Its interesting how we often remember the time and place, and what we were doing, the first time we set eyes on a significant car. For me, it was January 1987, I was on holiday with my family, we were visiting a Ford dealership, as my father likes to do on holiday, and I wandered up to the showroom and peered through the window. And right there, sat a sparkling new Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, in Moonstone Blue.
Anyone with even the remotest interest in motorsport in the mid-1980s knew about the new Sierra Cosworth Ford had developed for Group A Touring Car racing. At a time when turbo-charging in road cars was becoming very popular as a marketing tool, Ford went the whole-hog with the Cosworth. This was a car developed not to be a big seller on dealership showroom floors, but to homologate the Sierra for motor racing. The DOHC turbo-charged motor may have been one of the key ingredients that would set the Sierra for domination in Group A over the coming years, but it was a combination of the slippery curvaceous body work and that outrageous rear wing that were the subject of so much excitement on the cars release.
At a time when car design was still dominated by straight lines, where a designers favourite tool was a set-square, the Sierra, with its new jelly mold shape, was considered just a little too different for car buyers on its release in 1982, and took some time to gain acceptance. Remember, the Sierra was the replacement for the square-edged MkV Cortina! In 1986, when the Cosworth, which was built around the budget model 4-window Sierra hatch, was released, it was a revelation. Amazingly, it was 25 years ago I first saw that example in the Ford dealers showroom, yet, even today, the “flying rice bubble” still looks fresh and modern.
The Sierra Cosworth motor was based around the ubiquitous 1993cc Pinto block, onto which was fit a Cosworth designed DOHC alloy head. A Garrett T3 turbo-charger was added, along with Weber-Marelli computerised electronic fuel-injection. In standard form, this pushed the Sierra, with its low-drag body, to a top speed of just over 150mph, a staggering figure for what was, essentially, a modestly priced family hatch-back!
The Sierra Cosworth made its Group A race debut in early 1987. Examples were built up by racers in Britain, Europe, and Australia that year, but on the large, early showings were disappointing. Rudy Eggenberger, who’d raced the turbo-charged Volvo 240T in the 1985, and turbo-charged Sierra XR4 Ti in the 1986 ETCC, was really the first to grasp a balance of speed and reliability from the car, as he ran a team of beautiful black Texaco sponsored Cosworths in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. Others really struggled.
The arrival of the RS500, of which only 500 cars were produced, addressed many of the original Cosworths issues, with the addition of a thicker walled cylinder block, and larger Garrett T31/T04 turbo-charger. Outwardly, the RS500 was distinguishable due to its additional front spoiler, larger front openings, and small lips added to the rear wing and deck lid. The RS500 was homologated on 1 August, 1987.
The Eggenberger cars dominated race results in the WTCC as the season wore on, while others, such as Andy Rouse, struggled. While often the measure of the Eggenberger cars on pace, Rouse rarely finished a race, having run the majority of WTCC races. He ran a limited campaign in the BTCC, where he fared much better. In Australia, Dick Johnson had a miserable season, with his two cars struggling throughout, with a rare highlight being his race win in Round 5 of the ATCC. In fact, Johnsons win was the first for the Sierra Cosworth, anywhere in the world.
The Eggenberger cars initially won the 1987 WTCC, but later had their Bathurst results stripped, on the basis their front wheel arches were illegal, which demoted Eggenberger driver Klaus Ludwig from 1st, to 2nd in the championship, one point behind BMW M3 driver Roberto Ravaglia. Ford did, however, win the manufacturers championship.
By 1988, most teams had gained a good understanding of the RS500, and were tapping greater potential from it, and it was from 1988 that the Sierra became the dominant force in touring car racing everywhere. Rouse and Johnsons teams dominated their respective championship race results, although Rouse lost out on the BTCC to Frank Sytners class winning BMW M3. The WTCC was scrapped after just one season, so Eggenberger concentrated on the ETCC instead, although again the class system worked against them, despite dominating the races.
There were really three significant races held during the reign of the Sierra; Bathurst WTCC 1987, Calder WTCC 1987, Silverstone TT 1988. These are the only occasions where the Eggenberger, Rouse, and Johnson cars met. At Bathurst, Johnson had a miserable time, with his two cars qualifying 9th and 10th, but were both out of the race within three laps. In fact, Andrew Miedecke in his OXO Supercube sponsored car, had a very good run at Bathurst, battling at the front in the early laps, and proving by far the best of the Australian Sierras after a very quiet season. Rouse, who teamed with Allan Moffat for the Australian races, as Moffat was looking to race Rouse built cars in Australia, was fast in the race, taking it to the Eggenberger cars, but retired on lap 31 with transmission failure. Before their exclusion, the Texaco Sierras finished 1st and 2nd, and were comfortably ahead of Peter Brocks Holden Commodore.
At Calder, the Eggenberger cars qualified at the front, and Steve Soper/Pierre Dieudonne in the second car won the race after the #1 Ludwig/Niedzwiedz car was struck with driveline issues, but still finished 12th, and gained points for being the 5th car eligible for WTCC points. Again the DJR cars had a bad time, with Johnson not even making the top ten in qualifying, although the second car did well to qualify 4th. But this car retired on lap 25, while Johnsons car finished well down in 13th, seven laps behind Soper/Dieudonne. After qualifying 5th, the Rouse/Moffat car retired on lap 21 with head gasket failure, and this car was not seen again in the WTCC.
With Johnson having had such a miserable time, and feeling his team had not shown what they were truly capable of against the Northern Hemiphere teams, Johnson took his car to Silverstone in 1988, with new team mate John Bowe, who’d replaced Greg Hansford. This was the Tourist Trophy event, and the only time both the Rouse and Eggenberger cars would be racing together. With Johnson now dominating in Australia, and having had his special 9” diff homologated for the RS500, this would be the final time these three teams would meet.
In qualifying, the Johnson car dominated, while now Rouse was also faster than Eggenbergers cars. Although he qualified 4th, Rouse soon moved ahead of the Texaco cars, but was no match for the pace of Johnsons Australian Sierra, which comfortable drew away, and even when it was brought back to the pack during a Safety-Car period, quickly drove away again. But Johnson didn’t win. He was heavily delayed with water-pump failure, and finished eight laps down on the winning Rouse Sierra, but he’d proven his point. Sadly, these three teams never met again.
The Sierra RS500 became the only real option for teams wanting to compete in Touring Car racing, and the success of Eggenberger, Rouse, and Johnson in their respective championships prompted a flourish of orders to build customer cars. But several teams and drivers went on to enjoy success of some sort driving RS500s in their respective championships over the next few seasons, and Group A grids were heavily populated in favour of the Sierra, no matter where it raced.
In many ways, the dominance of the RS500 brought about the downfall of Group A. Races became processional and predictable, and a far cry from the excitement and broad manufacturer involvement of 1985 and 1986. But as a race car, and as a road car, the Sierra RS Cosworth and RS500 was truly a special machine.
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Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
