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SAARLOUIS, Germany, August 17, 2010 – BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen visited the Ford Focus assembly plant in Saarlouis on Monday August 16.

They spoke with the workforce, signed autographs and took a plant tour in the press shop, body shop and assembly areas to see the production of the Ford Focus, which is the base model for their Focus RS World Rally Car.

Up to 1,550 Focus units are built every day in Saarlouis, whereas only 97 models of the Ford Focus RS WRC have been produced since 1999 at M -sport in Dovenby Hall, Cumbria. Some of the parts for these rally cars came from the Ford plant in Saarlouis.

The Finnish rally drivers are in Germany to prepare the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, which kicks off on the evening of Thursday August 18 with a ceremonial start at the Porta Nigra in Trier.

The tarmac Rallye Deutschland is the ninth event of the 2010 season. The three-day event will be held in Germany’s wine-producing Mosel region from August 19 to 22.