Robb Gravett: "We were doing 189mph in the RS500"

Follow on Twitter: goo.gl/TsvaMs
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+1 on Google+: goo.gl/COUHCp In celebration of the British Touring Car Championship's 60th anniversary, we meet some of the stars of the series and their cars. In this excerpt from the special BTCC edition of the Motorsport Show, Robb Gravett, the 1990 BTCC winner, talks about the sensational Ford Sierra RS500.
Photos: Motorsport Images
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[@samjep2]

I miss the 80s and 90s touring cars.

[@Zero_Ninety]

We all do.

[@triptechable]

Same here.

[@Showmetheevidence-]

Maybe, but they’re ugly as hell.

[@fintonstack8353]

Sam Jep amen to that, spent many weekends watching the btcc all over the uk. Great fun, dogem cars for adults, dont think i ever saw john cleland finish with both wingmirrors still attached.

[@jamsee1]

The best era's of saloon car racing was the super touring era's in the 90s and the turbo 80s... no weight ballast bollocks, privateers, major world car manufacturers and pure close racing. Not watched the British touring car that much since 1999, as after the big teams spending so much that the championship couldn't sustain them all... it was never the same. When they played around with the rules of racing like weight ballast, who is on pole with a ballot and grid reverses... that was the death of me watching the BTCC. Those era's was the best and thoroughly agree with you.

[@Showmetheevidence-]

Good racing comes from cars that are allowed to have different strengths and weaknesses. Lots of racing series are so focussed on “fair” rules and “fair” racing that it’s just boring a.f.

[@marcgoodman4561]

Modern BTCC will never be fondly remembered in the future... It's no different from club racing, just higher entry fees.

[@PMGF]

Always liked Rob Gravett, the Trackstar success of 1990 is almost Brawn GP like

[@myk6694]

Favourite car of the 80s, looked well from every angle and that dual wing at the rear..amazing and still looks great today

[@ldnwholesale8552]

Funny little Pommy pram with a lot of hairdryer horsepower

[@Tj930]

When touring cars were good... Really good

[@Mors_Inimicis]

Great to see the Rover in that clip and a Capri. The parade of Sierras in BTCC became a bit of a bore fest in touring cars for me. Fine if you are Gaz from Basildon turning up at Brands with Shaz tottering in her white high heels on south bank on a wet day........yes we did see that😂

[@animaltvi9515]

Are you stereotyping people from Essex by any chance ?

[@martinachachork]

I didn't know they ran a spool (locked?) diff. Steering from the rear but without spinning up too much. Amazing throttle control needed there!

[@ryanp6138]

martinachachork crazy, no diff must be nuts with a t4 turbo and test tyres!

[@Sean-if7rp]

martinachachork Actually made the cars safer to handle, the slight predisposition to understeer helped, a lot of Can Am and Group C cars had spool rear ends for that stability

[@cabbage4372]

And in the end, all the quickest teams were running a DJR 9” centre.

[@DC322]

The Super Touring Era is one of my favorites.

[@supertouring22]

Robb was one driver who never really converted well to SuperTouring, which was a shame as I think he was a great driver

[@LarryLinton]

Rob was a real talent...watch him around Thruxton in the RS500 with one hand on the wheel.

[@darrylkelly7958]

DJR had the best Sierras in the world. It took a 4wd Nissan Skyline GTR with 670 odd hp to beat it....

[@jameslucas3161]

Gibson Motorsport had the quickest GT-Rs in the world, too...

[@NotPoliticallyCorrect407]

Darryl Kelly think was closer to 800hp ,, but yeah , AWD weapon

[@ldnwholesale8552]

Except it crashed in the wet,,, twice,, causing the race to be stopped and the arsehole won the race! That was Johnsons race

[@darrylkelly7958]

@@ldnwholesale8552 it only won because Stibbard counted back 2 lsps from the red flag, not 1 lap as is the norm.

[@woopimagpie]

LDN Wholesale You could argue that all day, but you're ignoring a few important points. Firstly, the GTR had led the race comfortably pretty much all day and was obviously going to win easily. Secondly, the storm event that caused the race to be red-flagged created such chaos that roughly one quarter of the cars in the race had slid off the road and crashed, several others had stopped voluntarily as the conditions were so bad that driving across the top of the mountain was impossible. Thirdly, Johnson was very lucky that he happened to be at the bottom of the mountain when the storm really let fly - much easier for him to tootle along in a straight line. Lastly, the ugly scenes that ensued at the podium were caused by the track commentators incorrectly announcing that Johnson had won the race. If you've read Johnson's book you'll know that even Johnson himself concedes that that day was a big mess and in the aftermath when cooler heads prevailed the GTR was correctly awarded the win, as it should have been. Having said all that i take nothing away from DJ. The man is a legend, his Sierras were the fastest in the world and he was certainly the biggest and most consistent challenger to the Nissans. He put up a hell of a fight during that race and that final version of the Shell Sierra was an awesome thing to behold. Should he have won that day? Who knows. But the fact is the rules came down in favour of the GTR on the day, and it has subsequently been reviewed and shown to be the correct result.

