Team O’Neil Gets Its Hands On Forbidden Fruit Ford Fiesta: Video

The Ford Fiesta hasn’t been sold in the North American market for quite some time, though occasionally, a few wayward models make their way across the pond from Europe to touch U.S. soil. Team O’Neil, a New Hampshire-based driving school focused on the rally side of things, has gotten its hands on a few examples of the Fiesta throughout the years. More recently, Team O’Neil’s Wyatt had the opportunity to take a Fiesta Rally3 for a spin around the program’s onsite rally course – and this one’s particularly special because it was never offered stateside.

The Ford Fiesta Rally3 conforms to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally3 specs, which is the more affordable division on the scale. It has a 215 horsepower engine, and was offered as an approachable model for the average buyer interested in rally. They do compete in the U.S. in the Limited 4WD class, and Wyatt says, for that application, “this is an absolutely top-of-the-line car.”

Of course, there’s only one thing to do with the Ford Fiesta Rally3: see if it will rally. Wyatt steps behind the wheel and begins slinging the race car around the snow-packed course. After feeling out the tires, he comments that they’re still very slippery because they’re not studded, but it doesn’t hurt the vehicle’s speed.

“It’s quite a vehicle,” Wyatt says. “I’m driving sloppy. I’m not used to it. Really good, though.”

That “sloppy” driving produces excellent results, though. Wyatt and the Ford Fiesta Rally3 flash across the finish line to the tune of 2:09.47, making it the fastest vehicle to take on O’Neil’s rally course. Wyatt thinks he can shave some more time off with different tires and a little bit more practice, but overall, it’s an impressive piece of forbidden fruit on U.S. soil.

While this is the first time Team O’Neil has played with the Ford Fiesta Rally3, it’s not the first time the crew has driven a Fiesta around its course. A plain old Fiesta performed surprisingly well, as did a Fiesta ST. M-Sport, for its part, is doing its utmost to keep the Fiesta alive in rally, as it snapped up an ample amount of supplies for its own builds before the vehicle reached the chopping block.