View Full Version : Rallying - the old glory days
Stolen from another forum. This is the post of one of the forum members who you could say is a bit of a ralley nut and has folllowed it all his life living in Europe. I'll update as he does.
1982 saw the launch of what would turn out to be the most spectacular and exciting period in the history of rallying, a new formula was introduced called Group B, car designers were given an almost free hand, a minimum run of 200 cars had to be made, this allowed the use of spaceframe technology and expensive materials.
Arguably the first proper Group B car was the Lancia 037, or to call it by its correct name, the Lancia Rally (037 was its development code number). The car used a mix of glassfibre and Kevlar body panels, titanium rollcage and spaceframe steel chassis. The RWD machine weighed in at 980kg and used a mid-mounted four cylinder supercharged engine, initially producing 260bhp, which was rapidly developed to ultimately produce 325bhp.
The car was homologated in time for the only all tarmac round of the 1982 WRC - The Tour de Corse. One of the most impressive line ups ever seen on a WRC event turned out for the start, Renault had a trio of 5 Turbos for Ragnotti, Therier and Saby, Pozzi - the French Ferrari importer entered two 308 GTB models, including one for Frenchman Jean Claude Andruet, there were also four Porsche 911SC, a BMW M1, three works Quattros, Ascona 400's for Rohrl and Kleint. Lancia brought two cars, one for Markku Alen and another for the Italian driver Attilio Bettega.
Bettega made a good start, initially holding second place behind Andruet's Ferrari.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Bettega1982TDC2.jpg
Ragnotti quickly got to grips with his Renault, taking the lead of the rally by stage 6, this pushed Bettega's Lancia down to third. However, what happened on stage 11 highlighted how potentially dangerous these spaceframe cars could be, Bettega hit a wall, the pedals ended up underneath his seat, breaking his legs badly, it took over half an hour to cut Bettega free from the 037.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Bettega_TDC82.jpg
Markku Alen finished a somewhat lowly ninth overall in Corsica, retirements followed for Alen in Greece, Finland and Italy, it was not until the RAC Rally in November that he gave the car its first reasonable finish, fourth place. But 1982 was never meant to be anything but a development year for the 037.
Alen on the 1982 Sanremo
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1982Sanremo.jpg
For 1983 Lancia signed German ace Walter Rohrl, it was a dream start to the '83 season, Rohrl and Alen taking a 1-2 victory on the Monte Carlo Rally.
Walter Rohrl - Monte Carlo winner 1983
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1983WalterRhrlLanciaRally.jpg
Next Lancia outing was Portugal, Rohrl and Alen finishing 3-4, beaten by the Quattro pairing of Mikkola and Mouton, Lancia and Audi shared the manufacturers lead with 32 points each.
Lancia opted to stay 'out of Africa' and made major preparations for the all tarmac Tour de Corse instead.
When the Italians went rallying back in the 1980's, they did it in force, four Martini cars, from the front No.1 Andruet, No.5 Rohrl, No.14 Bettega (returning to competition exactly one year after that horrific crash) and No. 9 Alen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC83Lanciaservice.jpg
This was to be the last ever works outing for the legendary pairing of Jean-Claude Andruet and his female co driver "Biche", they had won the first ever WRC event, the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC1983Anduet.jpg
Andruet was out on the second day, water from the cooling system had leaked into the cylinder bores at service, causing the engine to seize.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Andruet1983TDC.jpg
Lancia took the top four places at the end of the rally, Alen taking a win over Rohrl.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC83Alen1.jpg
Incredibly Lancia finished 1-2 on the next round in Greece, thanks to various problems which hit the Audi team, this was a big boost to Lancia's manufacturers title hopes.
New Zealand was next, surely here Audi would show Lancia how to go rallying on loose surfaces. But no, the Audi armada all hit trouble. Rohrl took a convincing win.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl83_lanciarally037_NZ.jpg
Rohrl opted out of competing in the next two rounds in Argentina and Finland, Alen took fifth and third respectively in those rallies, each time behind an Audi trail.
Even now, heading into the Sanremo Rally, Lancia had a twelve point lead over Audi. Yet again, the reliability of the Lancia rally cars won the day, the 037 took the top three places in Italy. Lancia were the 1983 Manufacturers Champions. They didn't even bother sending any cars to the final round, the RAC Rally.