[@woooster17]

They were special times, and a special car.. the RS 500, still spoken about as the legendary car it is..

[@mrfrdman]

Sierra ,my Favorite ,loved them then and love them even more now !

[@PaulinhoThompson]

I'm impressed with this episode and would love to see more of this interview. Also please could you go and knock on Andy Rouse's door 😁 that would be awesome.

[@woopimagpie]

Just don't ask him about Dick Johnson - the interview will turn ugly at that point. Lol.

[@davem1980]

It used to be one of the best series out there. Now it most certainly is not. Shame really.

[@markmark5269]

David, like most series around the world, the FIA has bent over and taken it up the ass for manufacturers who they don't want to upset. Who gives a fuck about the hundreds of thousands of licence holders who make up the FIA all over the world (CAMS etc). And lets not mention the fans ...

[@johnhunter4465]

2018 grid 30plus cars, 14 different winners?? Not sure how you can’t find the btcc entertaining. Up there with MotoGP as the best out and out racing series.

[@davem1980]

Yeah yeah but the cars are rubbish. They certainly don’t resemble touring cars. The reason there are so many winners is because they do all that crazy shifting the grid about stuff. Bring back the pre wing s2000s. Bigger cars steel panels minimal aero.

[@markmark5269]

john hunter, exactly my point. False racing made so the manufacturers all get their turn to win, that's bullshit. How dare they run a touring car championship like that where a manufacturer, and/or driver, can't show that they do the best job and are the most worthy winners. It's entertainment, it's not motor racing.

[@markmark5269]

voice of reason, that's a laugh, please change your name to brainwashed voice of management.

[@boatymcboatface666]

Longhurst and Johnson had fastest 500s , weapons!

[@AtomicLT11]

Didn't know Rod Stewart was in BTCC...

[@ducedevlstear2471]

AtomicLT11 is that the best you can come up with ? How about something very clever and on point regarding the title ...

[@ungurdani8346]

Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe ..

[@boatymcboatface666]

Miss seeing the "Rat". The Volvo estate too 😀

[@paulsoames7980]

RS500 the most successful touring car of all time

[@bremCZ]

Didn't it only win 1 BTCC, and 2 ATCC championships?

[@theant9821]

@@bremCZ because of the class system. Winning every single race for over 3 and a half seasons is not bad going. Infact its the definition of domination

[@bremCZ]

@@theant9821 Which series was that in?

[@theant9821]

@@bremCZ btcc

[@bremCZ]

@@theant9821 Only BTCC?

[@cheongkitvong7449]

Amazing 💯

[@hesgotamotor8288]

189 mph, that's like 308 kph, the v8 supercars in 2020 were doing 292 kph on conrod strait

[@idr017]

The photo with Murray Walker and Dick Johnson is not Dick Johnson..

[@geraldswain3259]

He mentioned one name, dick Johnson the king in a RS500 nobody quicker !.

[@equilibrium1536]

Yes we need to do a twin spool turbo set up and a widened guard and wheel spacing process put in place to see if these missiles really are competitive or better than the flash competition produced these days.

[@stephenbrown4211]

Used to watch him in the Wilhire 24hour race in the Cosie

[@davyfaeforth]

And to think he was only a couple of races away from having no sponsorship or money to go on and win the BTCC title

[@deskane8757]

what a god damn legend, an awesome era !!

[@woopimagpie]

To be fair, the modern V8 Supercars are limited in their top speed by gearing. The highest ratio diff they are allowed to run under the current rules has the engines maxed out at 7500rpm in top gear at about 292kmh (about 182mph) . The Sierras were lighter, had similar power, and were not governed by the same diff ratio rules.

[@Malc180s]

That's no fairer than what he said.

[@nextlayersecurity]

Fantastic insight.. Thanks!

[@corvair140]

Worked next door to Andy Rouse's place. He was legend. Ford were always sniffing round, trying to figure out why their own cars were slower than Rouses'. Great touring car times. It's like F1 now, very bland.

[@woopimagpie]

A legend? Not according to Dick Johnson. Dick got shafted so badly by Rouse he decided to build his own cars completely in-house. Later one of those cars suitably embarrassed the best cars Rouse and the other teams in the UK could muster. Cosworth even has one of Dick's cars in their museum as an example of "the best of the type". Can't really argue with that. Rouse was good, but not the best.

