Motorsport: Ford wants Peak record

Ford will enter two Rallycross Fiestas in next month's Pike's Peak hillclimb. Photo / Supplied

Ford will enter two Rallycross Fiestas in next month's Pike's Peak hillclimb, part of the carmaker's campaign to promote the small hatchback in the United States.

But the cars won't be standard European Rallycross units, using a turbocharged 2-litre Duratec engine putting out more than 410kW.

Instead, Ford's performance people have reworked the 2-litre powerplant to produce a whopping great 590kW, or close to 800bhp.

Rally greats Marcus Gronholm and Andreas Eriksson will pilot the Fiestas up the Colorado mountain road, starting at 2800m above sea level and finishing at 4300m.

Ford wants them to complete the 156-turn, 20km course in less than 10 minutes, a feat that's never been done.

Japan's Nobuhiro Tajima came come closest last year - 10:18.2 in his special Suzuki XL7.