Innehållsförteckning för December 2021 från Fast Ford

SAPPHIRE COSWORTH ORIGINAL BUILDER As a former Cosworth employee building YBs, it’s no surprise that Steven Raybould owns one of the cars those legendary engines ended up in – only now the power’s been doubled… Words and photos JON CASS Even after all these years, the Cosworth YB remains a firm favourite among petrolheads around the world. Other performance engines have come and gone, but the mighty YB seems to be one everyone has fond memories of. Among these is Steve Raybould, a man who happens to know this era of Cosworth engines better than most – because he used to build them in their Wellingborough factory when they were new. Steve’s passion for the Cosworth YB remains as strong as ever, and it’s hardly surprising to find he owns…

EVENT REPORT TRAX 2021 TRAX 2021 After Covid-restrictions hampered the show scene for 18 months, TRAX was back with a bang in 2021 Words JAMIE Photos JASON DODD “From old-school heroes and cars that dominated the scene years ago through to the very latest builds and projects, it was an eclectic mix” WHERE SILVERSTONE WHEN OCTOBER 2021 There’s no denying the C-word had well and truly scuppered our beloved car show scene through all of 2020 and the first half of 2021 too. But over the last few months restrictions have been beginning to ease and, slowly but surely, we’ve been enjoying a return to some kind of normality. But us petrolheads still have a load of pent-up polishing and showing-off to do; we’ve been gagging for the show season…

FAST FLEET JAMIE FOCUS RS TIME FOR TRAX Jamie’s RS stars in another video and is back on track again. But first, Jamie needed to get a few things sorted… Photo WWW.PHOTOGRAPHY-UK.COM After the mad rush at the start of the summer to get the Focus ready for use throughout the show season, it all went a bit quiet. Deadlines, school holidays and other commitments meant the Focus was sat untouched for the first three weeks of September. But then everything sprung into life a week before we were due to head off to TRAX at Silverstone. I’d been asked to use my RS as part of a three-car video that would be shot at TRAX, and that meant a couple of things I needed to sort. First up was the…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT CLASS A DRIVER PROFILE SIMON LIGHT AGE 57 JOB Maintenance engineer at Heathrow Airport How and when did you first get into motorsport? After watching the Australian Bathurst 1000 race in 1985 on TV, I was hooked. I bought a standard Capri 3.0S in 1986, prepped it and started racing in 1987. Have you raced in any other series? Yes, quite a few: the Slick 50 Road Saloons 1987-to-91, Toyo Tyres Super Road Saloons 1992-to-94, Falken ModProds 1995-to-97 and also in the CTCRC Classic Thunder Saloons since 2018. What has been your racing career highlight so far? I won the Slick 50 Road Saloon Championship outright in 1991 and won the Toyo Super Road Saloons Class A in 1993 and ‘94. Which is your favourite circuit to race…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT NATIONAL RALLYING UPDATE RALLY TITLE UP FOR GRABS Two Fiesta R5s are in the championship battle in the BTDRA Rally Series Words & Photos PAUL LAWRENCE Best of breed in national forest rallying is the BTRDA Rally Series, which is heading for a cliff-hanging conclusion over two events in the Welsh forests in late October and November. Traditionally, the BTRDA year starts in February and takes in eight rallies through to September or October. But COVID changed all that for 2021 and the championship was squeezed down to six rallies between mid-July and mid-November. With drivers only able to count their best four scores from six rallies, the overall title race remains wide open as the Ford Fiesta R5s take on Skoda Fabia R5s and Mitsubishi Evos.…

FF TECH BUYER’S GUIDE FIESTA MK7 ST180 FIESTA MK7 ST180 Move aside, GTi: Ford’s Fiesta Mk7 ST180 is the finest small hatch in history, tearing up racetracks and B-roads with terrific performance, brilliant reliability, an affordable price and immense tuneability. Here’s how to buy the perfect pocket rocket Words DAN WILLIAMSON IDENTITY ST180s are adored by sticky-fingered scum, so your first job is to ensure the car you’re buying isn’t nicked. Invest in a proper history check (not the cheapest phone app you can find), ensuring it covers stolen cars, write-offs and outstanding finance – all ultra-relevant when it comes to any ST. Take an OBDII code reader, and check the VIN on the logbook matches the car’s ECU. It should correspond with a tag at the left-hand-side of the dashboard…

LIVING WITH MACH-E FORD MUSTANG MACH-E Yes, it’s a great car, but are we really ready for the switch to full electric…? Words MIKE RYSIECK Photos LEIGH JONES & JAMIE Much has already been written about the naming, appearance and performance of Ford’s all-electric Mustang Mach-E. Extensive promotional events and dealer test-drive programmes have given many the opportunity to experience the car for an hour or two. Indeed, editor Jamie got his first taste of the new Mach-E when he took a dealer demonstrator out for the day. But while a few hours behind the wheel can give you a taste of what the car feels like to drive, it cannot replicate what it’s like to live with. And with the new wave of all-electric cars presenting something of a…

