Tag Archives: Moreton

Two Laps Down – Lola Chevrolet T400 #HU12

John Moreton qualified his #46 Perry Krinitt Lola Chevrolet T400 chassis #HU12 15th, on it’s debut, for the SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship Round at Mid Ohio run on August 10th 1975, he started and finished Heat One 8th and finished the final in 10th two laps down.

Three weeks later John qualified the same car 8th for the Atlanta Grand Prix at Road Atlanta and came home 7th again two laps down.

Lola T400, Mark Dwyer, Silverstone Classic

Over the next four weeks Krinitt Racing Ent. ditched the T400 chassis and swapped the engine, gearbox, wheels, instruments, brakes and steering rack over two a new T332 in preparation for the Long Beach Grand Prix where John qualified 17th, finished 16th in Heat One and 9th in the final again two laps down.

At Lagunna Seca John again drove the #46 T332 where he qualified 7th, finished Heat One 4th and came home 12th in the final, two laps down,
John qualified the #46 T332 10th at Riverside, finished Heat Two sixth and came home fifth in the final on the same lap as the leader.

Lola T400, Mark Dwyer, Silverstone Classic

No further racing history is recorded for today’s featured T400 chassis #HU12 until Ed Swart bought the car in 1991, after spending three years rebuilding it he raced it for six seasons before leaving it with Vin Malkie in the UK in 2002.

Ed Jowsey then raced #HU12 in 2003 until it was damaged at Snetterton, repair took over a year to complete and in 2006 the present owner Mark Dwyer bought the car and is seen at the wheel of it in these photo’s at Silverstone Classic in 2012.

My thanks to Allen Brown for confirming the spelling of “Krinitt”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Two Laps Down” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Mercedes Monday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ian’s Great Escape – Oulton Park Gold Cup

At the weekend I took a break from attending the Gold Cup on Monday as in recent years and went on the Sunday, my decision was influenced by slightly larger grids for the races and slightly better weather, I was rewarded with a short lie in and a great day’s racing which kicked off when Tim Murray and I visited the press office where we were greeted with a warm welcome and great cup of coffee by friends made over several years on The Nostalgia Forum.

Morgan, Kivlochan, Ginetta, Ward Booth, Lotus, Barter, Ginetta Boland, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After a quick visit of the pit area we made our way to Deer Leap for the 10 lap Oni Plc Historic Road Sports race which was led on the opening lap by front row starter Kevin Kivlochan in the #98 Morgan Plus 8 seen above already in second place on lap two. Pole starter Julian Barter driving the #51 Lotus Elan S4 completed the opening lap in 4th but recovered to relieve the races second leader Roger Waite in another Lotus Elan on lap 5, the red #32 Ginetta G4 driven by Patrick Ward Booth finished 3rd ahead of Kevin’s Morgan and the blue #27 Ginetta G4 driven by Dave Boland.

Lightening Envoyette, Peter Moreton, Lotus 22 Andy Hibberd, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

We moved to the inside of Lodge for the next couple of races. Above Peter Moreton had an electric opening lap in the first of the two Silverline Historic Formula Junior races leading the field from 4th on the grid in his #75 Lightening Envoyette, front row starter Andrew Hibberd in the #179 Lotus 22 completed the opening lap in third and is seen above lining up to relieve Peter of the lead for good at the end of lap 3, John Fyda driving a Brabham BT6 finished second ahead of Peter with less than 6 seconds covering the top three after 20 mins of close racing.

TVR Griffith, Gardner/Cox, Mike Whitaker, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Mike Gardiner and Dave Cox qualified their #77 TVR Griffith on pole for the HSCC Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres GT Race but there was no stopping Mike Whitaker in the similar #46 TVR seen above about to take the lead at the end of the 2nd lap which he would hold onto until pitting on lap 11 handing over the lead to the similarly Ford 289 powered AC Cobra driven by Robert Bremner. After the pit stops had cycled through Mike Whitaker led until the end of the race ahead of the Gardiner / Cox TVR and Robert in the over steering (loose) AC.

