WORKMAN’S BLUES

STORMING DOWN TOWARDS Spa’s Eau Rouge corner, we have an Escort, two Capris and a Sierra, and they are creating on-track mayhem, raucously roaring, then spitefully crackling and popping, all three simply bursting with pugnacious blue-collar energy. With so much attention paid to the more blue-blooded than blue-collar GT40 giving the aristocratic Ferrari a bloody nose at Le Mans, sometimes people overlook the huge role that Ford also played in other European racing series of the period. From the 1960s onwards the Blue Oval was always a contender in Saloon Car racing and eventually outperformed its rivals to such a dramatic extent with the Sierra RS500 Cosworth that the FIA saw no option other than to halt Group A racing.

Since its inception in 1924, the Spa 24 Hours has always played second fiddle to the legendary race at Le Mans, but it found its own momentum with Touring Cars from 1964. And Ford has been present ever since, winning six times. All through the 1970s, it was simple: to win, you drove either a Ford or a BMW. Here we have four fantastic Fords at our disposal, spanning a period from the 1960s to the 1990s. Apart from the Escort, they are each of a type that has won the Spa 24 Hours.

Just as with Le Mans, the