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE Stuck for a Christmas present for the Ford fan in your life? Check out these fantastic gift ideas PAUL SWIFT STUNTS From £249 If you don’t know the name (and we’d be surprised if you didn’t), Paul Swift is a legendary stunt driver with over thirty years of experience making cars do unbelievable and physics-defying things. And, rather brilliantly, Paul Swift now offers stunt experiences – this Christmas you could treat a loved one to a breathtaking session of slaloms, J-turns, and speedy handbrake parallel parking! Sure to be an unforgettable experience. www.paulswift.com TOTAL FORD BOOKAZINES £28.77 (subscription) We’ve launched a new series of Ford bookazines! Brought to you by the same great team behind the mag, the Total Ford series covers everything the Ford scene has…

FIESTA ST MR ANGRY It may be small, but this snarling, stripped-out Fiesta ST loves a tear-up on the street or circuit Words BEN BIRCH Photos ADE BRANNAN In the modern age of big-power turbos, huge Brembos from the factory and more electronic aids than Apollo 13, some might lead you to believe a naturally-aspirated Fiesta ST150 is dead meat. But If you’ve ever watched the Fiesta Championship or Fiesta Challenge race cars, you’ll know that when they’re built and driven correctly, these little buzz boxes are seriously rapid – and what you see here is as close as you will get to a Fiesta Challenge car on the road. AJ Stewart was massively inspired by the racers when turning his once-docile Fiesta into the hardcore animal it is today,…

EVENT REPORT RSOC NATIONAL DAY 2021 RSOC NATIONAL DAY 2021 The RSOC National Day served up a high octane hit of petrol-fuelled fun as the Blue Oval’s finest descended on Derbyshire’s Donington Park circuit Words & Photos DAN SHERWOOD WHERE DONINGTON PARK WHEN AUGUST 202 We all know by now that 2020 was a bit of a non-starter as far as shows and events go – well, as far as pretty much everything went, actually – as there’s nothing like a global pandemic to put a dampener on things. And so, like many other shows, the RS Owners’ Club’s National Day, which was due to be celebrating the club’s 40th anniversary in 2020, also had to be postponed. Luckily, although far from perfect, 2021 seemed to be fairing much better,…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT MODIFIED FORD SERIES Ever wanted to live out your circuit-slaying fantasies but find track days a bit boring? Then why not try your hand at some proper wheelto-wheel racing with the Modified Ford Series? Words and photos DAN SHERWOOD There’s nothing like the thrill of direct and personal competition to get the blood pumping and adrenaline flowing. Yeah, it’s all well and good to race against the clock, striving to beat your personal best, but whether it’s running, cycling or in the high-octane realm of motor racing, put another competitor beside you and, all of a sudden, things get a whole lot more intense and exciting. And this is exactly why everyone with a love of driving on track should try their hand at racing at some…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT BRITISH GT4 UPDATE RAINY DAYS AND SUNDAYS After a win last time out, the Academy Motorsport team were hoping for good results at a soggy Oulton Park Words MIKE RYSIECKI Photos LEIGH JONES Academy Motorsport took their Mustang GT4 to Oulton Park with some cautious but justifiable expectations for a good outcome. They were carrying forward the success of a race win from Snetterton and the car had a scheduled engine refresh for the upcoming double-header sprint races. Will Moore had qualified the Mustang in third place for the midday race and defended that position in an extended battle with the challenging Audi R8. Coming into pit lane from second place, an untimely electrical issue prevented the car from restarting for Matt Cowley’s stint, and the team were…

RALLYING UPHILL The Rallye Prescott saw rally cars take to the famous hillclimb road Words & Photos PAUL LAWRENCE At first, talk of a rally being run at a hillclimb venue seems a bit odd, but that’s exactly what happened in early October when the inaugural Rallye Prescott was held. This was a competitive hillclimb event dedicated to rally cars and it ran at the Gloucestershire venue where the Bugatti Owners’ Club has been hosting speed events since before the War. Clearly, 1127 yards of clean uphill asphalt is not comparable to Kielder forest or the closed roads of the Isle of Man, but this was accessible, easy to watch and a load of fun for around 50 competitors. Already plans for a bigger and better rally-based event are being…

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MK7 FIESTA ST SCOOP DRAGON For Michael Kenneally (aka Scoop), Fords aren’t just cars – they’re a proud south-eastern tradition. And with his 330bhp ST, he’s pushing that pride into the future… Words DAN BEVIS Photos JASON DODD For generations of Ford enthusiasts, Essex and the Blue Oval have gone hand-in-hand. It’s not just a geographic marker, but the whole culture that grew around it; families whose incomes were generated from the Dagenham plant were proud to have the latest Fords sitting on the driveway, whether in Popular Plus or RS spec, or anywhere in-between. Among all this ingrained enthusiasm within the county, there’s always been an extra swelling of passion in the environs of Purfleet; many may know this as the home of Lakeside, but what we’re really getting…

