Tag: Fast Ford

CONCOURS FOCUS RS MK1: CLEANEST FORD OF ALL?

Steve Evans has poured countless hours and endless amounts of dedication into his concours Focus RS Mk1 – an effort that’s been rewarded with trophies, lots of trophies!

Feature from Fast Ford. Words: Ben Birch. Photos: AS Design

Concours competitions are a huge test; of precision planning, an eagle eye for detail and most of all, an unwavering dedication to the cause. To place anywhere in an event is a serious achievement, but to win two of the most prestigious Ford concours honours in the same year, is truly remarkable.

Well in 2019 this concours Mk1 Focus RS did just that – it not only won the Overall Gold Cup two years running in 2018 and 2019, but it won the RS Owners Club National Day ‘Car of the Show’ in 2019 too! “Winning National Day is our proudest moment yet,” smiles owner Steve Evans, “it’s a real historic trophy, and usually won by really beautiful older Fords… my wife Kate and I didn’t expect it, and we’re both still on cloud nine to be honest!” As we listen to the couple’s story, we realise they’re actually being very humble – many years of blood, sweat and tears built up to these well-deserved wins, and it all started with a Ford Orion… fitted with fish tanks!

Back in the late ‘90’s Steve and Kate competed in shows and sound system sound-offs (remember those?), in a silver and blue Ford Orion. In those days the wilder and crazier a car was, the better, and Steve has always been able to come up with unique ideas to make his cars stand out. “It had a big ICE install in it, complete with fish tanks” he laughs, “we had great fun in that car and the silver and blue theme lives on with the Focus… but my wild ideas have calmed down a bit nowadays!”

Steve bought the Focus as a present to himself back in 2006, following the sale of his business. “We worked so hard for twelve years building a company up,” he explains, “and wanted something to show for it at the end”. They had always liked the shape and colour of the Mk1 Focus RS, so the search was on for a minter… but after twelve months of disappointing viewings he was getting despondent. “We looked at a few and even back in 2006 finding a good one was really hard,” he remembers, “eventually I found a 9,000 mile example up in Leicester, and we shot up there to take a look”. Steve was initially sceptical as the old boy had only owned it for a month, but further investigation revealed that an RS Owners Club member had owned it previously, so Steve gave him a call. “It all checked out, thankfully”, he continues, “so we bought it, and simply enjoyed driving it to shows with the only modification then being a Superchips remap”.

Over the next ten years, the car was driven, entered into Show and Shine events, and subtly modified as funds allowed. One such early modification were the Sierra Cosworth bonnet vents, which Steve and his paint man laboured over to make perfect, as surely they were a unique touch? “Our first show out with the bonnet vents was the West Wales RSOC show in 2013,” he smiles, “I drove in feeling proud, but to my amazement we found another two Focus RS’s at the same show, with the same vents!” An exhaust and air filter, under-bonnet colour-coding and US-spec rear lights were slowly added to the spec list, but it wasn’t until 2016 RSOC show at Castle Combe when things got really serious.

“We’d initially entered into the Show and Shine as usual,” remembers Steve, “but at the last minute decided to enter concours for the first time with the Focus RS Mk1.” The couple cleaned, polished, dusted and preened, and were feeling happy when Paul Cox judged the car. “We won first place in the “Novice – Post ’81 class”, he continues, “but when we asked Paul for a candid assessment of what could be improved, it dawned on us just how far behind the curve we actually were”. The experienced judge pointed out there was still dust in the seatbelt webbing stitching, dust behind the pedals, and there were little water marks in the roof gutters. Far from this putting the couple off, it actually spurred them on! “The other concours competitors were so lovely to us that day,” remembers Steve, “everyone was so helpful and kind and welcoming – we not only got inspired by the levels they took their cars to but we also had a great time, so we decided to join the concours family for good!”

