Andy Rouse

Andrew Rouse (born 2 December 1947) is a British racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship.[1] He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Andy Rouse
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1947-12-02) 2 December 1947
Dymock, Gloucestershire England
Retired1994
British Saloon / Touring Car Championship
Years active21
TeamsAndy Rouse Engineering
BMW (GB)
British Leyland
Team Broadspeed Castrol
Carrier Properties Ltd.
CSH Racing with Esso
Team Esso Uniflo
Gordon Spice Racing
Industrial Control Services Ltd.
Kaliber Racing
Team Mondeo
Triumph Team Piranha
Wins60
Best finish1st in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985
Previous series
1987
1972
WTCC
Ford Escort Mexico Challenge
Championship titles
1972

1975, 1983, 1984, 1985
1973
1974, 1975, 1983
1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989
2003
Ford Escort Mexico Challenge
British Saloon Car Championship
BSCC - Class C
BSCC - Class B
BSCC / BTCC - Class A

Britcar

Andy Rouse is one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the BSCC. His 60 overall wins in the category was the highest total by any driver for many years, until being overhauled by Jason Plato at Brands Hatch in the opening round of the 2011 season.

Early career

Rouse was born in Dymock, Gloucestershire. Coming from an engineering background, he was originally an apprentice with an agricultural engineering company. He had been interested in motor sport from an early age and had run self-built autograss specials in his teens and then Formula Ford. In 1971 he funded his racing activities by working for Broadspeed, the race car engineering company set-up by Brummie Ralph Broad. Rouse's combined engineering and driving talent soon became apparent to Broad, who then encouraged his motorsport career by providing him with assistance to race in other championships.

His first step into saloon car racing came in 1972, when he entered the Ford Escort Mexico series. He won this one-make championship in his first year, and soon stepped up into the British Saloon Car Championship. Over the following years, Rouse was successful in a number of Broadspeed entered cars (including Ford Escorts, Triumph Dolomite Sprints and Ford Capris) winning his class in 1973, 1974 and taking the title in 1975.[2]

In 1976, Broadspeed ran the works Jaguar XJ12C cars, for which Rouse was both driver and race development engineer. Great results were expected from these powerful cars but unfortunately British Leyland stopped the program the following season following a string of poor results. With no works deal for 1978, Ralph Broad sold his stake in the company and Broadspeed soon went into liquidation. Rouse drove alongside Gordon Spice in 1979 and 80, getting good results in the works Ford Capri team.[3]

Andy Rouse Engineering

In 1981, Rouse set up his own engineering company, Andy Rouse Engineering, taking many of the ex-Broadspeed employees with him. His success on the track continued with Championship wins in 1983 and 1984. His 1983 win came about after Steve Soper, driving for the works TWR Austin Rover team, had his championship win disqualified. Rouse took over the Alfa Romeo GTV6 entered by Pete Hall's Industrial Control Services (ICS) plc company, won his class and latterly the championship, and also founded the long running sponsorship deal between himself and ICS. He also won the Willhire 24 Hour in 1981 and 1983.[4] After competing in a Rover Vitesse in 1984 and winning the title against the factory Rover team, Ford gave him the 'works' contract to build and drive their next generation touring car, the Sierra Cosworth, which was to dominate the BTCC until the end of the decade. Rouse won the championship again in 1985 driving a Sierra XR4Ti,[5] but this was to be his last overall title. For 1987, Ford homologated the Sierra RS500, and ARE set about transforming it into a BTCC machine. The result was one of the most famous touring cars of all time.[6] Rouse never won the title outright in an RS500, although he won Class A again in 1988 and 1989. He was third overall in 1988, 1989 and 1990.[7]

Rouse driving for Ford at Brands Hatch during the 1994 British Touring Car Championship season.