Team Lancia during the 1983 Sanremo. This was the end of an era, the last time a 2WD car took the manufacturers title.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Lancia037Sanremo83.jpg
Jean-Claude Andruet and Sergio Cresto - 1984 Monte Carlo
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Andruet84MC.jpg
Attilio Bettega - Monte Carlo 1984
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Bettega1984MC.jpg
Miki Biasion Portugal '84
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/84PortugalBiasion.jpg
Alen taking another win in Corsica 1984
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC84Alen3.jpg
Henri Toivonen 1984 Finland.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen841000Lakes.jpg
Biasion - Monte Carlo 1985
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1985MikiBiasionLanciaRall.jpg
Alen - Safari 1985
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen85Safari.jpg
Attilio Bettega and Jean Ragnotti share a moment prior to the Tour de Corse 1985
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Bettega_Ragnotti_1985_tour_de_corse.jpg
One of the last ever photos of Attilio Bettega during the '85 event.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AttilioBettega1985TDC.jpg
It turned out to be a tragic event for Lancia, Bettega had an accident on stage 4, not unlike in 1982, unfortunately this time it cost Bettega his life, this was the first time a top line rally driver had been killed on a WRC event, a very dark day for the sport.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985TourdeCorseBettegaaccident.jpg
Although it had a fairly short career, the Lancia Rally was a brilliant rally car, the only thing it lacked was four-wheel drive
Next up, the Audi Quattro. This is quite a long story, I have already covered the 1981 & 1982 Quattro seasons in the other rally car thread (http://board.s14power.com/showthread.php?t=4361), so we'll start here with the A1 & A2 Quattro which were used by the Audi team in 1983 and most of 1984.
The A1 made its debut on the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally, because it still used its 2144cc turbo engine, it was classified as an above 3 litre car (The FIA calculation for turbo cars being to multiply engine capacity by 1.4), this meant it had a minimum 1100kg weight, not a massive issue at the time, as the Quattro was a heavy car anyway.
Bolmqvist and Mikkola finished 3-4 on the Monte, behind the Lancia pair of Rohrl and Alen.
Mikkola 1983 Monte Carlo Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MikkolaMC83Audijpg.jpg
For the second year running, it all went wrong for Mouton :-(
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MoutonMC83.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton_Pons1983MC.jpg
Next up was the Swedish Rally, this was drivers championship only, so Lancia opted out, leaving Audi to take the top 4 places.
Mouton Sweden 1983
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton1983Swedish.jpg
Portugal, Audi finished 1-2 with Mikkola ahead of Mouton
Mikkola
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola83Portugal.jpg
Safari came next, and Mikkola took second place behind the Opel Ascona 400 of Vatanen, by now Mikkola had a very healthy 28 point lead over Mouton in the drivers championship.
Next up it was the least well suited event for the Quattro, the all tarmac Tour de Corse. This was to be the debut event for the A2 Quattro, it now had a slightly smaller 2109cc turbo engine, which brought the car into the below 3 litre class, this meant that it now fell into the 960kg minimum weight class, with the use of Kevlar panels and doors, the Quattro now weighed in at 1000kg. It produced around 370bhp.
To his credit, Mikkola did manage two fastest stage times in Corsica but retired with accident damage. The Quattro was still using a very basic 4WD transmission (Not like the trick set ups that WRC cars enjoy nowadays), so it really struggled at hairpin bends and needed all the space it could find to get round some of them, as you can see from the photo below!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC_1983_Mikkola.jpg
Greece was a disaster for Audi, Mouton, who had won in '82 crashed on the first stage! Mikkola retired after all sorts of problems, Blomqvist managed to scrape home in third, a massive 14 minutes behind the winning 037 of Rohrl.
The next big win for Audi was Argentina, this event saw some of the fastest average speeds ever on a WRC event, with some stages taking in long straights, during one stage the Quattro gave an average of 122mph .
Finland, Mikkola finished ahead of Blomqvist (Probably on team orders, due to Mikkola's massive lead in the drivers championship)
Next to Italy for the Sanremo, Lancia wanted a good result to secure the manufacturers title, and they got it, finishing 1-2-3. Mouton giving the team 7th place was the best they could do. Mikkola' car set on fire.