Over the next year or so lots of concours events were driven to, and successes enjoyed in both the Novice and Intermediate Modified classes. It wasn’t all plain sailing however, as one day Steve forgot to pack the hoover hose! “I had to run around the traders stands, buy a Sierra Cosworth coolant hose for £25, then gaffer taped it to the hoover”, laughs Steve, “with that time lost, I didn’t remove the wheels to clean them, and was marked down to second place because they were still a bit dirty… lesson learned!”

It was a slice of inspiration from another concours car, that took the Focus into a new stratosphere of cleanliness completely. “We saw Paul Stonebridge’s stunning Imperial Blue Escort Cosworth,” explains Steve, “the painted underside and colour coding blew us away, and we took the Focus off the road in the winter of 2017 to give it the same treatment”. The couple had just finished a new garage to house the car, and Steve spent countless hours in his new den stripping the underneath completely – “I only had two axle stands,” he laughs, “so I did the rear first and then the front… it was really hard work.”

Starting with the rear, the subframe, fuel tank, brake lines, discs, and suspension came off and most of it was sent off to the powder coaters. At the same time, he cleaned and sanded the underside ready for paint – we all know that meticulous prep is what gets good results when it comes to paint finish, and Steve’s elbow grease really paid off… just look at it! “The painter came over and used Imperial Blue, then lacquered it and finished it off with GTechniq Crystal Serum ceramic coating. It made a huge difference and I couldn’t wait to start building the car back up again!”

New parts included a KW suspension kit, with Steve getting the springs powder coated blue to match the subframe. He also bolted in a Reyland brake conversion to the front end, had billet alloy fuel line clamps made by concours friend Mr. Cox, and proceeded to send all new nuts and bolts off for nickel plating followed by chrome plating. The final build up with all of the shiny new components really gave the couple a huge buzz. “It was coming together and looking amazing,” Steve remembers with a smile, “Kate polished the exhaust system to a mirror finish and we refurbished all the heat shields… not a stone was left unturned.”

But after five months of work, when it was all finished, the couple stood back and realised the gravity of what they’d done! Their first competition was 9 hours away in Scotland, and the prospect of having to clean the beautifully mint underside regularly between shows, and maybe after rain, led to a big decision. “We made the leap to enter the ‘Expert’ class, and trailer the car to and from events” explains Steve, “which means we don’t actually get to drive the car at all nowadays”. To some, that may seem extreme but that’s one of the sacrifices to make at this level of competition. What I didn’t understand, was why bother doing all of the modifications if it was all about the condition? “In the Modified classes, each modification is actually worth an extra point,” explains Steve, “for example – we were losing points with the Ford headlights as they were worn and you can’t buy new from Ford any more. So we bought the twin headlight conversion – being new they can’t be marked down for bad condition, and being a mod they actually gain us a point.”

All of this meticulous thinking and prep paid off – just look at the ‘Honours List’ box for full details on how the car has been received by the concours scene. But what about average show-goers? “Some don’t like my style of colour coding, or mods like the headlights,” admits Steve, “but I have always been a bit unique with my taste. Most people do appreciate it though, and one of the biggest compliments was when a detailer came over at a show and said he’s never seen a car anywhere near as clean as this in his whole career… that was a lovely thing to hear!”

So after all of this success and fun with the concours family, what’s next for the car? “We’ve now bought a Mk2 Focus RS to get our driving kicks with,” he continues, “and the concours Focus RS Mk1 will get different wheels and tyres, a headlining colour change to something dark like the Mk2 FRS, and we’re going to install a sound system”. Hang on, a sound-system? Please tell us there won’t be any fish tanks… “no fish tanks, or fish”, laughs Steve, “I promise!”

