesta ERX2 is of course to be raced in Projekt E, the leading electric support category to the FIA World Rallycross Championship, but also in other environments. The car has undergone all FIA safety checks, particularly for the HV systems which makes this the first motorsport EV powertrain equipped race car package to complete FIA checks since Formula E. Therefore the possibilities to race with the car are pretty much unlimited. This includes national rallycross, hill climbs, city races and more.
 
The extraordinary powertrain performance and immense driving pleasure was a key target in the development of the Ford Fiesta ERX2, with acceleration from 0-100 km/h in 1.8 seconds and highly positive comments from every single one of the over 30 independent professional race drivers that have been involved in the test and development phase of the concept since September 2019. Having a global manufacturers support, further indicates to us that we have taken right choices during development of the concept.
 
We can't wait to see the cars competing on track from this August onwards in Projekt E. It’s an important step for STARD and I dedicate this reveal to every single one of our passionate employees, as every single one of them contributed to this achievement. But, even better is that we’re just getting started and there is a lot more to come over the next few weeks from STARD.”