Blomqvist drove well and should have been top three, but he had an accident on stage 53 of 58 (They were long events back then!) This photo of Stig on the '83 Sanremo shows how popular Group B was becoming.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AudiBlomqvist1983Sanremo.jpg
Mikkola made the trip to the Ivory coast to be absolutely sure of his drivers title, taking second place, then it was on to Britain for the RAC, Blomqvist beating Mikkola, but Mikkola was 1983 World Rally Champion driver.
For 1984 Audi had built up a super team of drivers which would be capable of total domination. Audi were one of the teams who brought big money into driver salaries, finally bringing them closer to F1 drivers.
From the left Fabrizia Pons, Arne Hertz, Björn Cederberg, Stig Blomqvist, Christian Geistdörfer, Walter Röhrl, Michele Mouton and Hannu Mikkola.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/SuperTeam1984MC.jpg
The 1984 Monte was a snowy event, although there was some tarmac to be seen in places
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1984WalterRhrlAudiQuattro.jpg
Walter Rohrl took an amazing four Monte wins from four starts, all in different makes of cars (1980 - Fiat 131, 1982 - Ascona 400, 1983 - Lancia 037. He didn't compete in 1981!)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl84MC.jpg
Audi finally got the Monte win they craved, not only that, it was a 1-2-3 back at the finish in Monaco, Blomqvist and Mikkola following Rohrl home.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984MCVictory.jpg
Another 1-2-3 followed in Sweden. This was followed by a win for Mikkola in Portugal.
1984 service, Portugal.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984PortugalteamAudi.jpg
A rare (if not the only) factory outing for South African driver Sarel van der Merwe on the '84 Rally of Portugal.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/SarelvanderMerwe1984Portugal.jpg
Rohrl and the growing crowds, Portugal '84
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1984Portugal.jpg
And the winner, Mikkola
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AudiPortugal1984Mikkola.jpg
No Audi Group B Quattro ever won the Safari Rally, in fact no 4WD Group B car ever won the Safari Rally. Here is Mouton in '84 after hitting a vulture!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MoutonSafari84VultureHit.jpg
Tour de Corse 1984, as you can see from this photo, this was the debut event for the Sport Quattro, Rohrl tried a sole SWB car.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AudiServiceCorsica1984.jpg
Audi wanted a good result in Corsica, so much so that they gave multiple Tour de Corse winner Bernard Darniche a car to run in the 1984 French Rally Championship, here he is in Corsica, he retired after an accident.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Darniche1984TDC.jpg
Blomqvist continued to drive the A2 for most of 1984, here he is taking a win in Greece. He followed this with wins in New Zealand and Argentina, back in 1984 this was the first time any driver had won three WRC events in succession.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist1984Acropolis.jpg
Mikkola took an A2 to second on the RAC, but by now the car was outdated and already the Sport offered a reliable 400+bhp....
The Audi Quattro Sport, some just know it as the short-wheelbase Quattro. Unlike all the other true 4WD Group B supercars, the Sport was based on a real car, in other words it didn't have a spaceframe chassis or mid-engine layout, this was one of its weak points in many ways. Audi cut 320mm from the Quattro wheelbase to create the Sport, allegedly the idea was to reduce weight and make the car handle better on tarmac stages, for some reason it turned out to be the heaviest Quattro to date, weighing in at 1200kg.
Here is a photo of the A1 Quattro in the foreground and the Sport directly behind it, note not only the shorter appearance of the Sport, but also the much sharper rake windscreen, apparently this was requested by the rally divers at the time, as the original Quattro suffered badly from the sun's glare at certain times of day (the two cars in the background are prototype mules)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/A1_Sport_protox2.jpg
The car made its WRC debut on the 1984 Tour de Corse, Walter Rohrl retired the car after just 7 stages with overheating problems, also the car handled badly, the Quattro was always a nose heavy car due to the engine being sat so far forward, the short-wheelbase just seemed to make the problem worse. One good thing about the car was its fabulous 20 valve engine, it was producing comfortably over 400bhp, by 1985 it would be producing around 510bhp, probably making it the first rally car with over 500bhp, 4WD had now made it possible for rally cars to have the sort of power that F1 cars had enjoyed just a few years previous.
