ANDY ROUSE TO BE HONOURED AT SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL

At Silverstone Festival, Motor Racing Legends will introduce a one-off award, the Andy Rouse Trophy, for the highest-placed Ford Sierra in the Historic Touring Car Challenge race on Sunday 24th August.

The occasion marks two significant anniversaries. 2025 is 50 years since Rouse’s first British Touring Car Championship success, and 40 since the first appearance of a Sierra in the BTCC. Each is an icon in its own right, and each is intricately woven into the story of the other. 

Andy Rouse

 

“There are so many wonderful memories of those great times and it’s always great to see so many of those cars still racing today. I’m honoured that Motor Racing Legends has invited me to this year’s Silverstone Festival and really looking forward to being back at circuit where I enjoyed so much success all those years ago. I raced a lot of really standout cars but the RS500 will always be very special. It was a beast to drive and gave me – and I think the fans – a lot of pleasure.” 

Rouse won four BTCC titles, with the first coming in 1975, and the fourth aboard a Ford Sierra XR4Ti in 1985, the model’s first year in the championship. Though he saw championship success with Triumph, Alfa Romeo and Rover machinery, the Gloucestershire driver is most closely associated with the Blue Oval. In an illustrious career, he would take 36 BTCC victories and four class titles in Sierras, twice with the XR4Ti and twice more with the iconic RS500.

To mark this history, each Sierra in the 40-minute Adrian Flux for MRL the Motor Racing Legends Historic Touring Car Challenge will carry unique logos celebrating the trophy, and a commemorative award will be presented by Rouse himself post-race.

Pierre-Antoine Lecoutour, Motor Racing Legends CEO

 

“We’re honoured to be dedicating an award to Andy Rouse. He’s a true hero of British motorsport. The opportunity to celebrate both the man, and the car he’s best associated with, is unmissable. The Sierra, and in particularly the RS500 Cosworth, is an icon of motor racing around the world and many of us had posters of those cars on our walls. Gathering an extra-special entry of them for Silverstone Festival is going to be a highlight of our year and a true spectacle.”

Entries are open and handled through the Motor Racing Legends app, available here. Any Group A Ford Sierra entering the race will automatically be entered into the Andy Rouse Trophy at no extra cost and no further steps are necessary.

Motor Racing Legends is hosting a pre-event test for Silverstone Festival, on Wednesday 20th August. The test is split into fast and slow groups, is unsilenced, and is open to all closed-wheel cars.