Context
In August 1987, the Sierra RS500 Cosworth was homologated with a larger turbo, a new rear deck spoiler and an extra 100 horsepower. Fords took pole position in all the remaining six 1987 World Touring Car Championship events and were first over the finish line in four of them. Disqualifying the works Eggenberger Motorsport cars from the 1987 Bathurst 1000 in Australia for wheel arch panel irregularities deprived Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz of the world championship. The Eggenberger Motorsport team did, however, claim the entrants' prize. Eggenberger also won the 1989 Spa 24 Hours.
The RS500 was successful in the 1988 DTM with Klaus Ludwig in the Ford Team Grab winning the drivers championship and Wolf Racing winning the Team Championship; both Grab and Wolf were Ford Works Teams and beat Mercedes-AMG Boss along with BMW M Sport for the honours.
In Great Britain, Andy Rouse was a dominating force for 3 years, but it’s Robb Gravett who won the 1990 British Touring Car Championship in a Trackstar-prepared RS500.
The RS500 also was successful in Australian touring car racing, with Dick Johnson Racing dominating the 1988 and 1989 Australian Touring Car Championships, with Dick Johnson and John Bowe finishing one-two in both years. Early in 1988, the Johnson team also took the step of homologating a modified Ford nine-inch axle for the Sierra, eliminating the car's drivetrain weakness and allowing the cars to be driven harder with less fear of failure. The RS500 won the Bathurst 1000 twice; in 1988 with Tony Longhurst and Tomas Mezera and in 1989 with Johnson and Bowe.
It also won the 1988 Sandown 500 with Allan Moffat and Gregg Hansford and the Guia Macau Race in 1989 with Tim Harvey.
Luigi Racing, the end of small privateers
Founded by Italo Belgian Luigi Cimarosti, the eponymous team made its mark in the ’70s, preparing some of the quickest group 2 BMW 3.0 CSL.
The Belgian team won the 1974 Spa 24 hours and the 1976 European Touring Car championship with Jean Xhenceval and Pierre Dieudonné.
After his BMW years, Luigi Racing got his hands on the famous Camaro Z28 before a logical switch to Alfa Romeo in the eighties.
The Luigi group A Alfa Romeo GTV6s were often victorious in the smaller class of the European Touring Car championship. In 1987, Luigi Cimarosti went for the outright victory with the new Alfa 75, but the Italian cars were nowhere compared to the Ford Sierra Cosworth and the BMW M3.
So, in 1988, Luigi Racing decided to run a 2-car effort in the ETCC with the dominant Ford Sierra RS500. Two bodyshells were bought from Ford Motorsport in February, and the assembly began in the small workshop in Comblain-au-Pont, near Liège.
The car with chassis #LR1388 would bear the #14 and be the leading car with Thierry Tassin, joined by Romain Feilter and the famous French rally driver Jean-Claude Andruet.
The other car (chassis #LR1288) would bear the #15 and would only be ready shortly before the Spa 24 Hours.
Luigi Racing, a difficult 1988 season in the European Touring Car Championship
Luigi Racing ran 2 Ford Sierra RS500 group A in the 1988 European Touring Car Championship.
The cars looked very similar, although LR1388 ran with black mirrors while the sister car LR1288 had white ones. The seat in LR1388 was red, and the dashboard had more red accents than LR1288.
LR1388 raced with #14 in the 1988 ETCC season and made its debut at the 5th round at Dijon – however, the car failed to qualify for the race…
The Luigi team missed the next round at Vallelunga and was back at the Nürburgring, where Tassin and Feilter finished 12th.
At the 24h of Spa, the two cars were ready but none of it did last long.
The next race went a lot better. Helped by the rain, an inspired strategy and a fantastic performance by Thierry Tassin, LR1388 scored a podium (3rd).
A DNF followed at Silverstone which was the last race for the Luigi Racing in 1988 – except that LR1288 was converted to rally specs for Thierry Reginster at the Condroz Rally.
1989 Portuguese Touring Car Championship
After its career in the ETCC, LR1388 (still owned by Luigi Racing) was rented to a regular Luigi customer, Portuguese driver Christian Melville.
He raced the car in various races and hill climbs in Portugal. At some point, the white mirrors were fitted but the car still retained the red seat…
1991 - Sold to an Italian collector
In 1991, Luigi Racing sold the car to an Italian collector who had stored the car for many years.
In 2016, all his collections were auctioned because the owner ran into financial problems.
LR1388 has been bought at the RM Sotheby’s Duemilia Ruote auction in Milan by Gipimotor. Since then, it has been restored to its 1988 ETCC specifications.