Rohrl 1984 Tour de Corse
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1984TDC.jpg
Three weeks later was the Acropolis Rally, Audi entered four works cars, Rohrl and Mouton both ran the new Sport, while Mikkola and Blomqvist ran a trusty A2 each. The Sport Quattro started overheating as soon as the day became hot, Rohrl was driving with his heater on, whilst having to back off when the oil temperature got too hot. Despite these problems, Rohrl grabbed the lead by the end of the first day, it didn't last though, electrical trouble struck on the first stage of day two, eventually the car stopped with clutch failure.
Rohrl 1984 Acropolis
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1984Acropolis.jpg
At the end of July 1984, Rohrl made his one and only appearance for Audi on the British Rally Championship, the Ulster Rally in Northern Ireland, he was up against the Opel Manta 400s of Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes, although the Opel was only producing about 275bhp it had often beaten the Quattros in previous British tarmac rallies. Rohrl sent co driver Geistdorfer over to Ulster prior to the event to make pace notes (this was unusual, as most drivers like to call the notes to co drivers during a low speed pass of each stage, Rohrl tended to do as he pleased, such was his talent, he arrived shortly before the rally and drove once over each stage which would be run in darkness) Although the car was difficult to drive, it turned out to be a demonstration of brutal power and sheer skill by Rohrl, he took victory by well over four minutes.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RohrlUlster1984.jpg
Blomqvist clung on to his beloved A2 for as much of the '84 season as possible, here he is making his Sport debut in Sanremo, an oil pipe let go after a hard impact and Stig was out.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BlomqvistSanremo1984.jpg
Blomqvist needed a few points to be sure of the 1984 drivers title, so he was sent to the Ivory Coast Rally, only six cars finished this gruelling African rally, it turned out to be the one and only win for the Sport in the WRC, Blomqvist taking the win and the drivers crown.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist84IvoryCoast.jpg
1985, the traditional start to the WRC, the Monte Carlo, Rohrl put up a fight against the 205 T16 of Vatanen, but the little mid engined Peugeot was too good, Rohrl settling for second.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1985MonteCarlo.jpg
Blomqvist finished a massive 14 minutes behind Rohrl in fourth position.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1985StigBlomqvistAudiSpor.jpg
Round 2 in Sweden, same result, Vatanen's 205 taking the win, with Blomqvist in second, Stig said the car was just not comfortable in the corners. He once even commented that a better combination might have been the 20 valve Sport engine in an A2!
Portugal followed, Vatanen retired with suspension damage, this was Rohrl's chance, he set 23 fastest stage times.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1985PortugalAudi.jpg
But it was not to be, he suffered a broken transmission casing on the notorious 35 mile Arganil stage, the car was fixed but too much time lost.
Blomqvist had a bad rally also, he finished fourth behind Rohrl in third, this time Salonen won in...... a 205 T16, Audi were starting to plan their next move, but in the meantime, the drivers would make do with this awesomely powerful, yet difficult car.
Blomqvist Portugal '85
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BlomqvistPortugal1985.jpg
Audi sent two cars to the Safari, Stig and Hannu both retired.
Blomqvist on the '85 Safari. Have you ever noticed on those Hollywood films, when a helicopter takes off and everyone runs for cover as dust blows everywhere, of course that doesn't happen in reality.....
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist85Safari.jpg
.....Well, not usually!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist85Safari2.jpg
Stig Blomqvist taking second on the '85 Acropolis.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist85Acropolis.jpg
Michele Mouton took part in the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in 1985, she and co driver Fabrizia Pons had won the rally car class in 1984 driving a Sport, for 1985 Michele decided to go it alone.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MicheleMoutonPikesPeak1985.jpg
She won the event and took the hill record with a time of 11 minutes 25.39 seconds.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MoutonPikesPeak1985.jpg
Blomqvist '85 New Zealand
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BlomqvistNZ1985.jpg
The final factory WRC outing for the Sport came on the 1985 Ivory Coast Rally, Mouton had been entered in the hope of retaining her A priority status as a rally driver, to do this she needed a top three finish, the rally was a total disaster for the team, Mouton's co driver was taken ill during practice, so Mikkola's co driver Arne Hertz was brought in, they hit a train during practice! The rally went no better and she retired, this was her last rally for Audi, a sad way to end.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985IvoryCoastpracticeaccidentMouto.jpg
Hannu Mikkola used a David Sutton run Sport on the 1986 British Rally Championship, here he is on his way to victory during the Welsh Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola1986Welsh.jpg
So, the Sport was heavy, didn't handle too well on the stages, wasn't loved by any of the factory drivers as a rally car and was often unreliable. Did spectators like watching that car on the stages? - Yes. Would I have a road going Sport in my dream garage? - Yes. So, I guess Audi must have got something right.
