Ecosse-Ford/Austin Rover 003 "Reggie" with Ray Mallock at the wheel winning the class at Brands Hatch, July 1986
Ecosse-Ford 002 "Henry" in the pits at the Silverstone 1000kms in 1985 with Bovis sponsorship
Ecosse-Ford 004 "Pat" on the grid with Postman Pat Brands Hatch 1987
Tony Wood, in action with "Pat" at the same Silverstone Classic.
Andrew Smith ,left, and Alasdair McCaig with "Henry" at the 2007 Silverstone Classic.
Ecurie Ecosse on Circuit
Despite the fact the Ecurie Ecosse name has appeared spasmodically in the past few years, the team is very much alive and kicking. Particularly in historic racing where the �Ecosse� cars that raced in the Group C2 World Sports Car championship from 1985 to 1988 are back racing in the present-day historic series. It is also comforting to know that all three of the Ecosse cars are back in Scotland.
Following Ecurie Ecosse�s win in the Group C2 World Championship in 1986 Hugh McCaig kept the Ecosse-Rover in his own collection and it occasionally appeared in demonstrations. However, his son Alasdair McCaig, started racing and graduated to racing the Ecosse-Rover ( 003 Reggie) in historic events where it was eligible.
Another of Scotland�s promising young racing drivers, Andrew Smith, was able to buy Ecosse-Ford �Henry� (Chassis 002) and brought it back to Scotland and finally Barry Wood, who has a collection of historic racing cars, bought �Pat�, Ecosse-Ford (Chassis 004) so bringing all three cars together.
All three cars raced at the BRDC Classic race meeting at Silverstone in 2007.
The background and origin of all three cars:
Ecosse-Ford (Chassis 002) �Henry�.
This car was completed in February 1985 to replace the original Ecosse-Ford (Chassis 001) that had been developed for the 1984 season from a de-Cadenet sports car that had raced at Le Mans. This car was destroyed in an accident during the support race to the 1984 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.
The new car conformed in every way to the FIA regulations and was the first of three purely Ecosse cars to be built by Ray Mallock�s RML Racing. It was completed in February 1985 and raced for the first time at Monza on April 28. The drivers on that occasion were Ray Mallock and Mike Wilds. That year the team finished second at Monza and won at Silverstone and Hockenheim.
The car�s last race for the team was at Le Mans in 1986 when the American drivers Les Delano/Andy Petery and John Hotchkiss finished 4th in the Group C2 Class.
It was named �Henry� after Henry Ford whose company manufactured the engine.
Ecosse-Rover (Chassis 003) �Reggie�
This was the second Ecosse chassis built by Ray Mallock during 1985 but the tub remained in the workshops until the end of that year. It was finally built-up in February 1986 to accommodate the Austin-Rover V6 engine that had been launched in the Metro rally car. The car made its debut at the Silverstone 1000kms race meeting in the 1986 season. It led the Group C2 class until it retired. Later in the season, however, it scored three Group C2 wins, the final one being at the Fuji circuit in Japan where Ray Mallock and Belgian driver Marc Duez gave Ecurie Ecosse the C2 World Championship.
Its final race with Ecurie Ecosse was at Mount Fuji in 1987 when Mike Wilds and Marc Duez finished third in the Group C2 class.
This Ecosse was named �Reggie� because that was the nickname of the Rover car owned by the father of Team Manager Richard Williams.
Ecosse-Ford (Chassis 004) �Pat�
The third, and last Ecosse was built in October 1986 in preparation for the 1987 racing season. It was fitted with a Ford V8 engine
The car�s nickname came from the sponsorship deal with the UK Post Office Swiftair service and the children�s comic strip �Postman Pat�
This car�s first event was the Silverstone 1000kms where Ray Mallock and David Leslie won the Group C2 class and finished 6th overall against all the Porsches. The car also won the
Index of Performance at Le Mans that year.
Its final race with Ecurie Ecosse was at Mount Fuji in 1987 where Ray Mallock/David Leslie and Marc Duez finished second in the class.