WHAT'S NEW FORD STUFF The latest gear on the Blue Oval scene BC R ACING ER SERIES FOR FIESTA MK7 £1699.00 BC Racing has just launched its External Reservoir (ER) Series coilover upgrade for Mk7 Fiesta models. One of the main advantages of having an external reservoir is the ability to increase oil capacity for the damper, which in turn reduces peak oil temperatures, with it decreasing variations in damping rates due to oil viscosity changes. The end result is a quality coilover unit that performs equally well when used hard on track as it does on the road. Plus, the flagship ER Series shares the same high quality and unique features seen on the BR and RM types, but also has the ability to individually adjust and set compression…

MK1 FOCUS RS REBORN RS Once a crash-damaged donor for a custom Transit project, this Mk1 Focus RS has been painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up Word and photos JON CASS It’s incredible to think the Mk1 Focus RS has been with us for nearly 20 years and, as predicted right from the start, it’s become a firm fan favourite. Unfortunately, with fast Fords in particular, that often means there’s a price tag to match; the first Rallye Sport Focus is no exception. Andy Lockwood was a fan from the off, keen to bag himself a Mk1 RS, but soon discovered values of decent cars were out of his budget. Fortunately, he found a cheaper, if not quite so straightforward, option. Having previously successfully restored a Mitsubishi Evo 6, Andy…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN FOCUS ST250 Dan’s been busy treating some rusty rear wheelarches, so that now the Focus’s finish is better than ever. DAN SIERRA COSSIE The more Dan looks, the more he finds he wants to do on the Sierra. We’ve got a feeling this ‘quick freshen up’ will evolve into a semi-restoration. PAUL COWLAND MUSTANG V8 There’s not much to report on the Mustang this month, but Paul’s been looking online at the next round of potential upgrades. JAMIE FOCUS RS Jamie’s been getting the car ready for TRAX, including refreshing some parts of the wrap and a full wheel alignment. Then, while at TRAX, he ventured out on track in the RS once again. ADE SAPPHIRE…

MK2 FIESTA RACE MEETS SHOW Mk2 Fiestas are an increasingly rare sight, but Scott Matthews’s concours road-racer proves there’s big potential in Ford’s 1980s’ baby Words DANIEL BEVIS Photos DAN SHERWOOD The comedy double-take is a masterfully cinematic trope of modern life, and this Fiesta is jam-packed with them. Indeed, we reckon it would take the average Ford fan a good few glances to appreciate just how many changes have been made to this once-humble Fiesta. We know these cars inside out, so when we spot details like the custom Carbon Delight bumpers and the shortened rear number plate recess, the eyes can’t help but flick back for a second look. And anyone who’s twirled spanners beneath a Mk2 Fiesta bonnet will know they’re usually hinged from the front, not…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT CLASS C DRIVER PROFILE SARAH DENNIS AGE 42 JOB TOCA BTCC hospitality and marketing manager How and when did you first get into motorsport? I got into motorsport by mistake. I was being a naughty child, so my dad took me to Brands Hatch to watch some racing and I was hooked by age ten. Have you raced in any other series? I raced in the Stock Hatch Championship and the old Ford Saloon Series. What has been your racing career highlight so far? A race win at Lydden Hill. And also, my last race out. The car and me had been out of action for 15 years, my dad had cancer and his last wish was for me to race again, so I got the car back…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT BTCC DOUBLE WINNERS Jake Hill claims victory at Croft followed by Silverstone to keep his championship dreams alive as the BTCC heads to the final rounds of the season Words MB MOTORSPORT & JAMIE Photos MB MOTORSPORT CROFT – 19 SEPTEMBER Lining up in P2 for the first event of the day, a good start from Jake allowed him to harass polesitter Aiden Moffat throughout the race. Making a number of close moves, Jake drove with the championship in mind and settled his Focus ST into second for the team’s first visit to the podium of the weekend. Meanwhile, a superb start from the Ollie Jackson saw him jump from 11th to eighth on the first lap before his race was cruelly ended as he was taken…

FF TECH 10 MINUTE TECH SPARK PLUGS SPARK PLUGS This month we take a closer look at something that many of us take for granted but is a key component in a petrol engine: the humble spark plug WHAT IS A SPARK PLUG AND WHAT DOES IT DO? A spark plug is an assembly of metal and composite components designed to deliver an electrical spark into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. The spark plug allows formation of a spark between the two metal electrodes within the combustion chamber at precisely the correct time for the most efficient ignition. ARE THEY ALL THE SAME? No, designs vary greatly depending on what the spark plug is being used for. When used in a car engine, design differences include thread sizes,…

FORGOTTEN FORDS FORGOTTEN FORDS This month we uncover a mini-SUV concept based on the humble Escort, which Ford unveiled back in 1996 THE BLUE OVALS YOU’VE (PROBABLY) NEVER HEARD OF… Back in the mid-Nineties, everybody all of a sudden decided they needed an SUV; something with go-anywhere appeal but not so agricultural it can’t be used everyday on the highway. The Japanese seemed to have the market cornered, with little Suzukis, Toyotas and Hondas, while Land Rover’s Freelander showed how the UK market was also crying out for a go-anywhere (or at least looked like it could) small car. Ford, of course, had proper off-roading SUVs, but models like the Expedition (based on the F-150 truck platform) were simply too big to contend in the exploding mini-SUV market. So, Ford…