For the final chapter in Audi's Group B story, they would need something very evolutionary if they were going to make this short Quattro capable of taking on Peugeot.....
The 1985 Sanremo Rally was due to be the debut event for the Lancia Delta S4, but much to the frustration of the Italian fans, the car was yet again delayed. So, the Peugeot 205 T16 E2 would clean up again right? Well, Audi had other ideas, Walter Röhrl had spent some time setting his car up.
The rally was run over 43 special stages, 13 stages were to be run on the tarmac roads in the mountains behind Sanremo and another 30 stages would be held on the gravel roads of Tuscany.
The spectators in Italy were crazy, probably almost as crazy as the fans in Portugal. Röhrl set off flat out over the opening tarmac stages, swapping times with the Peugeot of Frenchman Bruno Saby.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl85Sanremo.jpg
Röhrl said in an interview many years later that the Audi he drove on that Sanremo Rally was producing 535bhp, which he described as 'Plenty of power everywhere and at any speed'
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RohrlSanremo1985.jpg
Röhrl's co driver Christian Geistdörfer once compared being driven flat out in a Group B car to having your brain shook loose, this rally must have been the most extreme demonstration ever of that feeling!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Sanremo85Rohrl.jpg
'Once the car exceeded 60mph the aerodynamics of the car worked really well, giving good downforce. The engine gave full power above 3000rpm, if you lifted off the right pedal then you lost all power, it was all or nothing and I went for all on that 1985 Sanremo' - Walter Röhrl
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/SanremoRohrl1985.jpg
Röhrl totally made the event his own, setting 29 fastest stage times, he demolished the opposition, winning the event by six and a half minutes from Timo Salonen's Peugeot. It is still remembered to this day as one of the greatest WRC wins.
Last event of 1985 was the RAC Rally of Great Britain, a pair of S1 E2 Quattros were entered, Röhrl was running a very early semi automatic gearbox which was operated by a foot switch (Remember this was high tech back in 1985, it was well into the 1990s before F1 cars had paddle gearshifts)
Englishman Phil Short was chosen to sit next to Röhrl, Short remembers it as one of the biggest accidents of his career, the pair ended up rolling down a hillside in Wales, just about every panel came off the car! When they finally came to rest (on the wheels) Röhrl still had his hands on the steering wheel, he turned to Short and said 'I think our rally is over!'
Walter Röhrl and Phil Short on the 1985 RAC Rally (Before their big off)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RohrlShort1985RAC.jpg
Hannu Mikkola had finished first or second on every RAC Rally since 1979, sadly 1985 brought this to an end, retirement came after an electronics problem.
Mikkola on a spectator stage during the 1985 RAC Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/S1E2RAC1985.jpg
1985 had seen Audi turn it's car back into a competitive rally car, satisfying work for all involved I'm sure, 1986 would offer the greatest battle the WRC had ever seen, Lancia now had a car which won straight out of the box, Peugeot were still a major force, even Britain now had a rally supercar with the MG 6R4, the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally was a mouth watering prospect for rally fans - Could the Monte meister Walter Röhrl regain his crown.....
Walter Röhrl preparing for the start of the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally, they didn't know it then, but this was to be the last time that the Group B supercars would ever be driven on the Monte Carlo stages.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl86MonteCarlo.jpg
The early stages were all run on snow, Röhrl showed his usual flair.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RohrlMC1986.jpg
The Monte had been a popular spectator event for years, but the development of the Group B cars meant the crowds were bigger than ever.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RohrlMC86.jpg
Hannu Mikkola was also present in a second Quattro, he paid Röhrl and the Audi team (who had together fine tuned the car for this event) a huge compliment when he described the S1 E2 as the best car he had ever driven on tarmac, day two of the event brought a chance to put that to use as the stages were fairly much clear from Snow and ice.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MikkolaMC86.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola86MC.jpg
The man and the machine - Inside the cockpit of the mighty Group B Audi
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl1986MC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl86MC.jpg
Henri Toivonen had been leading the event but then had a huge road accident, Toivonen kept going but this was Röhrl's chance, he was probably the only driver who had the confidence and ability to take on Toivonen in this event, it all went wrong for the German though, he had a rear puncture which forced him to stop and change the wheel, only to find the spare was a studded tyre and this was a dry tarmac stage!!