Tech Spec: Concours Focus RS Mk1

Engine:

Milltek sports cat and exhaust system, K&N Gen 2 induction kit, Superchips Bluefin, Airtec charge-cooler radiator, Samco silicone hoses, full split loom change, DPC air ducted slam panel, braided fuel lines, stainless steel under bonnet plates, charge-cooler cover/cap, fuse box cover, brake fluid reservoir cover/cap, power steering reservoir cover/cap, screen washer cap/ cover, header tank cap /cover, wing top rails, billet strut top covers, full bulkhead cover, cambelt cover, manifold cover, coil pack bracket, polished throttle elbow, engine mount cap, blue Motorsport ignition leads, colour coded charge-cooler, battery box, slam panel and rocker cover

Power:

270bhp (estimated)

Suspension:

KW V1 ‘RS Edition’ coilovers, Powerflex poly bushes, Hardrace adjustable toe arms, Roadnutz adjustable drop links

Brakes:

Reyland 2-piece front brake kit, custom billet brake line brackets, HEL braided brake lines

Wheels & Tyres:

12.5mm rear spacer kit, OZ Racing 8x18in alloys repainted in high bright silver, 225/40R18 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres

Exterior:

Sapphire Cosworth bonnet vents, colour-coded door handles, bumper vents/grille, Hella twin headlights, US rear lights and rear fog light, smoked front/side indicators, Maxton Design front bumper splitter, side diffusers, and rear spoiler lip, underside painted Imperial Blue, two-tone powder coated front/rear subframes, all nuts and bolts nickel and chrome plated, GTechniq Crystal Serum applied to underside and exterior

Interior:

Intermittent wiper stalk, Scangauge, RSOC logo Dinamica door pockets, carbon sill protectors

Source

May 27, 2021
GROUP S FORD RS200: THE CAR THAT NEVER WAS

When Group B rallying was cancelled, plans were drafted for a new Group S category. Sadly, those plans never materialised but Ford’s chief rally engineer, John Wheeler, was determined to make the Group S Ford RS200 a reality – so built one of his own. Here it is…

Feature from Fast Ford. Words and photos: Robb Pritchard

After spending two-and-a-half years developing the ill-fated rear-wheel-drive Mk3 Escort-based RS1700T, Ford was a little late to the Group B party with the sublime Ford RS200 in the mid 1980s.

Debuted on the 1986 Swedish Rally (where Stig Blomqvist recorded a third-place finish in what would be the RS200’s best result in world rallying), it was considered technologically superior to many of its rivals. But the short development phase meant – at world championship level, at least – the Ford RS200 only got to shine against the well-established opposition from Peugeot, Lancia and Audi on the Swedish, Acropolis and RAC rallies. At national level it fared somewhat better by winning the British and several European championships. But relegated to history in the same year of its launch, the whole project is filed under the heading ‘What could have been’.

Looking back, it seems obvious that the high-risk nature of Group B was unsustainable but cancelling the entire prototype class in favour of the production-based Group A left every manufacturer – with the notable exception of Lancia – without a competitive model.

What had been anticipated for 1987 or 1988, albeit only theoretically, was the introduction of a class of cars that would have kept the prototype looks, technology and innovation but would have been powered by production-based engines: the fabled Group S.

With just ten cars needed for homologation rather than the previous 200, it was an attractive idea for many manufacturers. With several cars in development at the time (such as the Toyota 222D, Lancia ECV and a mid-engined Audi), the sudden change of regulations left lots of projects stillborn. The Group S Ford RS200 was one of them…

Group S Ford RS200: Becoming a reality

Engineers, though, have an innate desire to see their creations brought to reality. And John Wheeler, Ford’s chief rally engineer in charge of the original RS200 project, was no different. He knew that with a few modifications – tweaks that never got a chance to be developed on the original programme in the 1980s – he could build a new car that proved the RS200’s potential.

A labour of love in his spare time, John started work making the mythical Group S Ford RS200 a reality way back in 1987, and had the rolling chassis on its wheels in 1990.

“The original RS200 had a lot of innovations that would have made it an incredible car on the stages, and it always seemed quite a shame to just shelve all of that,” John says. “So I persuaded Ford Motorsport director Stuart Turner to let me pursue the build of the RS200 Evolution Group S design on my own, with the idea that if it proved feasible a further ten or 20 cars could be built for alternative forms of motorsport. He supported me and helped me buy redundant material from the rally programme.”

