The M-Sport team has signed Finn Mikko Hirvonen, ex-F1 star Robert Kubica and young gun Elfyn Evans for its 2014 World Rally Championship campaign.
Hirvonen has come full circle, returning to the Cumbrian-based squad where he started his WRC career in 2003.
The entertaining Hirvonen was with M-Sport when it helped Ford to the WRC manufacturers titles in 2006 and 2007.
After making a big impression in the WRC 2 class this season Welsh driver Evans was snapped up by the team which had seen its star Thierry Neuville defect to the new Hyundai factory team.
Evans, 24, is the son of former British champion Gwyndaf Evans.
What has not been revealed is whether Qatar will return as the primary backer of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC team.
Although Kubica will bring his long-time backer Lotos to his Fiesta in which he will contest all 13 rounds of the Championship
The Pole will contest all 13 rounds of next season’s championship in a Lotos-supported Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Kubica won five of the seven WRC 2 events he contested to win the title in 2013 with the 29-year-old making his debut in an outright WRC car in the Wales rally last month.
After his stint at Citroen, Hirvonen is returning to M-Sport with whom he has forged a tight relationship over the years.
“To be back in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, it really feels as though I am coming home,” Hirvonen said.
“The last two years were really good for myself and Jarmo [Lehtinen, co-driver], but although we will take a lot of good memories with us, we didn’t necessarily achieve what we set out to do.”
Team boss Wilson said the driver choices provided a mix of youth and experience.
“We have pitched a combination of youth and experience for our assault on the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship,” Wilson said.
“Mikko [Hirvonen] has always been a very popular member of the team.”