A second puncture followed, Walter had to settle for fourth place, ten minutes down on the winner.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl86MCpuncture.jpg
Mikkola brought the sister car home in third, here we can see that the 'cow catcher' front wing was not made from solid granite after all.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MC86Mikkola.jpg
Next event for the Audi team was the Rally of Portugal, a single entry was made for Röhrl
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl_86_Portugalservice.png
The cars set off for the now notorious Sintra stages, for years these stages had attracted huge uncontrolled crowds, 1986 was to see the biggest crowds yet, not since the days of the classic road races such as Targa Florio and Mille Miglia had such powerful cars been driven between walls of spectators.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WalterRohrl86Portugal.jpg
A rare photo of a car on the '86 Rally of Portugal without huge crowds
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Portugal1986RohrlS1E2.jpg
The accident many had feared didn't take long to happen, local driver Joaquim Santos lost control of his RS200 when avoiding spectators in the road, this caused him to leave the road, killing three spectators and injuring many more, it was a black day in the history of rallying.
All the major teams withdrew from the event after just three special stages. This was to be the very last time we would see the amazing winged wonder on the WRC stages, Audi decided to withdraw their Group B cars from international rallying with immediate effect. We will probably never see or hear a car like this ever again in top level rallying.
The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, this was the rally car that took all the best ingredients and mixed them perfectly together - 4 wheel drive, turbo charging, space frame technology, mid-engine layout, all in a lightweight (940kg) package.
The car was originally tested in 1983, here is the T16 being rolled out for the first time.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Firsttest1983.jpg
The 205 T16 story started in 1981 when Jean Boillot, the head of Automobiles Peugeot asked professional co driver Jean Todt to help create a competition department for PSA Peugeot Citroën.
By 1983 they had a car up and running, the photo below shows from the left, Jean Boillot, Jean Todt and Jean-Pierre Nicolas. Boillot was the son of famous pre WW1 Grand Prix driver Georges Boillot who was the first two time winner of the French Grand Prix in 1912 & 1913 driving a Peugeot, of course!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/JeanBoillot_Todt_Nicolas1983.jpg
A quiet test session followed at a French rallysprint! Jean-Pierre Nicolas had retired from rallying at the end of 1980 after a career which had seen him win five WRC events, but he was tempted back to develop the T16.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Sarlat83.jpg
May 1984 would see the WRC debut of the car, here are the team arriving on the island of Corsica for the all tarmac Tour de Corse.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984TDC205.jpg
The main competition would come in the shape of the Lancia 037 team, who had won here in 1983
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC_1984-205-Vatanen1.jpg
Vatanen diced with Bettega's Lancia for the first few stages, the 205 was immediately comfortable on tarmac, something the Quattro never had been.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen84TDC.jpg
The T16 was the first car since the Lancia Stratos to use fully removable bodywork, it made servicing so much easier, here is the second 205 of Nicolas during a service interval.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984TDC.jpg
Anyone who watched rallying in the UK during the early / mid 1980s will remember that the Opel Manta 400 could reasonably hold it's own against the more powerful Quattro on tarmac events, Peugeot had cleverly designed the T16 with three options for transmission torque split - 50/50 for very slippery surfaces, 33/67 for gravel and 25/75 for tarmac.
Not only was the 205 faster than the Opel, it was able to catch the works car of Guy Frequelin during the stages...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984TDCManta_205.jpg
...and actually pass it!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1984TDCManta400_205.jpg
Vatanen was the sensation of the rally, he grabbed the lead on stage 8 and held it until crashing on stage 19, this was forgiven by the team, he had proved the car had pace.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC84Vatanen.jpg
The sister car of Jean-Pierre Nicolas kept going...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205refuel.jpg
...and finished a solid fourth overall, not to bad for a driver who had been retired since 1980.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TourdeCorse1984Jean-PierreNicolasPe.jpg
Next event was the super tough Acropolis Rally, Vatanen set 11 fastest times but retired with an engine problem, the team went back to their Paris HQ to regroup.