The donor vehicle was a crash-damaged chassis that had suffered rear-end injury in a rallycross event. It was ideal, as it came at a healthy discount and he wanted to heavily revise the front and rear structures.

The original RS200 had front- and rear-beam structures complemented by bolt-on tubular upper framework. This was a legacy of Group C race-car design, and apart from not being very weight-efficient in the rally application, showed structural deficiencies in severe off-road events. It was a good idea on paper, but on the harsh stages of the Acropolis the joints came so loose that the team ended up welding them together.

John’s new version has the rear upper framework integral with the roll cage structure and the complete lower subframe removable as a unit. As well as providing increased structural integrity it saves a significant amount of weight. With modern composite materials in the bodywork – a blend of FRP, Kevlar and carbon fibre – the Group S version is a significant 150kg lighter.

Cossie Power

At the heart is a 2.0-litre YB block, found in the Sierra Cosworth, which dominated touring car championships for many years, as well as being Ford’s first Group A-era rally car. Easily capable of producing upwards of 500bhp depending on turbo spec and boost level, it’s currently set at a very healthy 485bhp, which is enough for John to have fun on the demonstration events he takes the car to. A BorgWarner EFR 6258 turbo with variable boost settings has replaced the original Garrett unit.

The innovative transmission system, with a front-mounted transaxle that provides the dream front-to-rear weight distribution of 49/51 remains, as does the double shock per corner set-up. The rear suspension, together with the new structure, is significantly redesigned, with the upper wishbones and close-coupled twin dampers now interchangeable with the front units.

But another significant improvement is the six-speed sequential gearbox developed specifically for the car by Mike Quaife.

“Back in the day the drivers liked the five-speed dog ‘box as they believed with a sequential it would be impossible to get down from sixth to third. I knew it could be done, though… and I love it. Having the rapid shifting and the spread of six gears transforms the car.”

As is evident from anyone who remembers, or watches YouTube videos of the era, safety wasn’t exactly the paramount concern of the Group B era. Speed and poor spectator control were part of the problem, but so were the cooling arrangements for mid-mounted engines. With oil coolers installed all over the place to catch air drawn in by the plethora of vents and scoops it necessitated lots of vulnerable piping, and spraying a hot turbo with oil was a recipe for immediate and devastating disaster.

Cool Runnings

To remedy this, John came up with an inventive cooling design – although he assures us it’s an old-school solution. “On the front-mounted radiator there’s a small bypass circuit serving the interior heater. The port from the back of the cylinder head, which normally serves the heater circuit, is split into two subsidiary circuits, one of which passes through the Modine oil cooler, and the other through the water-jacket intercooler, before joining back into the return pipe from the radiator.

“Therefore, the charged air from the turbo compressor passes through the water cooler, which is running at between 80°C and 90°C and is sufficient to get the 180°C turbocharged air down to 120°C. The turbocharged air then goes through an air-to-air cooler and, with the ambient air at around 25-to-30°C, it is enough to reduce the charge-air to 45°C, which is what you need for optimum performance.”

The engine bay rearrangement meant the intercooler could be mounted lower down in a much better centre of gravity position, with ambient air channelled from a venturi duct on the roof. The sleeker lines then allowed proper airflow over the roof, so an aerofoil-shaped rear wing could be used instead of the previous solid one.

“If this had been done as an official Ford project, we’d have taken it to a wind tunnel and refined it more, but it’s clearly a more efficient design overall,” John confesses.

But unless you have a bank account as unlimited as the Group B regulations, building a prototype supercar is not such an easy task. And also having a full-time job with Ford’s continuing rally effort, as well as a stint at Aston Martin, large reserves of cash and spare time were rather limited throughout the ‘90s.