Brabham BT21, March 703 Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

By the end of the 40 min GT race Tim and I had made our way over to the inside of Old Hall from whence we watched the start of the first of two The Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 races. Fourth place starter Steve Seaman in his #26 Brabham BT21 nipped through to lead the opening 4 laps of this race from pole man Simon Armer driving the #22 March 703 who is seen above about to pass Steve to claim the lead which he held onto to take the flag a gnats over 17 seconds ahead of Micheal Scott’s Brabham BT28. Steve came home forth behind clear championship leader Leif Bosson driving another Brabham BT28.

Chevron B37, Neil Glover, March 742, Mark Dwyer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing Neil Glover driving the one off 5 litre / 302 cui 1976 Chevron, celebrating it’s fiftieth anniversary this year, B37 F5000 car which he qualified second for the first of the weekends Derek Bell Trophy races behind the 2 litre / 122 cui 1974 March 742 Formula 2 car driven by Mark Dwyer. Neil snatched the lead for the opening 3 laps of the race with Mark snapping at his heals in the nimble March who finally grabbed the lead on the third lap and pulled out a nearly six second advantage when a major incident between Denton’s and Cascades required the red flag to be shown on the 8th lap.

Ian Ashley, Derek Bell Trophy, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

5th place starter 67 year old former Grand Prix driver Ian Ashley driving the #188 Lola T300 Formula 5000 car came down the chute between Denton’s and Cascades for the 8th time in 4th place behind the Clubmans Mallock driven by Mike Charteris when he came across a hapless lapped Brian Cullen driving a 1970 1600 cc Formula 2 spec #18 Crosslé 19F. Just after the Denton’s right hand kink Ian clipped the left rear wheel of the Crosslé with his right front and went flying down the track until his rear end hit the retaining barriers which sent the car into a barrel roll before landing on it’s right side and then came to rest miraculously the right way up. Fortunately Ian was able to release himself from the remains of his Lola unaided and gave spectators a thumbs up to a good dose of applause, neither driver suffered any injury that I know of.

 Jaguar E-type, Micheal Wilkinson, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After the dramatic low’s and high’s of the incident the 40 min Jaguar Heritage race passed by in relative tranquility. The third place starting #50 E-type of Michael Wilkinson and John Bussel took over a commanding lead with 6 laps to go, when Martin O’Connel’s pole winning E-type retired 1 lap after his compulsory pit stop, to finish over a minuet and a half clear of Paul Castaldini who was just third placed pairing of Dave Coyne and Robert Gate who made it an all E-type podium as several of the cars struggled to the end with smoking brakes, exhausts and or transmissions.

Lenham P69 Waggitt/Needham, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Normal service returned with the Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres Sports Racing cars race. On the opening lap 5th place starter Jon Waggitt was the man on the move with the #33 Lenham P69 seen here followed by the pole sitting and eventual winning #18 Elva Mk 7, driven by Maxim Bartel and Callum Grant, ready to pounce by the front row starting #6 Chevron B6 driven by Nick Thompson and Sean McClurg. Jon kept the lead for all of two laps before the #18 reasserted qualifying form and went on to win the 40 min race by over 8 seconds from the #33 Lenham that Jon shared with Peter Needham that finished a further 5 seconds ahead of the Chevron B8 driven by Charles Allison. In the back ground seventh place starter Marcus Mussa spins his #88 McLaren Elva M1B going into the Hislops chicane.

70's Road Sports, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The 20 min 70’s Road Sports Bob Trotter Celebration Race may have been shorter than some, but provided the most closely contested victory as second place starter Jim Dean made the running over the first five laps in his little green #72 Lotus Europa, eventual winner, by just .089 of a second, was Charles Barter whose powerful blue #24 Datsun 240Z started 3rd but had to take to the escape road going into Hislops on the opening lap in order to avoid the spinning 5th place starting Lotus Elan driven by Iain Daniels. Jim finished 2nd just under 5 seconds ahead of the light green #1 TVR Tuscan driven by Peter Shaw.

