RallySport Magazine April 2017

FEATURE: RALLY SHOW UK
Frank York spent time
with Ari Vatanen at the
Rally Show in the UK.
Rally car heaven
Story & Photos:
FRANK YORK
I’ve always been a fan of Ari
Vatanen, as many rally enthusiasts
of my vintage probably would be
too.
He was the original Colin McRae, way
before Colin was born. A master at his
craft; daring behind the wheel; a gifted
driver who was always spectacular, but
who is also a humble and unassuming
man.
Thus, the idea of building a replica
of the iconic Rothmans liveried Ford
Escort RS1800 was always going to be
a great idea. What I didn’t realise at the
time was just how much this idea would
change my life.
As the new millennium dawned the
project was launched. A donor 2-litre
Escort GL Rally Pack was sourced and
work began on creating a faithful
replica of Ari’s famous mount.
We wanted to build a car that looked
like the original, so a lot of research
was needed. Back in 2000, the internet
wasn’t as powerful as it is today,
however it did provide some useful
information.
Most of the research was conducted
in the old paper based ‘analogue’ form!
Malcolm Wilson even sent original
photographs of his Rothmans cars to
62 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - APRIL 2017
me in the post
…would that
happen in the
internet world
of today?
I quickly
found support
from a chap
in the UK that
had just built
a Rothmans
replica, after
noticing his car
and story in a
copy of ‘Fast
Fords’, a British
glossy magazine
targeted at small Ford enthusiasts.
From that initial contact with Rob,
in Essex, UK, we built a group of likeminded
Rothmans Escort enthusiasts
that stretched from England to
Germany, and Ireland to Finland. These
fellow enthusiasts either own and run
genuine Rothman’s BDA/BDG Escorts,
or have also built replica cars to honour
the great man, Ari Vatanen.
Indeed, the Rothmans Escorts are
probably the most recognisable rally
Escort of the late 70s and early 80s era.
Up until the time where David Sutton
ran the private Rothmans Escorts team,
the official Ford works cars had carried
a number of different colour schemes
and sponsors’ names.
Perhaps Roger Clark’s ‘Red Cossack’
sponsored Escort, or Hannu Mikkola’s
‘Eaton Yale’ Escort rank as the next
most memorable in the Escort Mk 2
series. David Sutton and Rothmans
brought continuity to the team colour
scheme for a number of years.
Fast forward from 2000, and
our small group of enthusiasts
decided we would like to
celebrate the 25 th anniversary of Ari
Vatanen and David Richards winning
the World Rally Championship in the
Rothmans Ford Escort RS.
The year would be 2006, and it is
amazing to think that this all happened
11 years ago now. Historic rallying has