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Auto Performance - Feature: Keith Ripp BDA Fiesta
"The Rallycross Grand Prix. The Cars"
March 1983
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Feature: Keith Ripp BDA Fiesta




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.....Needless to say, Keith is keen on ratios, using a 5.9:1 and taking off in second with the 1600, then keeping it in third and fourth gear all the way. He started with a 5.9 in the 2-litre at its first meeting at Lydden in September, and then went down to a 5.1 for the Rallycross GP. 'It means that I can take off in third, saving a change, but I think it might still be too high,' says Keith. 'We may go down to a 4.7, which gives a long second gear, meaning you can get your nose ahead of the Escorts as they have to go up to third gear. We may even be able to go down to a 4.5. The difference between the two engines is like chalk and cheese as they are in the cars at the moment. The 1600 revs like mad, up to 10 000; you almost have to learn to drive all over again with the 2-litre. It gets up to a certain point and then stops revving. It's an even bigger problem to get off the line than the 1600.'

With Minis in mind, I asked how long his driveshafts lasted . . . and the answer is that the Group Two devices on the Fiesta are really reliable, as is the rest of the Group Two AVO suspension, with Bilstein shock absorbers, magnesium uprights, four-pot calipers, vented discs, centre-lock wheels, AVO anti-roll bar and pedal box, and high-ratio Quaife rack.

The beam axle four-link back suspension gets bent a bit if Ripp is unlucky, and putting the car back into track is one of the vital between-heats jobs for Nick, his brother, and two other mechanics.

'We've had to switch to Ford magnesium wheels to get the right inset,' says Keith. They're expensive, because we need four sets to coyer all the tyre options. But our rubber is relatively cheap . . . only £60 for an Avon cover against half as much again for others. The compound has to be soft, though, and you can't really get more than six meetings out of a set. We've been testing with Avons for two years now and the Fiesta - that's the 1600 one - is faster than a Mini in the dry, but it understeers so much in the wet that it's not so good as a Mini at the moment. But it gets the power down a treat in the dry and then the handling is fantastic.

What sort of spring rates do you use? I asked Nick. 'We fit the same ones most of the while,' he says, '- 190lb at the front and 150 at the back, although we go up to 230/200 for very dry tarmac events.'

What else do you have to change? The windscreen', moans our Wellington-booted hero, Ripp. 'We've tried everything and we still keep going back to the old slot in the screen. But it's awful trying to drive behind it, even if you can sometimes see better than with a full screen. You get blasted with filth. We're going to have another go at the next Brands meeting with a proper screen and five gallons of liquid forced through a dozen vents by a bilge pump out of a boat, but there have been times when it has bunged up so badly that I've had to stop . . . '

And how does the champion see the future of Rallycross? 'I think we should set up a separate class for up to 1300cc cars or start a formula for lower cost cars,' says Keith. The organisers have been against this in the past because they want to keep Rallycross as the Formula One of off-road racing. But it can cost so much that we are in danger of losing the real club drivers.

To support the organisers' view, there is still a tremendous incentive for anybody to get into rallycross. The foreign meetings, for instance, are fantastic, with enormous crowds that generate so much of an atmosphere that it can take you out of yourself.' Sounds good, doesn't it? But too expensive for the likes of you? Well, don't dismiss it just yet because next month we'll reveal how you can get involved in Rallycross for a reasonable amount of money. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Chris Harvey

Captions -

Middle-Right - Guess which one it is? Answer: the 2-litre BDA although both engines look the same under the bonnet. But you can tell a Fiesta BDA from others because they have to have special mounting brackets welded on.
Bottom-Right - Keith's good old-fashioned screen slot . . . it works, but he hates it.