March 703, Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The starting grid for the second Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 race was exactly the same as the first, unusually the finishing order of the first race played no part in the starting order for the second, once again it was third place starter Steve Seaman in the Brabham BT21 who went into the lead on the opening lap, but this time he held onto it until lap 6 before a determined Simon Armer found away past for the final two laps of the race which he finished just over half a second ahead of Steve and nearly 8 seconds ahead of Michael Scott.

Historic Formula Junior, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The grid for the final race of the day, second Silverline Historic Formula Junior race was determined by the finishing order of Junior race one, but pole sitter Andrew Hibberd finished the opening lap in third as the electric Peter Moreton again led with John Fyda between them. Andrew is seen above having just taken the lead from Peter who was demoted to third as John followed Andrew to take second on lap 3. The order remained the same until the end of the race with the top three again finishing less than six seconds apart with plenty of entertaining battles through the field to keep the results uncertain until the very end of a great day’s racing.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ian’s Great Escape” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Lost Luck Of The Irish – Wyedean Forest Rally

Following last weeks blog on the 40th Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally today’s blog features the remaining prize winners on the event who did not get a mention.

Peugeot 106, Matthew Davis, Ryan Taylor, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Rex Paddock Memorial Trophy for the best prepared car entered by a Forest of Dean Motor Club member went to the 1400 C class #251 Peugeot 106 that Matthew Davis and Ryan Taylor drove to a 91st place overall finish.

Subaru Impreza, Nigel Drew, Pauline Nash, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Lionel Ward Trophy for best finish by a Forest of Dean Motor Club Crew was awarded to Nigel Drew and Pauline Nash who drove their #29 Subaru Impreza to a 22nd place finish overall.

Nissan Micra, Nigel Jenkins, Kirsty Walby, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Nigel Jenkins and Kirsty Walby driving the RF1.4 #239 Nissan Micra won the Finishing Touches Hair and Beauty Cup for finishing 98th overall and last of the Forest of Dean Motor Club entered crews.

Peugeot 106 Rallye 2, Rachel Patterson, Tom Wood, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Bob Brain Trophy for highest placed lady driver was won by Rachel Patterson who along with co driver Tom Wood brought their 1400C class #246 Peugeot 106 Rallye 2 home in 105th place overall.

Subaru Impreza WRC, David Weston, Kirsty Riddick, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

Kirsty Riddick who navigated David Weston’s #2 Subaru Impreza WRC to a second place finish overall won the Lilian Turley Trophy for best placed lady co-driver.

Ford Focus WRC 05, Damian Cole, Jack Moreton, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

Jack Moreton navigated Damian Cole’s #6 Ford Focus WRC 05 to a 6th place finish and earned himself the Michael ‘Beef’ Park Trophy for highest placed under 22 co-driver.

Mitsubishi EVO X, Gunnar Karl Johannesson, George Gwynn, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Forest of Green District Youth Cup for the highest placed under 22 driver was won by Gunnar Karl Johannesson who with George Gwynn finished 29th overall in their class N4 #51 Mitsubishi Evo X.

Land Rover Freelander M Sport, Spence Price, Chris Hands, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

There was only one off road vehicle in the event namely the #105 Land Rover Freelander M Sport driven by Spence Price and Chris Hands to a 96th place finish overall and the B G Landrovers Ross on Wye Trophy for highest place off road 4×4.

Citroën C2 VTR, Dan Moss, Sam Allen, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Gwynne Speed Rally Championship honours for best Citroën C2 finishers went to the #110 Citroën C2 VTR crew of Dan Moss and Sam Allen who finished 94th overall.