As a prelude to the new 2.0 litre formula for 1991, Rouse built a 2.0 Sierra Sapphire run under the Hawaiian Tropic banner, driven first by Ray Bellm and then Chris Hodgetts.[8] The car was not very successful, but it did give useful experience for the super touring era to come. For 1991, ARE picked up the works contract to run the Toyota team. The car was a success, challenging for the 1991 title. In 1992 Rouse was joined by Will Hoy, again running the Toyota Carina, before setting up the works Ford Mondeo team for 1993, hiring Paul Radisich to drive alongside himself. The Mondeo was the class of the field in the second half of the 1993 season, but had to give best in 1994 to Alfa Romeo. He retired from driving at the end of 1994, hiring Kelvin Burt as Paul's teammate for 1995. That year was frustrating, and Ford gave the works contract to West Surrey Racing for the following season. Rouse instead ran a semi-works Nissan team in 1996, running Gary Ayles and Owen McAuley with limited success. Rouse later built a Super Touring specification Toyota Corolla which failed to find a racing team.[9]

Since the demise of his touring car teams, Rouse spent several years trying to promote a rival series to the BTCC; his proposed "Supercar V8" was based on a spaceframe chassis, normally aspirated V8 engine, and bodywork modelled on medium to large saloon cars. This series has not yet materialised.

Rouse has since wound down Andy Rouse Engineering and retired from motor racing. He now runs a commercial real estate business and restores Cadillac vehicles.

His son Julian is a director of the Arden International racing team.[10][11]

In 2003, Andy and Julian won the 2003 Britcar season in a Mercedes 190 DTM. Julian continued to race in Britcar and even competed in the 24 Hours of Silverstone a few times.

In 2005, a poll by readers of Motorsport Magazine voted Rouse the third greatest touring car driver ever.[12]

Racing record

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Pts Class
1973 Team Esso Uniflo Ford Escort RS 1600 C BRH
3
SIL
2
THR
Ret
THR
7
SIL
5
ING
?
BRH
2†
BRH
2
4th 45 1st
Broadspeed & Ford of Britain / Belgium Ford Capri RS 2600 D SIL
Ret
NC
1974 Team Broadspeed Castrol Triumph Dolomite Sprint B MAL
1†
BRH
?
SIL
8
OUL
6
THR
4
SIL
DSQ
THR
3
SIL
4
ING
3†
BRH
3†
OUL
Ret
SNE
1†
BRH
?
2nd 67 1st
1975 Triumph Team Piranha Triumph Dolomite Sprint B MAL
1†
BRH
1
OUL
1†
THR
2
SIL
6
BRH
2†
THR
4
SIL
1†
MAL
1†
SNE
Ret
SIL
3
ING
2†
BRH
1†
OUL
3
BRH
4
1st 78 1st
1976 Broadspeed/British Leyland Triumph Dolomite Sprint C BRH
9
SIL
Ret
OUL
5†
THR
Ret
THR
2
SIL
4
BRH
Ret
MAL
7†
SNE
2†
BRH
3
7th 47 2nd
1978 BMW (GB) BMW 520i D SIL
Ret
OUL
8†
THR
?
BRH
Ret†
SIL DON MAL NC 0 NC
Carrier Properties Ltd. Ford Capri III 3.0s BRH
Ret
DON
5†
BRH
?
THR
4
OUL
3†
1979 Browne & Day Ford Capri III 3.0s D SIL OUL THR SIL DON SIL
Ret
MAL DON BRH THR SNE OUL NC 0 NC
1980 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s D MAL
1†
OUL
2†
THR
6
SIL
1
SIL
1
BRH
4
MAL
2†
BRH
2
THR
2
SIL
2
4th 64 2nd
1981 CSH Racing with Esso Ford Capri III 3.0s D MAL
1†
SIL
1
OUL
3†
THR
3
BRH
Ret†
SIL
3
SIL
3
DON
3†
BRH
5
THR
5
SIL
Ret
8th 49 3rd
1982 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s D SIL
2
MAL
4†
OUL
3†
THR
3
THR
2
SIL
3
DON
3
BRH
Ret
DON
2
BRH
Ret
SIL
3
9th 41 3rd
1983 Industrial Control Services Ltd. Alfa Romeo GTV6 B SIL OUL THR BRH
3
THR
4
SIL
5
DON
4
SIL
Ret
DON
7
BRH
8
SIL
7
1st 61 1st
1984 Industrial Control Services Ltd. Rover Vitesse A DON
1
SIL
Ret
OUL
2
THR
1
THR
2
SIL
1
SNE
1
BRH
1
BRH
2
DON
1
SIL
1
1st 81 1st
1985 Industrial Control Services Ltd. Ford Sierra XR4Ti A SIL OUL
1
THR
Ret
DON
1
THR
1
SIL
1
DON
1
SIL
1
SNE
1
BRH
2
BRH
1
SIL
1
1st 86 1st
1986 Industrial Control Services Ltd. Ford Sierra XR4Ti A SIL
1
THR
2
SIL
1
DON
1
BRH
Ret
SNE
Ret
BRH
1
DON
1
SIL
Ret
3rd 57 1st
1987 ICS plc Ford Sierra RS Cosworth A SIL
1
OUL THR THR
1
SIL
Ret
SIL BRH
3
SNE DON OUL
Ret‡
8th 35 3rd
Ford Sierra RS500 DON
1
SIL
1988 Kaliber Racing Ford Sierra RS500 A SIL
16
OUL
1
THR
2
DON
1
THR
1
SIL
1
SIL
1
BRH
1
SNE
1
BRH
1
BIR
C
DON
1
SIL
10
3rd 95 1st
1989 Kaliber Racing Ford Sierra RS500 A OUL
Ret
SIL
1
THR
Ret
DON
Ret
THR
1
SIL
3
SIL
1
BRH
2
SNE
2
BRH
1
BIR
1
DON
3
SIL
1
3rd 78 1st
1990 ICS plc Ford Sierra RS500 A OUL
1
DON
1
THR
10
SIL
3
OUL
2
SIL
2
BRH
Ret
SNE
16
BRH
2
BIR
1
DON
2
THR
1
SIL
2
3rd 173 2nd
1991 Kaliber ICS Team Toyota Toyota Carina SIL
5
SNE
3
DON
9
THR
8
SIL
41
BRH
3
SIL
7
DON
1

