BTCC champion to go under the hammer at Race Retro

The 1990 British Touring Car Championship winning 1990 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 driven by Robb Gravett, Mike Smith and Stig Blomqvist is being publicly offered for sale for the very first time.

BTCC icon will headline the Silverstone Auctions Race Retro Competition Car Sale at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on 23^rd February and is estimated to fetch between £175,000 to £220,000. Silverstone Auction’s managing director Nick Whale said: ‘This record-breaking Cosworth RS500 dominated the Group A 1990 BTCC season with lead driver Robb Gravett behind the wheel…It was perfect harmony between man and machine, and perhaps no surprise that the championship-winning Cosworth also smashed numerous records along the way.”

The car on offer, chassis number MTRS01 competed under the team Trackstar banner, formed by Mike Smith in 1989 together with ex-Prodive team manager Malcolm Swetnam and Robb Gravett, with the sole ambition of winning the BTCC championship. It turned out to be a dominating combination.

The Cosworth was fitted with a new shell but retained the running gear from the previous year’s Dick Johnson car, together with all the ‘trick bits’ including Eggenberger suspension, a Getrag 5-speed dog box and a top-spec Mountune RS500 engine, producing 500bhp. The result was a record-breaking season with nine wins, eight pole positions and eight fastest laps.

Offered in its impressive 1990 livery, the awesome RS is eligible to race in the HSCC ‘Supertourers’, the Grand Prix Legends Touring Car Challenge, as well as numerous other historic events.

“The roll of honour for this Cosworth is truly impressive and it has cemented its place in BTCC history. Adding to the provenance of this car is that in 1991 the new 2-litre cars took over, making 1990 a glorious swansong for this championship winning RS500,” Whale added.