TRACK AND STAGE
In the 1980s Ford was populated by enthusiasts — so when the Escort RS1600i came along as a road car, Ford-Germany Motorsport and Boreham saw it as ideal for the Touring Car Championship. Peter Ashcroft invited Richard Longman to run a pair of cars for him in the British Touring Car Championship in 1983, because in the 1600cc ‘baby-car’ category, the Escorts looked as if they might produce up to 160 bhp, and dominate in their class.
Left to his own devices, Longman make the project successful, for although Ford provided the cars, Longman’s company found the power, and trimmed the handling:
“The rear suspension wasn’t very good at first,” Richard once told us, “so we had to