Lancia Stratos, Steve Perez, Paul Spooner, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

I’ll add a couple Psychoontyres awards of my own first for best sounding car to make it past the last corner on the opening Blaze Bailey Stage was the Ferrari Dino V6 powered #44 Lancia Stratos crewed by Steve Perez and Paul Spooner, which unfortunately retired with suspension problems after finishing stage 2.

Volkswagen Lupo Sport, Danny O'Reilly, Karen Phelps, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Finally the Psychoontyres best sense of Humour award goes to the #264 Volkswagen Lupo Sport crew of Danny O’Reilly and Karen Phelps who posted their retirement as “Lost luck of the Irish after SS6”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lost Luck Of the Irish” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1969 NASCAR contender. Don’t forget to come back now !

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IMSA King Elvis – Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo #88-01

According to the results available to me Don Devendorf a “scientist” at the Hughes Aircraft Corporation was campaigning a Triumph Spitfire and then Mueller Fabricators Triumph GT6 in the GP and EP SCCA classes with some success from 1968 to 1970.

By 1978 Don had founded Electramotive Engineering of California with John Knepp to prepare and successfully race a succession of Datsun’s.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Starting with a IMSA GTU Class 240Z before moving onto GTU Class 280ZX and GTO Class 280ZX turbo models up until 1984.

In 1985 Nissan decided to drop the Datsun brand in favour of Nissan and entered into a partnership with Electramotive to field cars in the top GTP class of the IMSA series.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

From 1985 Electramotive used Lola chassis similar to the Lola T710 chassis used by General Motors Corvette GTP team but adapted to take the Electramotive tuned turbocharged Nissan VG30 V6.

Initially the Nissan variant of the Lola T710 was known as the T810 in 1985, but for 1986 and 1987 the cars were known as Nissan GTP ZX-turbo’s with Lola T710 chassis numbers.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The Nissan Lola chassis carried bodywork devised by Yoshi Suzuka which was easily distinguished from the Hendricks Motorsports GTP Corvette body by the large front intakes mounted below the windscreen.

By 1987 the GTP ZX Turbo had been developed into one of the faster cars on the IMSA GTP circuit scoring 5 pole positions and one win with Geoff Brabham and Elliot Forbes-Robinson sharing the victory spoils at Miami.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For 1988 Electramotive commissioned Trevor Harris to design the chassis for today’s featured car, #88-01 built by Jim Chapman’s JC Prototypes, using the same Electromotive alloy block motor and running gear as the ’87 GTP ZX-Turbo and similar Yoshi Suzuka designed bodywork.

After gifting the two endurance events at Daytona and Sebring to the new Castrol sponsored Jaguar team, by not entering them. Geoff Brabham won nine of the remaining events, with a season high streak of 8 consecutive wins to secure the 1988 drivers and team championships for the Electramotive team.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Chassis #88-01 was known as the King of the IMSA circuit and given the nickname Elvis, much of the success of the car was due to an electronically controlled turbocharger waste gate devised by John Knepp.

Four of Geoff’s wins were with John Moreton acting as co driver, they also scored a fifth non championship win together at Tampa in November 1988 and one more with Tom Gloy sharing the driving duties at Mid Ohio.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Surprisingly in 1989 Geoff Brabham drove #88-01 to a further seven victories to secure a second drivers title and team title for the Electramotive team, this included securing pole with Arie Luyendyk, Chip Robinson and Michael Roe for the Daytona 24 Hours where they failed to finish and winning the 1989 Sebring 12 Hours with Chip and Arie sharing the driving.

During the 1989 season Geoff and Chip shared #88-01 with team founder Don Devendorf to win at Miami and Atlanta and shared another two victories as a driving pair.

Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

In 1990 Don sold Electramotive to Nissan and the team became Nissan Performance Technology Inc, NPTI. Elvis was wheeled out for it’s third and final season of competition and scored three more wins, including a second win at Sebring where Derek Daly and Bob Earl shared the driving. Derek and Geoff shared the driving to secure the chassis final two wins at West Palm Beach and Road Atlanta.