Wanting to do it right meant, for many years, the project proceeded slowly but involved a lot of input from the same people who were part of the original car: ACS undertook all fabrication work; John went to Gordon Spooner Engineering for the vehicle build; FF Developments took charge of the transmission and driveline; mountune looked after the power unit; for the bodywork Steve Gignor in Bourne; the late Mick Jones and Baz Cannon (in his Rally World preparation company in Essex) helped put it together and get it stage-ready.

Group S Ford RS200: Keeping Active

Group B monsters are stunning machines to look at – especially true unicorn examples like John’s Group S version – but watching them being blasted around forest tracks at full chat is what really blows the mind. Several non-competitive show events for these monsters take place around Europe, one of the best being the Eifel Rally held in the rolling hills around the little town of Daun in western Germany. And being in the passenger seat adds a whole new element to the thrill…

The first thing on opening the Sierra-shaped door is an overwhelming sense of sadness about how many families of Smurfs had to die for their blue furry skins to cover the dashboard.

The second is that I don’t think I need the full five-point harness just for a ride up the road… Or do I?

“Yes, you do,” John says quietly. John wanted to see if the slight smell of petrol was a leak somewhere in the system… and the test was to put his right foot on the floor and leave it there to see if there was any misfire or if that smell of fuel got any stronger! Old-school solutions for old-school technology.

An airfield with a long strip of wide tarmac seemed a safe enough place for the systems check but with a 0-to-60 of around three seconds, I wasn’t prepared for the visceral brutality of an RS200 in full attack mode and, all of a sudden, the runway didn’t seem that long.

At just about the moment I was going to point out the rapidly approaching bushes at the end of the tarmac John stomped on the brakes and the deceleration was hard enough to pull out my earphones and yank my glasses off. In the sudden ear-splitting noise and jarring G-forces he somehow managed to do a U-turn and, with arms significantly heavier than the pull of the earth, I didn’t put my glasses back on for fear of impaling my eyeballs.

So when John decided to use the landing markings as chicanes, the jolting changes of direction turned into a confusing blur, which to the best of my cognitive abilities felt much like an accident – severe enough to conjure up thoughts about what I hadn’t yet achieved in life.

“How was that?” John asked before I realised we’d come to a stop. “All right,” I mumbled. It’s important to keep a veneer of professionalism in situations like this. I had no idea where my earphones had gone. Trying to conceal how much I was shaking, what struck me most was that such trauma was caused in a car that is essentially 35 years old.

To imagine the ultra-talented drivers who could manhandle the car like that over the testing stages of the WRC, with thick crowds lining the route, almost beggars belief.

And just as impressive, of course, are the engineers who conceived, designed and built these fire-spitting beasts to make them into the monsters that attracted such crowds and posters that adorned bedroom walls. Mine included. Hats off to John Wheeler and all involved with the mighty Group S Ford RS200 project.

As John’s unique Group S Ford RS200 proves today, Ford’s Group B rally monster of the mid-’80s definitely had the potential to be a winner if fate hadn’t conspired against it.

But while there’ll only ever be one John Wheeler-built Group S version, John admits that with the unprecedented interest in modern retro performance cars, he thinks that there is still potential for a limited production run.

And he’s not the only one. RS Retro, a UK company (based in Essex, of course!), is now offering new-build, fully road-legal RS200s, available with a wide range of engine and transmission options. So, have we really seen the last of the mighty Ford RS200…?

Who is John Wheeler?

At Ford: 1980 to 2000s
Career highlights: Team leader on RS1700T project, designed the concept for the RS200 project, chief engineer on rally improvements for Sierra Cosworth, heavily involved in design, development and production of the Escort Cosworth
Inspired: RS200, Escort Cosworth, Focus RS, Focus RS Mk2

London-born John Wheeler was always interested in automotive engineering, and came to Ford almost by chance in 1980, after spending years with Porsche. He was a rising star in the chassis area at Porsche (this including work on racing sports cars) when in 1980 he answered an Autosport advert for a job at Boreham.

