In an effort to expanding its performance portfolio to appeal to a broader segment of car buyers, Ford is bringing the 2014 Fiesta ST to dealerships later this year. With a 197 horsepower 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine under its tiny hood, the Fiesta ST should prove a fun and affordable corner carver with power to spare. 

But there are still months to wait before outlets and consumers get behind the wheel of the Fiesta ST themselves. To hold us over until then, Ford let one of its engineers take the Fiesta to its Lommel Test Track in Belgium.

The Lommel Proving Grounds, or LPG, were built in 1964 and expanded in 2008 to include over 50 miles of various road surfaces for testing. The location was chosen as it was about halfway in between Ford’s main development teams in Germany and the UK. The track is the perfect place to put a new performance car like the Fiesta ST through its paces.

Sharing many of the same features found in the Focus ST, such as a six-speed manual transmission and a revised suspension, the Fiesta ST will come in about $2,300 cheaper. But you wouldn’t know it was any cheaper from the way David Put, Ford’s driving dynamics specialist, throws the Fiesta ST around the track.

Unfortunately, this reminds us that America will probably not be getting the two-door coupe version of the Fiesta, seen in the video. Instead it will be a four-door hatchback, a real shame since the Fiesta ST looks gorgeous as a coupe. Two doors or four, we’d still rock it.