On display in our showroom for the Sunday 28th August was the incredible 600bhp Best Buy Ford Fiesta Mark 7 Rally Cross car, which was in Kent for the British Rallycross championship being held at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday Monday. There was also a rare chance to see Haynes' very own legendary rally car, the Escort RS1800, which was taken to an amazing 6th place and first privateer in the 1979 RAC Rally by John Taylor.
As Marcus Grönholm got ready to make his debut in the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden on Monday 29th August we gave the first exclusive look at the new colour scheme on his Best Buy 600bhp Ford Fiesta Mk7, with an autograph session on the Sunday before the Lydden event in our showroom on Ashford Road, Maidstone.
"Marcus really liked the color scheme we ran at X Games Los Angeles" said Best Buy spokesman Mark Williams, "but we don’t have that brand in the UK. So we have incorporated the Finnish flag into the current design as we continue to test what design works best on the car and television."
Marcus Grönholm won the WRC in 2000 and 2002 with Peugeot before moving to Ford in 2006. Winning 12 races in total in his Ford Focus Grönholm came second in the championship behind rival Sebastian Loeb before making the decision to retire in 2007, again coming second that year behind Loeb. His teammate for the Lydden event, David Binks, became the youngest person to compete in Rallycross at the age of 16 during the 1998 season. He has moved through the ranks and gained his first drive in the Fiesta ERC supercar in 2010. Lying second in the driver’s standings before the event David was looking for the chance to gain points on the leader. He will now continue for the rest of the current season in the Best Buy Fiesta.
The fifth round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Lydden was won by former World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm but second place, having run on the tail of the famous Finn throughout the final was as good as a win for Kevin Procter driving a Ford Focus. Procter claimed first place points in the championship as the best placed of the British drivers.
Grönholm started the ‘A’ final from pole but his path there had not been easy – blaming driver error on remaining stationary on the grid at the start of the first heat before running around the circuit at the back of the field and conducting a spectacular corner of North Bend on two wheels after he clippedthe kerb. A different driver took fastest time in each of the three qualifying heats - Liam Doran topped the first heat, Procter was fastest in the second heat before Grönholm led the way home in the third. The Finn took pole for the A final with Procter and Binks (second in the first heat, didn't start the second heat and came third in the third) completing the front row of the grid. Julian Godfrey claimed the British championships five bonus points for fastest time on his way to fourth place on the grid, sharing row two with Doran. The back row held Andy Scott and Steve Hill, the pair joined by defending champion Pat Doran who won the ‘B’ final ahead of Belgian visitor Jos Jansen.
The final was stopped in its first lap after Godfrey half-rolled his Fiesta at the first corner, the car sliding along the track on its side before falling back onto its wheels. Having rejoined the race as the red flags were shown, Godfrey was allowed to take the restart amid cheers from the crowd after stewards declared his vehicle not to have any loose debris or machinery. Grönholm had led the first start from Binks but at the second time of asking Procter split the teammates and kept the pressure on Grönholm throughout the race, the pair just 0.6 seconds apart at the chequered flag. Binks completed the podium in third place, ahead of Scott, Liam Doran, Godfrey and Hill, the race losing Pat Doran in the last lap when a broken water pipe allowed coolant to leak under the wheels of his Focus, causing it to slide off the track.
Results and Times:
- Marcus Grönholm (Ford Fiesta VII) 3m 40.739s
- Kevin Procter (Ford Focus II) 3m 41.353s
- David Binks (Ford Fiesta VII) 3m 43.830s
- Andy Scott (Ford Focus II) 3m 45.620s
- Liam Doran (Citroën C4) 3m 47.343s
- Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta VI) 3m 49.878s
- Steve Hill (Mitsubishi Lancer E10) 3m 51.617s
- Pat Doran (Ford Focus) 4 laps
Please click on the video below for a view of how David Binks saw the final from his 600bhp Ford Fiesta Mark7.
Photos ©Peter Wright ©Sue Isles ©Scott Isles.