Once there, he led the team that designed the stillborn Escort RS1700T and lobbied in vain for a four-wheel-drive version to be developed. Later his concept for the RS200 evolved into the 200-off supercar, after which he became chief engineer on the rally improvement of Sierra RS Cosworth cars and made remarkable detail improvements to the rear-drive rally cars. It was in this time that he also made great strides in improving the Sierra XR4x4 as a competent loose-surface/winter car for rallying.

From 1988 he was one of the prime movers behind the concept, evolution and progress towards production of the new ACE (Escort RS Cosworth) project.

In the mid-1990s, a spell as Aston Martin’s chief engineer (the V12-engined DB7 was developed in his time there) then led to his return to Ford’s technical headquarters at Dunton and in Germany, where he spent years in the 2000s running the Focus RS and Focus RS Mk2 design and development projects.

Now retired and living in Germany, he still enjoys getting behind the wheel of a few fast Fords, including his one-off Group S-spec RS200 in rallying events throughout the summer.

Tech Spec: Group S Ford RS200

Engine:

2.0-litre Cosworth YBB built by mountune, mountune-spec cams, ported head, BorgWarner EFR 6258 turbo reverse-mounted (exhaust towards front of engine) on custom exhaust manifold, custom exhaust system, modified sump to suit mounting angle of engine, modified YB inlet manifold, injection rail and plenum, Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator, custom cooling package with air-to-water chargecooler, additional custom air-to-air intercooler with roof-mounted carbon venturi air feed, custom oil cooling/breathing system

Power:

485bhp (estimate)

Transmission:

Quaife six-speed sequential gearbox, four-wheel drive with RS200 Ferguson viscous coupling centre diff, front mounted transaxle and rear diff

Suspension:

Revised Group S-spec front and rear tubular subframes, double-wishbone layout with twin dampers and springs per corner, bladed anti-roll bars, fully rose-jointed and fully adjustable throughout

Brakes:

AP four-piston callipers, 330x32mm ventilated discs all round

Wheels & Tyres:

Speedline 8.75x18in with various assortment of tyres depending on event

Exterior:

Lightweight FRP/carbon fibre/Kevlar RS200 composite body panels, twin fuel tanks (one per side), RS200 rally livery

Interior:

RS200 dash and switchgear, Sparco seats

Source

May 20, 2021
COLIN MCRAE: A FORD MOTORSPORT ICON

One of the most iconic characters in motorsport, Colin McRae will forever be remembered as a true Ford hero. Here’s why…

Feature first appeared in Fast Ford magazine. Words: Graham Robson. Photos: Ford Photographic

It’s been 22 years since Colin McRae won his first rally event in a Focus WRC, the Safari of 1999. It may have been of shattering importance to Ford, and to M-Sport, which had built the car, but for Colin it was just another step along the way – he had, after all, won his first world championship round six years earlier, and had been world rally champion in 1995.

As a personality, an icon, and, above all as a fiercely competitive driver, we’ll never forget him. Colin, who tragically died in a helicopter crash near his home in Scotland in 2007 (along with his son Johnny and two family friends) had no time to do anything slowly. Everything in his life seemed to be enjoyed at top speed, and his career certainly reflected that. Maybe his top-line rally career was already over by the year in which he was taken from us, but as far as he was concerned there was still much more motorsport to be enjoyed.

Famous son of a famous father – Colin McRae’s dad, Jimmy McRae, was British Rally Champion several times in the 1980s, twice in Sierra RS Cosworths like this

Before he took up rallying, Colin had indulged in motorcycle trials and scrambles, but it was after watching his famous father, Jimmy McRae, win so well, so often and so stylishly in a rally car that he took up the sport. He never let his rallying life be dull, and his sport was never tackled cautiously.

Along the way, he notched up an impressive total of bills to repair crashed cars and seemed not to care how much this was sometimes costing his employers. It was a perhaps slightly arrogant attitude, which eventually weighed against him.

