Classic Ford reported on the Ford Fair 2008 held at Silverstone. Matt Downer was included in the report & he took the Editor, Simon Woolley out for a ride:

A serial track day, sprint and hillclimb attendee, Matt's seriously well-sorted MKII has been well known for its blistering pace on tracks across the country, powered by a singing naturally aspirated Cosworth YB. The Cossie's made way now though, in favour of SBD's 304bhp 2-litre Duratec, which Matt reckons give a whole lot more power through the rev range.

It looks it too - Simon was treated to a white knuckle ride - and provided one of the highlights of the day when screaming past one the Silverstone instructors in an Exige. Matt's MKII obliterated almost everything on the track. Good Work, Classic Ford power at its most sweet!!

Matt at Croft Easter 2005, 1st in Class - 91.26 seconds

Picture courtesy of 'Whatnonegatives'

Matt's Escort was featured in Classic Ford when they put a selection of cars on the the rolling road at Track'n'Road Performance. Classic Ford have kindly given permission for us to reproduce part of the article.

'The Turbosport rolling road session was held down at Track'n'Road Performance, one of the UK's premier tuning specialists, on its unique single roller, capable of testing cars up to a maximum of 800bhp & 200mph. Steve Pitcher & Steve Greenald who run the rollers offer a service second to none and even on a busy day such as today, they still had time to try and solve problems where necessary, give out advice and generally offer value for money. This was no quick roll on roll off affair, and everyone got the same degree of attention whether you had a standard Crossflow or a stonking great turbo'd YB. The two Steves have over 60 years of tuning experience between them and quite frankly if they don't have the answer then it probably doesn't exist.'

Matt Downer

Car: MkII GRP4 Escort

Mods: Naturally-aspirated Cosworth YB, steel bottom end, Accuralite pistons, Pace dry sump, ported head, SBD cams, taper throttle bodies, MBE management.

Expected Power: 235bhp

Actual Power:224.1 bhp 149.7 lbft

Owner's Comments: It could do with a new bottom end, as that's what's restricting it at the moment. The cams just want more revs.

Steve's Comments: There's a lot more in there, it just needs a bit more work.

Matt's Escort was featured in Retro Ford May 2006 in an Ultimate Escort Showdown, Retro Ford have kindly given permission for us to reproduce part of the article.

Matt Downer - Mk2 RS2000

Matt's Mk2 is probably one of the nicest, highly specced Escorts in the country. It's road legal, but loves to compete with it in sprint and have fun on track days… and you can see why. Beautiful preparation, a truly sorted chassis and an absolute screamer of a Cossie engine combine to leave a big grin on his face, his passenger's face (our Morley nearly wet himself with pleasure) and indeed anyone's face within half a mile of the car. His acceleration times were blistering, and put a good few of the Cossie turbo boys to shame, but top speed was hampered by competition gearing.

RESULTS:
0 - 60: 4.86sec
0 - 100: 11.72sec
¼ mile: 13.52sec @ 107.56mph
Max speed: 110.67mph

Retro Ford arranged a track day at Brands Hatch 'it was always going to be good. We just never thought it would be this good!'. Our customer Matt Downer was one of the 40 people booked for this track day.

According to Retro Ford 'We also had some more familiar weaponry tearing up the track too, including Matt Downer in his stunning n/a Cosworth Mk2 Escort who ran rings around everyone else.'