1. Russell Brookes won the British Rally Championship with a Ford Escort RS1800 in 1977 and with an Opel Manta 400 in 1985.
11 Facts About Russell Brookes
1. 2.
The only son of a firefighter, Brookes made his competitive debut in club events in 1963.
3.
Russell Brookes then came to the attention of the Ford Motor Company Ltd when contesting their Ford Escort Mexico championship.
4.
In 1974, Russell Brookes started one of the longest running sponsorship deals in motorsport when he signed with Andrews - Heat for Hire.
5.
In 1976, Russell Brookes was invited to join the Ford 'works' team to drive an Escort RS1800 in the British Rally Championship.
6.
Russell Brookes found himself in formidable company not least from within the team, Bjorn Waldegard, Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen, being his team-mates.
7.
Russell Brookes won the Open Championship in 1977 and then stayed with Ford until the end of the 1979 World Rally Championship season.
8.
In September 2008, Russell Brookes took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland.
9.
Russell Brookes competed in the event in a historic Ford Escort RS1600.
10.
Russell Brookes was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.
11.
Russell Brookes died on 30 October 2019, at the age of 74 from injuries sustained from a bicycle accident.