[@corvair140]

Yep, can't argue that. I'm just biased, as I worked next door to him for a couple of years. Great times though. Exciting for a young mechanic like me.

[@housey4297]

@@woopimagpie No that was Steve Soper. I was at the TT you refer to where Johhson came over with John Bowe and there was no question his car was the quickest RS500...but it didn't win. They were rapid and that is why Gravett bought one.

[@woopimagpie]

@@housey4297 Sorry, but if you read Dick Johnson's book you'll find it was definitely Andy Rouse that Dick was getting his parts and tech from in his early days running the Sierra. Of course there is always two sides to a story, but if you believe what Dick claims he was paying top price but getting sub standard equipment from Andy Rouse's operation. Rouse supplied a few of the Australian teams over the years (including Peter Brock's Mobil Sierra at one point) so he had local comparisons to go by. He reckoned Andy Rouse didn't seem to realise that Australian touring car racing was more casual than in England and that the teams and drivers often got together after the races and compared notes over a beer or two, which is how he knew he was overpaying for the tech he was getting from Rouse's organisation. Dick (and other local teams) had a lot of trouble getting the Sierras to run reliably in the early days - they were fast, but they were fragile and broke down far too often. Personally I think it had a bit to do with the harsher conditions here in Australia - it's much hotter and drier, and our touring car championship ran longer races on bumpy tracks that certainly weren't up to English and European standards so the cars copped a lot more punishment by comparison. Of course once Dick decided he understood the car well enough and made the decision to run the entire operation in house then that all changed. Most of our local teams followed suit soon after, but none had the consistent success of DJR even though their cars were just as quick at times. He talks about how vindicated he felt with that decision when he went to England and discovered just how much faster his car was compared to the British Sierras. You're quite correct he didn't win, but the car suffered a water-pump failure after a pit-stop (a strange irony that). At the time he was leading by a considerable margin. It was a shame he didn't get to stand on the top step of the podium, but nevertheless he'd proved his point. It was Steve Soper in an Eggenberger car that Dick out-qualified in the TT - I'm realising now perhaps I've misunderstood this is what you meant. Please forgive me if I have. Cheers.

[@housey4297]

@@woopimagpie I am well aware as I know many of the people involved personally. My point was a simple one. 1) Johnsons car was seen at the time as the most powerful version of RS500 on track anywhere on the planet 2) He did stick it on pole at the TT (when he came over) and by a significant margin (I was there) and walked off until he had heating/water issues and 3) Steve Soper (in my opinion) was at that time the fastest guy out there. I can't comment on the Rouse stories, I have not knowledge of those and haven't read Johnsons book but have seen him interviewed a few times on the matter and him talk of 650bhp too.

[@triptechable]

I've heard that 189 figure bounded about a lot. On a side note, Anyone remember Gravets crash at thruxton?

[@Bfoxfield1]

Yep. Went into the tyre wall backwards, ripped off a wheel, ruptured the fuel cell and set the grass on fire if i remember. Wasn`t he trying to lap one of the Toyotas?

[@triptechable]

Amos Keeto yep. Poor old Phil Dowset got involved.

[@Bfoxfield1]

Ah yes Phil Dowset lol, I remember now. I have great memories watching the Cosworths race and i`ll never forget how mind blowingly fast those things were.

[@triptechable]

I'm the same. Magical motors. Andy rouse was my hero. Always wondered how he was always at the top, truth was then a bitter pill to swallow

[@ducedevlstear2471]

What I always wondered, the M3s, did they run n/a engines against the RS500s ? I mean how could they hold their own against them ?

[@roflcopter645]

The M3's were much lighter so they were amazing during braking and cornering. 300 bhp resulted in a decent power to weight ratio. Although it did struggle when it was on a full tank of fuel. But the most important thing was that they were N/A so they didn't have reliability issues like most turbo group A cars in those days.

[@mosca3289]

At least in Australia once the RS5000’s were properly developed the M3’s couldn’t get near them. The power deficit of the M3 was too big.

[@ducedevlstear2471]

Thanks guys 👍🏻👍🏻

[@roflcopter645]

Dick Johnson said that on the dyno with the turbo removed, the engines would produce 90 bhp. But with the turbo set to 2.4 Bar of boost, they were getting 680 bhp.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

They cheated a lot, like all the Euro cars did.

[@nicolafox9452]

Cool 😎

[@milesofsky]

Conrod Straight is also shorter now though...

[@davyfaeforth]

No had the chase when the Sierra was there