In all from 1988 Elvis made 32 starts, 16 from pole, finished 26 of those races and won 20 of them. Geoff went on to secure the 1990 IMSA GTP championship using a new twin turbo V6 NTP 90 chassis and the 1991 championship with a combination of a twin turbo V8 Nissan R90CK, twin turbo V6 NTP 90 and NTP 91 chassis.

Thanks for joining me on this IMSA King Elvis edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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VSCC Spring Start – Silverstone

I awoke at 3:40am on Sunday full of anticipation, the weather forecast was good, the dawn chorus was getting underway as I prepared my sandwiches and daylight was lighting up the day as I headed towards Silverstone with my friend and regular GALPOT contributor Tim.

M4, Eastbound

We took the fast route in order to get to the circuit early, meeting up with friends for breakfast in the canteen we were saddened to learn of the death of Lotus Elan driver Alan Fleming in Hockenheim the day before and that Garry White had been seriously injured driving a GN Gnome the same day at Silverstone.

Lotus 49 R8, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tim and I took a wonder round the paddock in the morning where we were astonished to find the late 1968 Lotus 49 R8 as raced by Graham Hill, Richard Atwood, Jo Bonnier and most successfully by Dave Carlton in South Africa to two local F1 championships, form the center of a Bonhams display. The car is expected to fetch between £700,000 and a million at Goodwood in June.

Standard, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

While we were working our way through the paddock the vehicle above wafted through the crowd, I was surprised to learn it appears to be powered by a Standard Vanguard motor, if you know anything else about the car please chime in below.

ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy, Gillies, Morris, Topliss, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The racing got underway with the ERA 80th Anniversary Trophy which was one by Mark Gilles aboard the green wheel lifting 1934 ERA seen leading the ERA 11B of David Morris which retired leaving Nicholas Topliss in the #5 blue ERA R4A to finish second.

FJHRA , Goodliff Woodhouse, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The battle for honours in the front engined Formula Junior race lasted the whole race with Simon Goodliff in his red 1960 Lola Mk2 managing to hold off the green 1959 Elva 100 driven by Mark Woodhouse.

Riley, Super Rat, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Pete Candy driving the 1936 Riley Super Rat seen in the paddock above won the 8 minute Short Scratch Race for pre war cars.

HGPCA Pre 66, Griffin, Moreton, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The action continued with the second race for pre ’66 Grand Prix Cars which was won by John Romano who clocked up his second win of the weekend in his 1964 Brabham BT11. Above Alex Moreton in his 1961 Lotus 21 is about to lap Paul Griffin in his 1959 Cooper T51 on his way to a seventh place finish.

Maserati 6CM, Lockie, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

It’s always great to see one of my former race instructors, from 1989/90, take part in an event above one such was Calum Lockie who is seen driving a 1938 Maserati 6CM to victory in the pre 1941 Continental Trophy race.

50's Sports Racing, Horsman, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Regular readers will have heard me make many references to The Nostalgia Forum who’s knowledgeable members include Peter Horsman seen above driving the #248 Lotus 15 above to victory over the #256 Lister Jaguar of Dr Barry Wood in the 1950’s sports racing cars event.

Tec Mec, Wood, VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

Tony Wood lifts a wheel at Becketts above on his way to his second win of the weekend in the Pre ’61 Racing Car event driving the 1959 Tec Mec F415 which readers may remember I looked at in some detail recently.

Pre War Handicap,  VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

By comparison the 5 lap pre war Handicap race felt like a race in slow motion, above a couple of Rileys lead a gaggle of cars in the event which was won by Richard Hudson driving a Bentley.

