Russell Brookes

[chrisb]

I'm not sure how fellow scribers feel about rallying per se but I am fan, I have been for a century or two, and I lament the passing of one of Britain's great rally drivers and stars - Russell Brookes- he of humble beginnings and of great spirit, I will always remember him fighting the 4WD invasion in his Opel Manta 400 and making some biting comments about the imbalance these monsters created, but most of all I will fondly remember him fighting tooth and nail with another great Jimmy McRae in the sadly missed British Championships, when it was a major event and stars turned out in force to compete, and it was on TV, now I don't even know if it exists, 

I was very fortunate to have a minor involvement with rallying in the early eighties and remember seeing the likes of Russell in all their brilliance and their abilities really were something very special, 


rest in peace Russell, thank you for so many fantastic memories and great battles - 

[charleselan]

I read of the very sad news the other day; 74 years is far too young. Russell Brookes was one of the leading UK rally drivers through the 1970/80's and his duels with Jimmy McRae on the National scene were outstanding. Russell also turned in some high quality drives on the RAC Rally, always quick and reliable.

As Chris points out above the UK Rally Championship really was something back in the 1970's & '80's with a vey high standard of entry and some spectacular venues across the British Isles; even the National Championship was good and often attracted some international entrants along with the Club drivers. The Wyedean Rally in February was a case in point with Russell running one of his "Andrews Heat For Hire" sponsored cars over the years as a warm up to his UK Championship challenge. One year I attended with "Pekka" Eklund running a little Toyota Corolla Group A car, which the Swede peddled indecently quickly.

Like Chris I have no idea what has become of either of those championships these days, such is progress....not!

Brilliant memories of Russell in the RS1800 Escort; Opel Manta 400; Lotus Sunbeam and Mini's if memory serves me correctly; you can now resume your battles with Tony; Bjorn and Roger etc up above.

[chrisb]

i will always associate Russell with the Opel Manta, a smashing looking car that he threw around with careless abandon and was the equal of anyone on his day -

[Carl]

Nov 2, 2019 21:45:24 GMT chrisb said:

i will always associate Russell with the Opel Manta, a smashing looking car that he threw around with careless abandon and was the equal of anyone on his day -

The Opel Manta 1900, a beautifully balanced sports coupe, tempted me in the early 1970s. Rallying was not widely popular in America and I remember the Manta in SCCA's then innovative Showroom Stock category of amateur road racing. The only modifications allowed were roll cage, five point harness and fire extinguisher. They made almost no noise beyond the complaint of tyres, but were wildly popular with drivers and spectators.

[charleselan]

The Opel Manta 400 was the last front running rear drive front engined rally car, a fabulous car as was its predecessor the Ascona 400. However they were not competitive with the rise of the four wheel drive evolution lead by Audi with the Quattro. Great to watch on both tarmac and in the forest stages, sounded good too.

I believe that Russell Brookes first came to prominence in UK rallying circles driving a Mini at indecent speeds before he transferred to Ford Escorts and then became a leading fixture on the Uk National Rally scene. Russell was also another rally driver that always gave a good interview in the midst of a rally event. For me the interviews with drivers back in the 1960/70 & 80's at a service park were what made the event so special, often in the middle of the night, cup of hot drink in hand and steam visibly emanating from the very warm driver in cool winter conditions.

Now all one gets in the WRC coverage is a quick comment from a driver as they finish a stage with a mic' thrust through the side window, more often than not with a driver who portrays the same petulance as that seen in F1, one has to ask is where have the real men gone these days. 

[chrisb]

I do tend to agree JC, but then we had such a marvellous coverage of the RAC rally of GB with the 'real' Top Gear covering it and giving us endless hours of brilliant entertainment and excitement - gosh I do miss that, but yea the paddock was much more open, drivers, co-drivers and team bosses all spoke to the journalists and TV people who knew what they were talking about, picking up on Carl's earlier point elsewhere, the commentary also treated you with some respect and intelligence, sadly something lacking these days,