Formula Ford 2000: the big brother
By the mid-1970s Formula Ford grids had grown so much, and oversubscribed grids had become so common, that organisers faced an unusual problem: what to do to get numbers down? So promoter John Webb came up with the idea of giving Formula Ford 1600 a big brother: Formula Ford 2000.
The new category used the larger, two-litre, Ford Pinto and RS2000 engine and, unlike its
1600 equivalent, had slicks and wings.
It existed until the end of the 1980s and counts Ayrton Senna among its champions, along with Tommy Byrne, JJ Lehto and David Leslie.
Ian Titchmarsh recalls:
“At Silverstone for example you used to have two heats each of a full grid of 36 [FF1600] cars, so that’s 70-odd cars, and so Webby thought [he would] hive off the better drivers, the ones who were looking to make motor racing a career of sorts, into a slightly enhanced category and so he came up with Formula Ford 2000.
“And that is still very successful. The measure of the success of the concept of Formula Ford 2000 is shown by the fact that the Historic Sports Car Club championship today you get some of the largest grids because the cars are so raceable.”