Finland's 1000 Lakes rally, the fastest rally on the WRC and an event that Vatanen had won in 1981, Ari dearly wanted another win on his home event, and he did it in style, the T16 totally dominated.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen1000Lakes1984.jpg
Winner Vatanen flanked by Henri Toivonen and Markku Alen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Finland84Toivonen_Vatanen_Alen.jpg
With co driver Terry Harryman, Vatanen always celebrated a win with a glass of milk (He also enjoyed milk as a sponsor many times over the years) Look closely and you can see Harryman clutching an unopened bottle of champagne, which I'm sure he enjoyed later.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenFinland84milk.jpg
One month later the cars arrived in Italy for the Sanremo Rally, it would be another demonstration in how to go rallying from Peugeot, Vatanen taking another crushing win.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/84Sanremo.jpg
Mechanics work on Ari's car during the Sanremo
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/84SanremoVatanen.jpg
British rally fans (including myself) could barely wait for the amazing 205 to arrive for final round of the 1984 WRC, the RAC Rally.
Ari built up a massive lead over the Audi of Mikkola
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen84RAC.jpg
He gave everybody a scare when he rolled his car and lost the several minute lead he had built up. Here is Ari helping to replace the windscreen!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenRAC1984.jpg
Mikkola's Quattro nearly kept Ari honest, but in the end Vatanen won by less that a minute - Another glass of milk.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/84RAC.jpg
Three wins from the last three starts, surely Vatanen had to be clear favourite to win the 1985 WRC drivers title
he start of the 1985 World Rally Championship season, Peugeot had some new team members. Posing prior to the start of the Monte Carlo Rally, from the left Terry Harryman, Ari Vatanen, Timo Salonen, Seppo Harjanne, Bruno Saby, Jean-Francois Fauchille and Jean Todt.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205_drivers1985MC.jpg
A French team on France's premier rally, the pressure on Vatanen to win was massive, he set fastest time on the first stage, but on stage two it all went slightly wrong when Ari hit some spectators, luckily nobody was seriously injured but it shook Vatanen and it took him until stage nine to regain the lead from Röhrl's Audi.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen1985MCspectatorcrash.jpg
Peugeot servicing, back then there was an enormous range of tyres available, so much so that Michelin had told Audi to only enter two cars on the event, such was their commitment to the Peugeot team.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205ServiceMC85.jpg
Vatanen got back in the groove, setting a string of fastest times, this was Ari at his peak.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985Vatanen205T16.jpg
Vatanen built up a good lead, it would now take a disaster to stop him from winning, sure enough that's exactly what happened! co driver Terry Harryman failed to spot an error on a time card and ended up booking into a time control wrongly, the pair took an eight minute penalty.
What followed was Vatanen driving at the absolute limit
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenMC85.jpg
Ari's job was made easier by Röhrl making a wrong tyre choice, in the end the 205 won by over five minutes, but it could have been quite different, I bet there were some tense moments in the car after the time card error.
It was happy days back in Monaco harbour, this was the first time Röhrl had been defeated on the Monte since 1979.
New team member Salonen came in third overall (His first rally in a 4WD car) Salonen, Vatanen and Röhrl celebrate.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MC85victory.jpg
This time Harryman put the milk down and opened the champagne, I bet he was ready for a drink after all that excitement!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenMCvictory85.jpg
Two weeks later Vatanen scored another win in Sweden
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenSweden1985.jpg
This made five consecutive wins for Vatanen and Peugeot, nobody had achieved such success on the World Rally Championship before. It would have been impossible to believe back then, and it still seems impossible today to believe, but this was to be Vatanen's last ever win on the WRC
Round 3 of the 1985 WRC took the teams to Portugal, Vatanen set off relatively cautiously, due to the fact that the T16 was still an unknown performer on really rough roads, would it hold up?
