![]() But as Porter was contracted to work for the rally organisers, Clark was forced to hire-in co-drivers for each of his wins. His most notable successes came in the RAC Rally, the UK's biggest rally race. Clark and Porter won British Rally Championship titles again in 1972, 19. In 1968 Clark switched to the car that he was most associated with, the Ford Escort RS, which he rallied in works form until 1979, and then privately until he retired in the 1980s. Under their customised contract, the company initially supplied Clark and Porter with improved chassis, body and full works blue-printed engines, which Clark then had built into rally cars in his own workshops. ![]() Ford of Britain lead the Ford of Europe rallying team, sponsored by Esso Uniflo, with Clark initially signed into a three-driver team all using the Ford Cortina GT alongside Vic Elford and Bengt Soderstrom. In 1966 Clark and Porter signed to a works Ford of Britain deal, with the successful partnership lasting 15 years. Roger drove for BL during the 1980 season where he competed in the iconic TR7 V8 but with limited success.įord works team Clark's 1972 RAC Rally-winning Escort RS1600 During this period he also made the first two of his six Scottish Rally wins in 1964 in his private Ford Cortina, and with combined results won the first of his four British Rally Championship in 1965. In 1964, whilst experimenting privately with a Ford Cortina GT, Clark agreed a two-year works deal with the Rover Company, for which in 1965 the pair won their Monte Carlo Rally category in a Rover 2000. In 1963 he drove a Triumph TR4 for Spa-Sofia-Liege, and in the same year a Reliant Sabre in the Alpine Rally. This success led to a series of works drives. In this car they won the East Midlands Rally Championship (19), came fourth overall and a class win in the International Circuit of Ireland (1963), third in the Motoring News Championship (1963), and third in his first Scottish Rally (1963). After moving to compete in a 1950s Ford 100E van, in 1960 Clark and Porter began being placed after switching to a BMC Mini Cooper. The car used number plate 2 ANR, which Clark retained throughout his career, and often used for later private entries. Initially borrowing a Ford Model Y from his father's garage, he made his rallying debut at club level in 1956 in a pre-WWII Ford Prefect. Career Club racing Ĭlark passed his driving test in 1956, and immediately joined the Leicester Car Club, where he met Jim Porter, who was his co-driver for 20 years. garages in the Leicester area, retailing under franchise agreements Alfa Romeo, Ford, Jensen, Lotus, Renault and Porsche. By 1975 there were four Roger Clark Cars Ltd. He learned about cars as a mechanic, and then helped the business take on new sales franchises. The son of a motor dealer also named Roger Clark, after an education at Hinckley Grammar School where he gained 5 O Levels, like his younger brother Stan Clark - also later a rally driver - he joined his father's business as an apprentice. Roger Albert Clark, MBE (5 August 1939 – 12 January 1998) was a British rally driver during the 1960s and '70s, and the first competitor from his country to win a World Rally Championship (WRC) event when he triumphed at the 1976 RAC Rally. ![]() Bizarrely, though, Porter did not share in either of his RAC Rally wins: he was working for the organisers on both events.Įxcept for one category success (in a Rover 2000) in the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally, his early "works" drives were unsuccessful, but after he joined Ford (his first full season being in 1966), his sheer driving pace, and ability, were obvious.Ford, British Leyland, M.C.D. He forged, too, a long-time partnership with Jim Porter, who stayed on as his co-driver for 20 years. Starting at the bottom, with oily hands and a growing knowledge of the workings of the motor car, he took up motorsport in cars best described as old bangers, but then shot to fame in British club rallies with a BMC Mini Cooper. With his brother Stan, he then joined the family business which would be his sheet anchor for 30 years. By the late 1950s, when he left Hinckley Grammar School with five O levels, but with much more interest in sport, the business had taken on several new-car franchises. Clark was born just before the Second World War in Leicestershire, where his father ran a small garage business.
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