PAUL LAWRENCE
Motorsport News’s historics editor goes into bat for the Ford Escort Mk2
In last week’s Motorsport News, my colleague Luke Barry made many good points about the state of UK stage rallying and the role of the Ford Escort Mk2. But on some of his points, I beg to differ. First, I’m an old gimmer and remember the good old days with a warm glow. I can blather on about Roger Clark and Ari Vatanen with the best of them. But we live in 2021 and the world is a very different place. I love watching the current WRC cars in full flight and I enjoy a well-driven front-wheel-drive hatch along with sideways Ford Escort Mk2s. I’m from the past, but I don’t live there all the time.
The first key point is that British rallying absolutely needs a strong British Rally Championship at the head of the sport. Given the current tenuous situation regarding a UK round of the WRC, more than ever the BRC needs to be our shop window and it saddens me to see so much anti-BRC feeling within the service parks. Sure, the BRC has had a challenging few years for all sorts of reasons, but the current reset should allow it to come back stronger. I really hope it does.
The BRC should be all about modern cars, right across the classes, it should embrace alternative fuels and green issues and claim the lion’s share of TV and media coverage. It should mop up any manufacturer or importer support that is available. It should be a platform for aspiring young drivers and a destination for leading national drivers. It is our sport’s UK front to the general public.
Let’s draw some parallels with racing. The British Touring Car Championship is UK racing’s flagship. It has the best TV and media exposure, the best crowds and drivers like Colin Turkington, Matt Neal and Jason Plato keep coming back because it works for them. Rising stars like Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram are building careers and taking on the old guard and the package works for sponsors and some manufacturers. The BTCC is a superb product, but it certainly doesn’t suit everyone who wants to go racing.
And the BRC should be just the same. Those wanting to make it big and those at the top of their game should be in the BRC. Everyone else should be in the amateur side, where they spend their own money to enjoy rallying in whatever type of car they choose. It matters not a jot to the BTCC paddock that in club racing there are 500bhp rocketships and every type of historic car imaginable. Different platforms for different customers.
I totally agree that the Escort Mk2 has no place in the BRC. But that’s been the case for decades. The last person to win the
BRC in a Ford Escort was Ari Vatanen. So why are people blaming the Escort? When did someone last even win a BTRDA gravel event in an Escort? On the last rally I attended, the Dukeries Rally on the asphalt of Donington Park circuit, the leading Escort finished 12th overall, beaten by 11 modern 4x4s. There were 36 modern 4x4s, 26 Escorts, including half a dozen historics, and 25 modern frontwheel drives in the entry. Why is this split of entries at a relatively modest level of event such a problem in some opinions?
Everything below the BRC is amateur rallying. Often done to a professional standard with good kit and quick drivers, but it is amateur sport. No one at this level is waiting for the call from Jari-Matti Latvala to come and test a Yaris. They are out there, enjoying their sport and spending their own hardearned cash. Why shouldn’t they drive whatever they want, providing it meets the regulations? If you outlaw the 2.5-litre Millington, clicky ‘box Escort on Proflex, it won’t push the owner into the BRC in an Opel Adam, it will push them out of the sport.
Has Andy Burton done a rally since his Peugeot-Cosworth was thrown out?
And that car alone did more for the mass appeal of rallying than just about anything in the last 20 years, including the BRC.
Then there are dozens of Escorts in historic rallying, which seems to be an issue for some. Sure, we all love to see other cars as well, but running an Escort is the logical option for competitors as all the bits are available off the shelf. It is much harder with many other cars of the period: just ask those who have taken on Chevette HSRs, Lotus Sunbeams and Fiat 131s. Alan Gow, head of the BTCC, is not the least bit threatened by the hordes of Lotus Cortinas and Minis in historic racing. It’s a completely different deal. Of course, some of the top BTCC racers are also regulars in historics, so those two branches of the sport can feed off each other.
My wish, when rallying finally returns, is that the BRC comes back bigger and better with longer and more challenging rallies, modern cars, a green agenda, pacenotes and fierce competition, which will support bigger and better coverage. Everything below that level should be as attractive and accessible as possible for those who want to rally in whatever car meets their aspiration or budget. The two can happily co-exist and help get this great branch of the sport back to good health.
In homage to the editor, I’ll try and draw a footballing analogy. I now have to take an interest in the beautiful game due to my son’s twin passions of motorsport and football. Manchester United gets the headlines, the TV coverage and the crowds (when allowed). This is football’s face to the world and grabs the attention of new fans as the game’s equivalent to the BTCC and the BRC. Meanwhile in the Northern League Stafford Rangers is playing to 500 hardcore fans and that’s all other rallying.
Rallying is equally diverse and that should be one of its strengths. We need a strong BRC, underpinned by as much diversity and inclusivity as possible. Of course, just to finish by upsetting the anti-Escort lobby, you can now buy a new 2021registered Escort Mk2, so it’s not really a 40-year-old car anymore!
“Running a Ford Escort Mk2 is the logical option for competitors”