John Fitzpatrick
on Ford Escort RS1600S and an infamous Brands Hatch smash
The RS1600 BDA was the ultimate development of the Ford Escort range. It was developed for the World Rally Championship, which it dominated for several years in the hands of Roger Clark and various Scandinavian drivers. The engine was based on the Cosworth-developed F2 engine and was said to push out close to 200bhp in race trim. Today, mint condition examples can sell for as much as £150,000.
The BDA was also developed for saloon car racing – John Whitmore contested the European Touring Car Championship in one with the Alan Mann team and I drove another for Broadspeed in the British Saloon Car Championship. The BDA was a race-winning car and I had some very close-fought battles with Frank Gardner in the Adrian Chambers 7-litre Camaro during the season. The Camaro usually came out on top because of its superior straight-line speed, but the last race of the 1971 Championship was held on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix Circuit, which, with just one real straight, had potential for a close race.
Frank and I had been racing together for several years by that point and had become good friends through our mutual love of golf. In fact we had taken our families down to Spain for a week’s golfing holiday the week before that last race of 1971. We talked a lot about the race and each car’s potential but I knew that Ralph Broad was putting a special effort into an engine for the last race because Brands was our best chance of taking a win.
Frank put the Camaro on pole by half a second with Gerry Birrell in the Capri and me in the Escort sharing the front row with him. Frank led from the start with me all over him looking for a way to get past and Gerry a few lengths behind. The problem was that he was so much faster than me on the straights that even if I did squeeze past him in one of the tighter corners he would just power past on the way out. I had worked out that if I dropped back a little I could take Dingle Dell corner faster than him, pull alongside into the tight Stirling’s Bend left-hander and then stay on the right hand side of the track, forcing him go round the outside before Clearways if he tried to re-take the lead.
It all worked out to plan until we touched on the exit to Stirling’s. Frank’s left front tyre exploded causing him to swerve into me, which sent us spinning down the road. I touched the bank and turned over but finished up on all four wheels. The Camaro meanwhile hit the concrete bridge before Clearways, more or less wrecking the car.
We somehow emerged unscathed from the cars, looked at each other and burst out laughing. Gerry, who had been following some way behind, passed us to win the race, leaving Frank and I to walk slowly back to the pits working out what we were going to tell our cars’ owners, Ralph Broad and Adrian Chambers. They were not happy – both cars had been sold for delivery the following week…