FORD IN RALLYING - GENERATIONS OF SUCCESS FROM ZEPHYR TO FOCUS
Ford has a glorious history in motorsport but it is perhaps in rallying that the manufacturer has such a wonderful story to tell. Models like the Cortina, the Escort and now the Focus have all contributed to Ford's success in world rallying, stretching back 70 years.
It all began in the 1930s when V8-engined cars twice won the legendary Monte Carlo Rally, but it was in the 1950s when Ford made its mark with a stream of wins by six-cylinder Zephyrs. Maurice Gatsonides won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1953 and the car was also victorious on the East African Safari in 1955 and 1958 and Britain's RAC Rally in 1959.
The Zephyr was replaced by the versatile and rugged Cortina, which sprang to fame with a Safari win in 1964 and success on the Acropolis and RAC Rallies in 1966. Only a late engine problem prevented Roger Clark's Lotus-engined car from winning the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.
The Escort was launched in 1968 and so began one of the finest chapters in Ford's rallying history. A direct descendant of the Lotus Cortina, the Escort in its various guises has won thousands of times around the world. Although it has now been replaced at world championship level by the Focus, it is still adding to its roll of honour in countries far and wide.
The car which was to transform Ford's motorsport fortunes started its competition career in Twin-Cam form in 1968, winning the Circuit of Ireland, Tulip, Austrian Alpine, Acropolis and Scottish rallies in an eight-week period. By the end of the season the car had also won Finland's 1000 Lakes Rally to help Ford secure the World Rally Championship for Makes.
Ford won the world title again in 1969 and special overhead-valve engined cars dominated the 16,000-mile London to Mexico World Cup Rally in 1970. Finn Hannu Mikkola led the way by taking victory while similar cars finished third, fifth, sixth and eighth.
The Escort RS1600 took over from the Twin-Cam in 1970 and was soon repeating the success of its predecessor. Mikkola won the East African Safari in 1972 and Clark entered the history books of British rallying by winning the RAC Rally the same year. It was the start of a marvellous winning run on Britain's most famous rally with Timo Mäkinen winning in 1973 and 1974 to give the RS1600 its hat-trick, en route to a personal treble completed in 1975 in an RS1800.
Mäkinen's 1975 win was the first for the new-style Mk2 Escort, fitted with a more powerful 1800cc engine and Clark maintained the winning run in Britain the following season. Indeed Clark, Mikkola and Sweden's Bjorn Waldegård spearheaded the official Ford team's international charge over the course of the next few years as the Escort became virtually unbeatable.
Waldegård won three punishing world championship rallies in 1977, the East African Safari, the Acropolis and RAC events. This laid the platform for a superb 1979 season when the Escort swept the board in the championship, providing the power to win the Manufacturers' title and the Drivers' crown for Waldegård, who edged out team-mate Mikkola. The RS1800 won five championship rounds and was second on five more, Mikkola's RAC Rally win the eighth straight Ford victory on the British event.
Another Finn, Ari Vatanen, continued Ford's success at the wheel of a privately-entered Escort. Victories in Greece, Brazil and Finland in 1981 ensured he became the first privateer to win the World Drivers' title.
While the RS1800 continued to win national events around the globe, changes in the sport's regulations saw the introduction of the turbocharged four-wheel drive RS200 in 1986. It won 19 international rallies that season, taking the British title in the hands of Mark Lovell and the Belgian crown with Robert Droogmans, before more rule changes led to the rapid introduction of the Ford Sierra in 1987. The RS Cosworth was the most successful model and Frenchman Didier Auriol scored his, and the car's, only world victory on the 1988 Tour de Corse.
But it was across Europe at national championship level that the car gained most success. In 1987 Didier Auriol won the French title, Carlos Sainz took the Spanish crown, Jimmy McRae claimed the British title and Mark Lovell lifted the Irish crown. All four retained their titles the following season while Lovell added the Dutch championship to the Sierra's roll of honour. In 1989 the success continued - Russell Brookes won the Sierra's third consecutive Irish title and national titles were also claimed in Holland, Denmark and Switzerland.
The legendary Escort was about to return to Ford's rallying heritage and in 1993 a new type of Escort, the RS Cosworth, put the model back on the winners' podium at world level. Having won at national level in Spain in 1990 and 1991 and Britain in 1992, the car proved a huge success on the world stage. The turbocharged four-wheel drive machine won five WRC events in the hands of François Delecour, Miki Biasion and Franco Cunico. Delecour finished the campaign second in the drivers' championship and Ford were runners-up in the manufacturers' series.
Patrick Snijers lifted the European Championship in the car in 1994 while Mohammed Ben Sulayem won the first of four consecutive Middle East Rally titles for the Escort.
The car's success continued and in 1995 it won 25 European Championship rounds, as well as national titles as far apart as Africa and Austria, Switzerland and Portugal, Finland and Turkey. The model's final world rally success came in Indonesia in 1996 with Carlos Sainz at the wheel.
To suit yet more new rules, Ford evolved the Escort World Rally Car from the RS Cosworth for 1997. Sainz drove it to victory in Greece and Indonesia as the team finished second in the Manufacturers' championship. The finish of the 1998 season marked the end of the Escort's career as an official Ford-entered rally car. Its passing was marked by a remarkable event in Cheltenham, where many famous names who had been involved with the Escort through its life in rallying came together to bid the car farewell. While the car is still winning in private hands, it gave way to the Focus for the 1999 world season, bowing out with a remarkable 46 world class wins.
At the time the Focus was the most technically-advanced rally car ever built. Competitive from the start, it was a winner on only its third event, when Colin McRae won the demanding Safari Rally, the toughest championship event of all. The wins continued into the new century, McRae winning in Spain and Greece and Sainz, now in his third spell with the team, victorious in Cyprus in 2000 as Ford were runners-up in the Manufacturers' championship. The team was second again in both 2001 and 2002 as McRae and Sainz notched up another six world rally wins.
The 2003 season saw the introduction of a radical and revolutionary new Focus RS World Rally Car which took rally car design and technology to new frontiers. It was a huge success and Markko Märtin claimed victories in Greece and Finland, before adding further wins in 2004 in Mexico and then winning the final two asphalt events of the year in Corsica and Spain with an evolution model.
At the end of 2004 Ford announced a long-term commitment to the WRC with the new-generation Focus. The car made its full debut on the Monte Carlo Rally in 2006 and Marcus Grönholm won not only that but also the Swedish Rally the following month. The Finn and fellow countryman Mikko Hirvonen eventually won eight rallies as Ford lifted its first Manufacturers' title since 1979.
The Blue Oval continued its dominance of the Manufacturers' championship in 2007, the Finns adding another eight wins between them as Ford gained back-to-back titles with the Focus RS World Rally Car.
Last season Ford created history in three areas. First and second in the Rally of Turkey secured its 100th consecutive points finish in the WRC - a feat never before achieved. Jari-Matti Latvala became the youngest driver to win a WRC round in Sweden at just 22 and Hirvonen became the first driver ever to score points in all rounds of a WRC season.