Escorts at Croix, France, April '06 (lots of pics)

IrishRover

I was at a circuit quite near Lille in France called Croix en Ternois at the end of April. Here's some photos of Escorts I took.

IrishRover

aidan_dunne

Some great pics there, IrishRover. I've got a massive soft spot in my heart for Escorts, particularly Mark I's and II's. My father owned 3 when I was growing up (a Mark I and two Mark II's) so I have many happy memories of them. Going on Sunday drives, on holidays around the country, all that sort of thing. In fact, it's 10 years next month that he got rid of his last one, an end-of-the-line 1.3 litre 'L' edition Mark II with square headlamps, special edition 'Signal' or 'Sunburst' orange paintwork and Minilite-style wheels. He owned it for over 13 years so that one, in particular, holds tons of memories for me, not least the fact it was also the car I learned to drive in. And I'm not ashamed to admit I actually cried the day he got rid of it.

For me, no rally is complete without the sight of a few Mark II's getting all crossed up and stepping the tail out of a corner. If I go to a rally and there happens to be any Mark I or II Escorts competing, even if it's just one, I won't leave a stage until I've seen them come through. Along with leaning out over a wall or ditch and waving my fist furiously roaring "G'WAN D'ESCORTS!!!!" in a typical Laois kind of way!

aidan_dunne

By the way, IrishRover, is that an ex-works BTCC Cavalier (from 1994 or 1995) I can see in the first pic and a few of the others? It certainly looks like one anyway.

IrishRover

Yeah, there's a lad on one of the Rover forums who's mad into the MKIIs, he always is going on about how he still regrets selling his many years ago. My only memory of a MKI is a real poverty spec one a neighbour used to have that I used to get a lift to school in sometimes. I didn't appreciate it then, but I'm really liking them more and more now.

I was telling him how there are always a lot of MKIs and IIs still being rallied around Ireland (especially in Donegal it seems) and I recorded one of those RPM shows for him recently and he posted it on one of his Ford forums and it used up 50GB in 2 days from the amount of people downloading it. They were really excited about all the old Escorts here as they seem to be rarer over there now then here funnily enough.

aidan_dunne wrote:

By the way, IrishRover, is that an ex-works BTCC Cavalier (from 1994 or 1995) I can see in the first pic and a few of the others? It certainly looks like one anyway.

Yeah, you're right it is, and it totally wiped the floor with everything else there on the day, including a Lancia with a hoofing huge engine and even bigger intercooler!


This was the Lancia that although came second to it was a fair way behind, at least half the track behind I'd say it was.

I had an opportunity to take a pic of the engine bay but just never got around to it, really regretting that now. It had 5.2 printed on the top of the engine, meant to find out what it was.

aidan_dunne

IrishRover wrote:

Yeah, you're right it is......

Thought as much. Just noticed in this pic you posted.....

IrishRover wrote:

..... that it looks like it's got the rear wing, which makes it the 1995 model then. The 1994 Cavaliers didn't have rear wings but after Alfa Romeo started putting wings on their 155s in '94 and won the championship that year, all the other BTCC teams followed suit for 1995. I couldn't spot whether it had a rear wing or not in the earlier pics you posted so that's why I said it was either a '94 or '95 model as I wasn't sure. Now that we've established it's an ex-works 1995 Cavalier the big question now, of course, is whether or not it's John Cleland's championship winning car from that year. Be pretty cool if it was, wouldn't it? Seeing as it's still comfortably winning races 11 years on from winning the BTCC.

IrishRover

Wow, well you certainly seem to know what you're talking about anyway Aidan! I wasn't aware of that re the spoiler. I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything more about the Cavalier. I have a BTCC video about John Cleland and the Vauxhall Team (a Duke Marketing video I think). I'll have another look at it over the weekend and see if there's anything distinctive about the car that would identify it for sure.

Re the Escorts, here's some pics that the guy I was telling you about posted recently. They look seriously hardcore. Immaculate engine bays and gleaming chrome bits. So neat and tidy. The MkIII is hilarious for its surprise factor in looking completely like a poverty spec 1.3 complete with AA badge on the front! The definition of a sleeper!

















Great video here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4284023595468955891&q=mk2+escort

IrishRover

aidan_dunne wrote:

Thought as much. Just noticed in this pic you posted.....



..... that it looks like it's got the rear wing, which makes it the 1995 model then. The 1994 Cavaliers didn't have rear wings but after Alfa Romeo started putting wings on their 155s in '94 and won the championship that year, all the other BTCC teams followed suit for 1995. I couldn't spot whether it had a rear wing or not in the earlier pics you posted so that's why I said it was either a '94 or '95 model as I wasn't sure. Now that we've established it's an ex-works 1995 Cavalier the big question now, of course, is whether or not it's John Cleland's championship winning car from that year. Be pretty cool if it was, wouldn't it? Seeing as it's still comfortably winning races 11 years on from winning the BTCC.

I asked David Roberts who has the orange Rover Tomcat in the LMA series and this is what he said:

Yes, it was originally Clelands.
John Hammersley is fast in it, but concedes that the latter Primera and Accords are just faster cars... super tourers were developed each year. John was second fastest in qualifying @51.59sec, but was outgunned in the race.

(John Hammersley is the guy who owns it now and the race he is talking about was at Mallory Park on 29th May)

Scober11

Has anyone else noticed the cow relaxing between the gap in the barrier. I was testing in Kirkistown one day midweek and as i came flat through deptors there was a young calf munching grass on the curb. Took about half a lap to register.