Fails On Race Day?
How Ford had it, lost it then got it back.
Everybody loved supertouring. It was and arguably still is the most popular iteration of the British Touring Car Championship. But where did it come from and why? Well, the simple fact is that Group A was killed in Europe largely because of Formula Sierra - Ford's monstrous RS500 blew away all the minor competition for Class A honours. Rover and its Vitesse disappeared, Mike O'Brien's Holden Commodore was fighting Class B BMWs and Chris Hodgetts' Toyota Supra didn't cut the mustard. We won't even pretend that the Maserati Biturbo had a chance. Ford was, at that time, unquestionably the most successful manufacturer in BTCC history but after Robb Gravett became the
only driver to actually win the title in a Sierra Cosworth, in 1990, everything changed.
The 190mph Sierra Cosworth did at least finish on a high in 1990.
The two-litre formula appeared in that transitional year to become the sole class for 1991. Gravett's Trakstar team ran on what can generously be called a shoestring budget and were very close to going out of business during his title-winning year despite their success. It's important to note that at this time the idea of a "works" team as we would know it today was not yet a thing. Given that Andy Rouse immediately changed to Toyotas for 1991, Ford's representation in the series was a ramshackle team and a hastily-prepared Sierra Sapphire hopelessly unready for the new era of touring car racing. Gravett, clearly a top driver given that he had beaten the legendary Rouse in about-equal machinery, had a torrid year and was 11th in the championship and classified out of the points in six races that year.
A forunate but heartwarming 2nd at Brands Hatch late in the season spared the champion's blushes.
It was immediately apparent that BMW, Toyota and Vauxhall were the three to beat and Trakstar went bust. In 1992 a detuned, privately-entered Sierra made a few token appearances to no fanfare but Ford were working hard in the background. Their replacement for the Sierra, the "world car" Mondeo was almost ready and 1993 would see Ford return to the fold as a works team; Andy Rouse was back and the Mondeo went through extensive testing to make sure the
Blue Oval was going to return to the front of the field. So much testing that the team even tested rear-wheel and four-wheel drive versions of the Mondeo, which would have been a unique combination; a car racing with a drivetrain unavailable on its road-going equivalent.
1993 was a near-clean sweep for AC Schnitzer and BMW but at the eighth race out of seventeen, Andy Rouse and his Mondeos appeared. They were immediately on the pace with New Zealand star Paul Radisich scoring points on his debut, a podium in his second race and ended the final six races with three wins and three 2nds. Having missed the first seven races, he actually finished 3rd in the championship, so strong was the Mondeo's arrival. It was all set up for Radisich, the young gun, and Rouse, the wily driver-manager, to make a serious challenge in 1994.
Radisich began his five-year association with Ford in competitive and convincing style.
Then Alfa Romeo appeared. And so did aerodynamics.
Everybody was caught out by the Alfa Romeo 155's conspicuous and deliberate aerodynamics package and despite crying foul and Alfa briefly being excluded, Gabriele Tarquini crushed the opposition and aero was here to stay, changing the course of touring cars forever. Radisich and the Mondeo were again competitive with two wins and
seven near-miss 2nd places but a run of five no-scores towards the end of the year saw his expected silver medal stolen by Alain Menu and the nascent Renault Laguna.
It should also be pointed out that Paul Radisich actually won the 1993 and 1994 Touring Car World Cup against the best of the best, giving him the fair claim to being a double world champion. Ford
did have something but with such a cataclysmic shift in the dynamics of touring car building, could they keep it going?
Alfa Romeo leading the way with the rest playing catch-up.
In 1995 all the cars featured rear spoilers and front diffusers; the Mondeo slipped behind the pack. The Mondeo was still competitive on paper but a common sight in 1995 was the Fords failing towards the latter half of the race. Radisich and new teammate Kelvin Burt held on as long as they could but their Mondeo's cross appeared not long from the chequered flag - tyre wear. The effect of the aerodynamics and the Mondeo's heavier V6 engine (unique amongst the grid) shredded their tyres and destroyed their race pace. A win apiece was a good showing but it was obvious that Ford were going backwards. Radisich suffered even more ignominy with nine no-scores from the final ten races.
