CarTorque Series 2 - Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 Group A

The Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 exploded onto the touring car racing scene in Australia in 1987 with the all German ‘Eggenberger Motorsport’ team entering the James Hardie 1000 only to be disqualified for irregular wheel arches, but they certainly left their mark. Both the 1988 and 1989 Australian Touring car championships were won by the Dick Johnson Racing Team in Cosworth’s. A Cosworth claimed pole position at Bathurst from 1987 – 1990, only being beaten in 1991 by the brand new Nissan GT-R. They raced from 1987 – 1992 when the Touring Car rules were changed. However, between ’87 and ’90 the car to beat was the Sierra Cosworth RS500. The Caltex car was driven by Colin Bond and holds the record for the shortest racing life of any Group A car in history. It ran just 7 laps of Bathurst before it gave out and returned to the pits with an oil pressure problem. Colin built the car for the 1992 Bathurst race, but the Touring Car rule book was already being re-written with the dominance of the GT-R and finding themselves becoming increasingly uncompetitive against the Nissans, this was to be its only outing. After the race it was parked up and never race in Group A again. This is a story of the history as well as the resurrection of a once successful and famous marque. Rod has taken it from a forgotten memory to a glorious group A race car that he races in the historic series.