Russell Brookes
Brookes at the 2009 Autosport International.
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 British
|
| Born |
16 August 1945 Redditch, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1973–1994 |
| Teams | Ford, Talbot, Vauxhall/Opel |
| Rallies | 21 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Stage wins | 38 |
| Total points | 56 |
| First rally | 1973 RAC Rally |
| Last rally | 1994 RAC Rally |
Russell Brookes (born 16 August 1945) is a British former rally driver. He won the British Rally Championship with a Ford Escort RS1800 in 1977 and with an Opel Manta 400 in 1985. In 1978, he won the Rally New Zealand, a round of the FIA Cup for Drivers, the predecessor to the World Championship for Drivers. In the World Rally Championship, he finished on the podium of his home event, the RAC Rally, three times in a row from 1977 to 1979.
Only son of a firefighter Brookes made his competitive debut in club events in 1963. At first he drove a number of privately entered cars including a BMC Mini Cooper. Progress was slow until 1973 without the support of family money in a sport which, at that time, did not permit sponsorship of individual cars. He then came to the attention of the Ford Motor Company when contesting their Ford Escort Mexico (One Make) championship.
In 1974 Brookes started one of the longest running sponsorship deals in motorsport when he signed with Andrews - Heat for Hire (a portable heating and air conditioning company). Their distinctive yellow colour scheme graced nearly all of his cars through to 1991. During this period the sponsors' turnover grew from £1.5m to over £60m making it a benchmark for other sponsorship deals.
In 1976, Brookes was invited to join the Ford 'works' team to drive an Escort RS1800 in the British Rally Championship. At that time the British Championship was highly competitive having eclipsed the World Rally Championship for publicity. Brookes found himself in formidable company not least from within the team, Björn Waldegård, Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen (all world champions), being his team-mates. He won the Open Championship in 1977 and then stayed with Ford until the end of the 1979 World Rally Championship season.
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