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Classic Ford - Graham Robson: Fiesta Group 2 Rally Cars
"Closing Time - Clark's Fiestas"
July 2006
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Graham Robson: Fiesta Group 2 Rally Cars




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.....both Roger (in DHJ 500T) and Ari Vatanen (his German-built car carrying a French registration, 9543GR92) struggled to find enough grip, though Ari set one third-fastest and one fourth-fastest stage time overall on the snowy stages. If his car hadn't suffered from a broken driveshaft at one point he would certainly have finished higher than 10th while Roger finished 13th.

Roger claimed that there was much to learn, and that he could see ways of making the cars faster. Peter Ashcroft merely commented that: "We have got a lot if ideas on how to improve the cars..."

British Dramas

Almost immediately, though, plans had to be altered - and delayed. No sooner had the team got back from Monte Carlo than the Fiesta's entry in Galway was cancelled, and with the thought of getting a fuel-injected version of the engine ready, the front-wheel-drive car wasn't entered for the Mintex Rally either.

It wasn't that the car was disappointing, but that the Escort's World Championship season soon took most of the attention at Boreham. It was in this period, don't forget, that the works Escorts took second in Monte Carlo, second in Sweden, and a fine victory in Portugal.

The change of emphasis allowed Esso to conclude a sponsorship deal for the Fiesta, the new plan being for Roger to enter the balance of the British Open Rally Championship. To get the testing programme underway, DHJ SOOT was entered in the all-tarmac West Cork Rally, where Roger took a fine ninth place: he couldn't have been expected to finish any higher, for he was headed by five RS1800s, an RS2000, a Chrysler Sunbeam and a Chevette HS - all of them much more powerful rear-wheel-drive cars. Even so, Roger crashed the car once and suffered a de-ranged front suspension.

Another test session - on the Esso Plains Rally in Wales - for a second car (Roger's ex-Monte practice machine) was a failure, for on the very second stage the pushrod engine suffered a sticking valve, and a bent pushrod, and couldn't continue. Would an assault on the all-tarmac Circuit of Ireland be more successful? Faced with using his Monte car, repaired after the West Cork (but still no faster or with any more traction than before), Roger hoped so.

However, after only four special stages, he was disappointed yet again - with another engine failure. The high-revving Kent 1600 engine suffered a worn camshaft lobe, which mystified everyone at Boreham and Brian Hart, who had built the unit.

Fiesta In The Forests

By this time, morale in the Fiesta team was sagging... badly. And while the Escorts seemed to be winning all over Britain, and all around the world, Boreham was having difficulty in keeping its front-wheel-drive car in one piece for just a single day......

Captions -

Middle-Left - Underpowered or not, the Monte Fiesta certainly handled well, and Roger Clark always pushed it to its limit.
Middle-Right - The Clark-Fiesta combination made its last appearance on the Manx International Rally of September 1979.