1996 was even worse. Under West Surrey Racing supervision the Mondeo hatchback arrived and was, quite simply, dreadful. A fairly unknown but talented Formula Ford champion called Steve Robertson, yes
that Steve Robertson of Kimi Raikkönen's manager fame, partnered Radisich this time and at the very first race the two cars hit each other from a lowly mid-teenth race position as the top image in this post shows. Radisich wrestled as much as he could out of the car but 13th and just 27 points said it all. Robertson scored just
two points and finished
20th even behind three privateers. This one season driving for Ford in the BTCC effectively killed his driving career.
1997 was Radisich's last year with the team and he was partnered by 1991 champion Will Hoy. A newly-revised Mondeo was better than 1996 but the nature of the championship had changed so much from Hoy's title winning year. As mentioned in the Peugeot retrospective several pages back, by this point serious players from Formula One were underwriting huge financial outlays to get the best international stars. In a field with Williams Renault and TWR Volvo, and a grid with Biela, Menu, Tarquini, Winkelhock and Rydell, the plucky Pug and feisty Ford scrapped for the minor places. Radisich finished 13th again but with more points whilst Hoy scored 27 points. At least Ford beat Vauxhall in the Teams Championship, Vauxhall having their own embarrassing year.
TOCA Touring Car Championship will forever immortalise this particular Mondeo.
After five years fighting for Blue Oval honours, Radisich had had enough and left for Peugeot. One New Zealander out, one New Zealander in as New Zealander team manager Dick Bennetts recruited Craig Baird to partner Will Hoy for what would be an eventful 1998. Baird flattered to deceive but Hoy, a perennially popular figure in the paddock, had an Indian summer with a much more competitive season.
Whereas the heavy V6 compromised tyre life, in wet conditions the heavier front-end of the car was, apparently, to the car's major benefit. At just the fourth race at Silverstone, Hoy cruised to a hugely celebrated win for what was now an unfancied car. The rain was to his and the Mondeo's advantage and where others slipped off, hit each other or put on the wrong tyres, Hoy kept his cool and aced what would be his final BTCC victory. Mid-season at Donington, Nigel Mansell was drafted in for some much needed publicity and
although his exploits are not as correctly remembered as they should be, he was on the pace and leading at another wet race at Donington Park. Baird himself, left out in the cold whenever Mansell drove, led convincingly at Knockhill in a rainstorm until a poor tyre choice saw him drop back down the field.
Baird and Mansell didn't make an impact in the championship table but Hoy finished 10th, the first top 10 finish for a Ford driver in three years and actually finished ahead of Gianni Morbidelli, who was the champion's teammate.
Hoy finished his mainline driving career in style.
After so long in the doldrums, had Ford finally turned a corner? It was not for West Surrey Racing to find out. In a merry-go-round of who took over whose works contracts, WSR and Prodrive essentially swapped with WSR picking up Honda and the vastly experienced Prodrive taking over at Ford. Prodrive had more clout, more finance and for the first time in a long while, two serious front-runners - Alain Menu and Anthony Reid. Expectations were high but teething troubles with what was indeed a much more competitive car saw the drivers who had finished 2nd and 4th from 1998 finish 11th and 12th in 1999. Menu did take a well-deserved victory at Knockhill and there were rumours of a top car for 2000.
Prodrive's previously-mentioned financial clout meant that they were one of just three teams to make the grid for the new millennium along with Honda and Vauxhall. With such less competition and more points up for grabs, this year was win or bust for Ford. With Rickard Rydell as a third driver, it was arguably the most talented peak driver line-up in touring car history.
Ford ended up making it look easy. Honda and Vauxhall fell over themselves trying to not win. It would be harsh to say that Ford went from killing Group A to killing supertouring but it is remarkable how they came good right at the end. 2000 was a three-way dance between Ford's own drivers with all three going into the final round with a chance of winning. In the end, Menu eked out Reid on a cruel dropped scores rule.
The frequent and admittedly impressive sight in 2000.
It was not Ford's fault that supertouring ended. It was already known that 2001 would be a scaled-back and stripped-down championship coupled with turmoil behind the scenes between TOCA and Octagon. But what is undeniable is that when they had their best chance, they absolutely took it.
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