1
DON
2

1
OUL
4
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

Ret
DON
Ret
THR
4
SIL
2
3rd 115
1992 Team Securicor ICS Toyota Toyota Carina SIL
2
THR
2
OUL
1
SNE
4
BRH
Ret
DON
1

3
DON
2

Ret
SIL
Ret
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

4
PEM
13
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

4
DON
6
SIL
1
5th 128
1993 Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Si SIL DON SNE DON OUL BRH
1
BRH
2
PEM
Ret
SIL
Ret
KNO
1

16
KNO
2

10
OUL
Ret
BRH
6
THR
3
DON
1

DSQ
DON
2

4
SIL
2
11th 41
1994 Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Ghia THR
21
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

3
SNE
DNS
SIL
1

4
SIL
2

19
OUL
Ret
DON
1

4
DON
2

6
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

5
SIL
Ret
KNO
1

11
KNO
2

15
OUL
Ret
BRH
1

11
BRH
2

DNS
SIL
1

13
SIL
2

8
DON
1

20
DON
2

10
11th 66
  1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Endurance driver.

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1974 United Kingdom Team Butch Broadspeed United Kingdom Tony Dron Triumph Dolomite Sprint Div.3 280 5th 3rd
1980 Belgium Belga Castrol Team Belgium Thierry Tassin
Ford Capri III 3.0 serT+2.5 415 7th 6th
1987 United Kingdom Andy Rouse Engineering United Kingdom Win Percy
Belgium Thierry Tassin
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Div.3 252/rim failure DNF DNF

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1980 Germany Porsche System United Kingdom Tony Dron
Germany Eberhard Draun (DNS)
Porsche 924 Carrera GT GTP 311 5th 3rd
1981 Germany Porsche System Liechtenstein Manfred Schurti
Germany Siegfried Brunn (DNS)
Porsche 924 Carrera GT IMSA GTO 316 11th 1st
1982 Germany Porsche System United Kingdom Richard Lloyd Porsche 924 Carrera GT IMSA GTO 77/gearbox DNF DNF

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts
1987 United Kingdom Andy Rouse Engineering Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MNZ
Ret
JAR
ovr:14
cls:3
DIJ
ovr:5
cls:3
NUR
ovr:8
cls:2
SPA
Ret
25th 58
Ford Sierra RS500 BNO
Ret
SIL
Ret
FJI
ovr:2
cls:2
Australia Allan Moffat Enterprises BAT
Ret
CLD
Ret
WEL

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1987 Australia Allan Moffat Enterprises Belgium Thierry Tassin
Canada Allan Moffat
Ford Sierra RS500 1 31 DNF DNF
1989 Australia Mobil 1 Racing Australia Peter Brock Ford Sierra RS500 A 81 DNF DNF
1990 Australia Mobil 1 Racing Australia Peter Brock Ford Sierra RS500 1 160 4th 4th

References

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