Ford (1991, 1993 - 2000)

1991 1993 1994

1995

 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Ford Sierra Sapphire

Ford Mondeo Saloon

Ford Mondeo Saloon

 Ford Mondeo Saloon  Ford Mondeo Hatch Ford Mondeo Hatch Ford Mondeo Hatch Ford Mondeo Hatch Ford Mondeo Hatch
R. Gravett P. Radisich P. Radisich P. Radisich P. Radisich P. Radisich W. Hoy A. Menu A. Menu
  A. Rouse A. Rouse K. Burt S. Robertson W. Hoy C. Baird A. Reid A. Reid
            N. Mansell   R. Rydell

Robb Gravett - 1991 Ford Sapphire Cosworth

 Robb Gravett and Trakstar co-founder Mike Smith knew that they had a tough act to follow in the 1991 BTCC season.  Two seasons with the blindingly fast Sierra Cosworth RS500 culminated in 1990 with Gravett winning the championship with an impressive nine victories.  The intention was to run a rear wheel drive Sapphire RS Cosworth powered by a non turbo-charged version of the 1993cc engine that had powered the mighty Trakstar RS500 Sierras.  In an effort to gain an edge on the opposition the team turned to Allan Wilkinson, a respected rally engineer, to assist in a programme of research and development of the car.  Wilkinson decided on a radical approach to the problem of turning the Sapphire into a competitive performer.  It involved dropping the engine down in the chassis, moving it rearwards and relocating the gearbox to the back of the car in order to bring the static weight distribution as close to 50/50 as possible.  Unfortunately the Ford turned out to be a recalcitrant performer in this form and Gravett described it as '..the most difficult car I've ever tried to drive'.  The car didn't perform well and perhaps inevitably Wilkinson and Trakstar parted company and the car was rebuilt to a far more conventional specification in time for the Thruxton meeting on May 27th.  The changes plus a late season switch to another engine builder preceded Gravett's best finish, 2nd at Brands Hatch during the August Bank Holiday meeting, but this was the cars only podium place throughout the season.
With the demise of the Sierra, Ford did not enter the BTCC again until the 1993 season with the new Mondeo Si saloon, the team being run by Andy Rouse Engineering (ARE).  Although the car was ready for the start of the season it was subjected to further development work and didn't actually enter it's first race until round 8 at Pembrey, in Wales.  Andy Rouse and Paul Radisich, of New Zealand, were immediately competitive, with Radisich taking the teams first podium finish (3rd) at Silverstone, in round 9.  The Mondeos' first win arrived by round 13 at Brands Hatch with Radisich taking Fords 200th win in the BTCC.  Radisich secured a further two wins before the end of the season and  both drivers finished 1st and 2nd in the final round at Silverstone.  Radisich finished the year in a creditable 3rd in the drivers championship.  Following the late charge of '93, Ford were expected to do well before the start of the 1994 championship.  The same driver line up of Radisich and Rouse was retained.  The Mondeo proved to be a competent front runner during the season but just couldn't break the dominance of, initially, the Alfa Romeos and later in the season the Renault Laguna of Alain Menu.  The Ford team finally finished 3rd in the manufacturers points table with Radisich taking two race wins during the year.

Paul Radisich - 1993 Ford Mondeo Saloon

Paul Radisich - 1994 Ford Mondeo Saloon

Radisich remained for 1995 but with Andy Rouse's retirement from driving duties, to concentrate on car preparation, Kelvin Burt was drafted in as the No 2 'pilot'. It proved to be something of a watershed year for Ford with both drivers only taking one  win a piece.  By the seasons close Radisich could only finish 6th in the drivers championship with Ford ending up 4th in the manufacturers table.  The transition from ARE to West Surrey Racing (WSR) proved difficult for the Ford team.  An all new Mondeo hatchback, based on the 2.0i Ghia model, was engineered by Schubel in Germany and was only completed a fortnight before the seasons start at Donington Park.  The late arrival of the car meant the WSR team were always striving to catch up and this reflected in the results.  Neither Paul Radisich or Steve Robertson visited the podium once during the season.  Reynard designed and built the '97 Mondeo but the cars were, again, among the last to appear.  For the first part of the season there weren't enough spares, or development parts, to make any meaningful testing possible.  As in 1996 WSR were always playing catch up and the Ford team failed to visit the podium for a second year.  Will Hoy's best result  was a 5th place at Thruxton and Radisich managed a 4th in round 22 at Brands Hatch.

There was certainly more to shout about in 1998.  The car was closer to the pace and the Mondeo actually won a race for the first time since 1995.  Will Hoy took the flag at a rain soaked Silverstone.  Craig Baird had replaced Paul Radisich and Nigel Mansell added interest as guest driver at selected venues.  It still proved to be a year of upheavals with no sustained success, however.  Car builder Reynard cut links with the project and later in the season Ford decided to concentrate on their 1999 campaign.  They announced late into the season that it would entrust the design, building and running of the car to one organization.  WSR had hoped to win the contract but in the end it went to the Prodrive.  In conjunction with the new team Ford pulled off the coup of the year by signing Alain Menu and Anthony Reid to drive for the 1999 championship.  Team Mondeo was very much seen as the dream ticket for the title before the season started.  The upshot was one win (Menu at Knockhill), and a handful of podium finishes.  Whilst this was certainly an improvement on previous years there was very little for Ford to celebrate during the year, both cars suffering from poor reliability.  By the seasons end neither driver figured in the top 10 of the drivers table, and Ford finished bottom in the manufacturers points.

Nigel Mansell - 1998 Ford Mondeo Hatchback

Alain Menu - 2000 Ford Mondeo Hatchback

Rickard Rydell joined Menu and Reid for the 2000 season following Volvo's exit from the BTCC.  With only three manufacturers entering the championship Ford were again strong favourites to lift the title.  The previous years experience and much close season development ensured that Ford got it exactly right for 2000.  The three drivers scored 11 race wins between them, dominating the season throughout.  They had already won the manufacturers title by the time the championship went to Oulton Park for the penultimate rounds of the season.  The seasons final rounds at Silverstone, under lights, saw Reid, Menu and Rydell all capable of winning the championship.  Menu finally ran out as champion after both Reid and Rydell failed to finish in the final race of the season.  It was an extraordinary year for Prodrive and Ford, the drivers took 1-2-3 in the drivers table and they had won both the team and manufacturers  titles.  After many years of hard work the effort had finally paid off.  Shortly after the close of the 2000 season Ford, the most successful manufacturer in the history of the BTCC, announced it would not be entering a 'works' team in the 2001 championship and have no current plans to return to the series. 
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