The first time I saw Colin McRae on a British rally in the 1980s, he was picking tree branches out of the bodywork of his battered Vauxhall Nova. The second time, he was doing the same to a Sierra RS Cosworth, and the third… Well, why do you think that his long-standing nickname was McCrash? His one-time team boss David Sutton described Ari Vatanen’s progress as ‘crash, win, break the car, crash, win…’ and Colin was like that in every way. And just like the flying Finn, Colin matured and became a hero to millions of rally fans all over the world.

Colin McRae and Nicky Grist celebrate their 1999 Safari victory

“With McRae’s ‘if in doubt, flat out’ attitude, there’s no wonder he’s regarded as one of the most-loved Ford motorsport icons of all time”

Colin was the eldest son of five-times British Rally Championship winner Jimmy McRae, who along with Russell Brookes, had dominated British rallying events during the 1980s. It was when Jimmy was at his peak, driving works-blessed Ford Sierra RS Cosworths, that in 1986 Colin (then only aged 18) started out in the Scottish Rally Championship in a Talbot Sunbeam, soon turning to a Vauxhall Nova (with financial help from Dealer Team Vauxhall).

Ford, which had Jimmy McRae on a long-term contract, then decided to encourage Colin too. The Blue Oval provided him with a Group N Sierra RS Cosworth for the British Rally Championship (where he often crashed) but at this early stage his most astonishing performance was to take fifth overall in New Zealand in D933 UOO, an elderly ex-works Group A Sierra RS Cosworth RWD (on an event where four-wheel-drive cars were already considered essential).

Ford, still indulging him in spite of his frequent costly crashes, then gave Colin full backing in 1990, where he started the year in a rear-drive Group A Sapphire Cosworth, and ended it in one of the first Cosworth 4x4s. Although he took second place overall in the British Rally Championship of that year (a seven-event series in which he had one victory, two seconds and two third places), his first Ford works contract came to an end immediately after he had badly damaged yet another works Sapphire Cosworth 4×4 in the RAC rally.

Despite taking sixth place at the end of that event, his car was really a rolling write-off following a typical McCrash excursion and Boreham seemed relaxed when hearing that he had decided to join to Subaru (and Prodrive), where he would stay until 1998.

To be honest, it was at Subaru that Colin firmly cemented his relationship with the British rallying public. Not only did he win the British Championship twice in the four-wheel-drive Legacy, he began winning at world level, using steadily-improving Imprezas.

Not that his demeanour, nor his treatment of his cars, improved in that period, for although he became world rally champion in 1995 and finished second in the championship in 1996 and 1997, he was often at odds with his team management, with his teammates, and even in the car itself; he also dumped co-driver Derek Ringer in favour of Nicky Grist in 1997.

Richard Burns and Colin McRae – rivals but still friends

By that time he had become something of a media hero, as his Colin McRae computer game sold in its millions, making him richer than any previous British driver. His demands on the team and, coincidentally, his financial demands on Prodrive, eventually led to them releasing him at the end of 1998.

By then, though, he had already concluded a mega-contract with M-Sport and Ford for 1999; he was made team leader at a then-colossal fee of reputedly £3 million-a-year. You may be sure that Martini, which was the headline sponsor of the newly-developed Focus WRC cars, had to spend much of the budget on McRae.

No matter, the financial outlay was soon seen to be worth it; grappling with the all-new Focus WRC, he startled everyone by winning the 1999 Safari and Portugal events in his first few months. They were only the third and fourth rallies ever tackled by that complex four-wheel-drive car.

Colin McRae was famous the world over, and the fans loved him – as this shot confirms

Nevertheless, Colin McRae always seemed to be very hard on his cars: he expected them to put up with his methods, and expected the team to put up with his sometimes sullen temperament. When things were going well, he could reputedly be the best of hosts and the soul of any party. But when the gloom descended (which it sometimes did) he was said to be better avoided.

Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport organisation, which loved him because of his unstoppable ambition to win and ability to keep a battered car going, rose above McRae’s attitude, as the car kept on improving. Colin was always on the pace unless the Focus WRC let him down. Sadly it did that more often then he or M-Sport would have liked in 1999, with 11 retirements in that first year; three were due to crashes, but whenever and wherever he appeared in the Focus, Colin McRae set standards and, usually, fastest times.

His second season with the M-Sport Focus (in 2000) was so typical of his flamboyant career at Ford. Having started all 14 world championship rounds, Colin won twice (Spain and Greece), and took second on three occasions. But his cars suffered four engine failures and had two big accidents. He was apparently so unhappy about this that he threatened to leave at the end of the year.

“He had become a media hero, as his computer game sold in its millions, making him richer than any previous British driver”

Colin McRae was supremely fast – and brave – on any rallying surfaces

Things got much better in 2001 when McRae won three world events, all three on the run: Argentina, Cyprus and Greece. And amazingly, there was only one accident – in front of his adoring fans in the Network Q Rally at the end of the season.

Even so, Colin always seemed to give everything to his sport and his employers. In fact, he came close to death after a high-speed crash in Corsica in 2002, which left the car upside down in the trees and below the level of the road, with him trapped inside and fuel dripping onto his overalls. It was a miracle that co-driver Nicky Grist was able to get out of the wreck and summon help.

McRae was always the darling of the national and motorsport press (like Nigel Mansell, they didn’t necessarily like him as a man, but he certainly provided them with many good headlines). It was especially a great thing for his personal publicity, especially as the media encouraged the myth of his rivalry with Richard Burns (in fact, the two were friends and thought the idea of a feud was laughable). With a total of 25 world victories and many other podium placings, it’s easy to see why.

Bargaining on his worth to the sport, Colin soon became rallying’s richest driver, and because more than ten million copies of the PlayStation Colin McRae Rally video games were sold, he wisely became a tax exile in Monaco for some years.

Nevertheless, it was his financial demands (he reputedly demanded £5 million for the following year) that eventually forced McRae out of Ford at the end of 2002, and he was never happy, nor successful, with Citroen the following year.

When he lost his Citroen contract after only one season, there were no other substantial rally offers, and because of his known character he found it impossible to gain any further works drives.

Apart from dabbling with the design of a new clubman’s rally car – the McRae R4 – which he personally demonstrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2006, a one-off drive in the Le Mans 24-hour race, and the commissioning of an ultimate Mk2 Escort ‘just for fun’, his motorsport career was effectively over.

But his legacy will live on forever. Rally fans aren’t as pragmatic as team bosses; they don’t care about coming second in a pristine car ready to do battle again next week. No, they want to see a do-or-die attitude, going all-out for glory and to heck with the consequences. And with Colin McRae’s ‘if in doubt, flat out’ attitude, that’s exactly what they got. No wonder he’s regarded as one of the most-loved Ford motorsport icons of all time.

Colin McRae: Driver Profile

Born:

Lanark, on 5 August 1968. Killed in a helicopter crash on 15 August 2007.

Rallying achievements:

World Rally Champion in 1995, second in World Rally Championship in 1996, 1997 and 2001. British Rally Champion in 1991 and 1992.

Raced works Ford Focus WRCs from 1999 to 2002, winning nine world events (including twice in the East African Safari, and three straight victories in the Greek Acropolis) during that time.

Outright World Rally victories:

1993 – New Zealand (Subaru Legacy), 1994 – New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain (Subaru Impreza); 1995 – New Zealand and Great Britain (Subaru Impreza); 1996 – Greece, Italy and Spain (Subaru Impreza); 1997 – East African Safari, Tour de Corse, Italy, Australia and Great Britain (Subaru Impreza); 1998, Portugal, Tour de Corse and Greece (Subaru Impreza); 1999 – East African Safari and Portugal (Ford Focus WRC); 2000 – Spain and Greece (Ford Focus WRC); 2001 – Argentina, Cyprus and Greece (Ford Focus WRC); 2002 – Greece and East African Safari (Focus WRC)

Source

May 11, 2021