F3 500, Bishop Miller, Kingsland, Turner  VSCC Spring Start, Silverstone

The penultimate event of the day was for the 500 cc / 30.5 cui Formula 3 cars this was declared, with Ian Philips the winner, after the; #57 Revis driven by Richard Bishop Miller, #59 Staride Mk 3 of Xavier Kingsland and #86 Cooper Mk 9 of John Turner came to grief at Becketts one lap after the photo above was taken. I am not entirely sure what happened but the out come was that John Turner was thrown out of his Cooper and Richard Bishop Miller had to be cut out of the Revis and both were taken to hospital.

Andrew Mitchel won the final Pre War race of the day driving an HRG but by then Tim and I were negotiating a few diversions on the way home, seeing John Turner falling out of his Cooper having left me feeling considerably the worst for wear.

My thanks to Alan Cox at the Nostalgia Forum for pointing me in the direction of the results pdf.

I hope you will join me in offering sincerest condolences to the the family and friends of Alan Fleming and best wishes for speedy recoveries to Garry White, Richard Bishop Miller and John Turner.

Thanks for joining me on this”VSCC Spring Start” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” and that you will join me again for Americana Thursday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Genk Cosworth Part 2 – Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4

The forth and final incarnation of the Sierra Cosworth was built to overcome the short comings of 2wd in Rally competition which since the introduction of the Audi Quattro in 1980 had became dominated by four wheel drive machines. 12,250 of the Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4’s were built in Genk, Belgium.

Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4

The Cosworth 4×4 was timed to coincide with a minor facelift to the Sierra range in 1990, powered by either 224 hp Cosworth YBG with catalytic converter or YBJ motors, without the converter, coupled to a Ferguson patented all wheel drive transmission. The road going variant is distinguished by the return of the bonnet louvre’s seen on the first two RS Cosworth variants and discreet 4×4 badges on the front wings. Note also the return of the Sierra RS Cosworth name to the boot / trunk lid as on the original 3 door version.

Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4

Unfortunately due to it’s size compared to the competition which included the pint size Lancia Delta & Mazda 323 hatchbacks and Toyota Celica Coupé, all with four wheel drive, none of the four Sierra RS Cosworth variations ever won a World Championship Rally, though Francois Delecour managed a couple of 3rds in Monte Carlo and Spain driving the Cosworth 4×4 in 1991..

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Genk Cosworth Part 2’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Genk Cosworth Part 1 – Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth

The second generation Ford Sierra Cosworths were all built in Genk, Belgium, with new 4 door bodies that were introduced with the 1987 Ford Sierra facelift, in Britain the 4 door Sierra was known as the Sierra Sapphire.

Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth RS, Brands Hatch

The Sierra Saphire RS Cosworth was positioned at the top of the Sierra performance tree, powered by the original 204 hp version of the Cosworth YBB motor, though with suspension set to favour comfort over over performance handling as in the original 3 door Sierra RS Cosworth.

Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth RS, Donington

Despite losing the wild appeal of the original Sierra RS Cosworth the latter Sapphire’s performance did not really suffer with the road going version being independently timed by Autocar rest to 60 mph 5.8 seconds, 1/4 mile in 14.4 seconds up, to 100 mph in 15.8 seconds and with a top speed of 143 mph.

Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth RS, Brands Hatch

Unlike the earlier Sierra RS Cosworth and RS 500 evolution the Sierra Saphire RS Cosworth was built for Right Hand Drive and Left Hand Drive markets. Confusingly the LHD variant of the 4 door Cosworth was simply known as the Sierra RS Cosworth as had the original 3 door RHD version. From 1988 to 1989 around 13140 examples for both markets were manufactured.

Mark Hales is seen driving the #12 at Brands Hatch, Mark shared this car with ABBA drummer and sometime Grand Prix Driver and Truck racer Slim Borgudd to victory in the Willhire 25 hour race at Snetterton in 1989. Steve Monk is driving the #13 at Donington to a fourth place finish in a race won by Mark Hales while David Shead drives the #15 Bristol Street Motors Sierra Sapphire Cosworth RS at Brands Hatch.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Genk Cosworth Part 1’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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