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985-Vatanen-205T16Portugal.jpg
Huge crowds as always turned out in Portugal
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenPortugal85.jpg
Inside the cockpit of the Group B 205
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/T16incarPortugal85.jpg
Ari had a puncture on a stage, he drove to the end and thought he'd got away with it, but on one of the following stages the suspension failed and Vatanen's incredible run of WRC wins was at an end.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenPortugal_85.jpg
Walter Röhrl's Audi was starting to dominate the event, Röhrl commented that you had to hate everything about cars to drive fast on the gravel roads in Portugal, they were so rough. Vatanen's team mate Timo Salonen was trying to chase the Audi down.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TimoSalonen85Portugal.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen85PortugalRally.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985PortugalSalonen1.jpg
You can see from this photo how rocky the roads were
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen85Portugal.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen1985Portugal.jpg
Röhrl hit problems late in the event and dropped to fourth, allowing Salonen through to take his first win for Peugeot
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985PortugalSalonen.jpg
Although Vatanen and Salonen both came from Finland, you couldn't get more opposites. Ari, as we know, was super fit and never touched alcohol, and god forbid, he certainly never touched cigarettes!
Salonen on the other hand was overweight and a chain smoker so he was never going to be world champion, was he? He now led Vatanen in the championship by 4 points!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen1985Portugal_smoking.jpg
The T16's front end was dominated by a large radiator and cooling fans, highly effective
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205T16.jpg
Next up was a specialist event - The Safari Rally in Kenya
African spectators showing their enthusiasm for rallying!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Safari85.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TimoSalonen85Safari.jpg
Salonen was the only supercar driver to make the finish, he came home a lowly seventh overall, after over 3000 miles of driving some of the worlds toughest roads the 205 looked much the worse for wear
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/SalonenSafari205.jpg
Complete contrast came just a few weeks later when the cars arrived in Corsica for the only true all tarmac round, this would be the first time the T16 would start an event for a second time, having made it's debut here in 1984.
Tour de Corse driver line up for '85, Bruno Saby joining Vatanen and Salonen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/PeugeotTeam85.jpg
Also significant was this event marked the debut of the 205 T16 E2, this evolution car had 450bhp vs. the 350bhp of the original model, it also tipped the scales at 910kg, slightly less than the original. Saby drove the only E2 in Corsica, the Finns opting to stay with the tried and tested original.
This photo of the E2 clearly shows where the term 'mid engined' supercar comes from
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205promo2.jpg
Salonen's luck ran out, he didn't even complete the first stage following an electrical problem, so much for using the tried and tested model!
Vatanen had a double puncture early on and set about playing catch up as only Ari could, it all ended in a big accident, Vatanen himself admitting that it really scared him, other drivers following Ari in the stages said they were not surprised after seeing the tyre marks he had been laying down at each corner. Thankfully the roll cage did it's job, but it was a very big shunt. Saby brought the remaining car home in second behind Ragnotti's Renault after being told to hold position and collect some points for the manufacturers title, which Peugeot now led by 30 points over Audi.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen205Corsica1985.jpg
The Acropolis Rally turned out to be another disaster for Ari, this is a rare photo of him from that event, he retired with broken steering on the second stage. Team mate Salonen took another win.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen85Acropolis.jpg
Salonen and Vatanen went on to finish 1-2 respectively in New Zealand, and as the cars arrived in Argentina for the South American round of the World Rally Championship Timo led Ari by 33 points. Vatanen would be on the attack.
Salonen on one of the distinctive stages in Argentina, Peugeot chose to send three original T16 models to Argentina, this had worked well in New Zealand.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen85Argentina.jpg
Peugeot had entered three cars in Argentina, the third car was to be driven by a local superstar, Carlos Reutemann had enjoyed a glittering career as a Formula 1 driver for Brabham, Lotus, Ferrari and Williams, in which he won 12 Grand Prix.
Jean Todt and Carlos Reutemann
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Reutemann_TodtArgentina1985.jpg
Reutemann at speed on one of the stages, the 205 T16 supposedly had a habit of occasionally kicking the back end up on high speed bumpy sections
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985ReutemannArgentina85.jpg
Vatanen was fastest on the first stage, but on the second stage it all went horribly wrong for Ari when he suffered one of the biggest accidents of his career
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenaccidentArgentina1985.jpg
The accident happened on a quick and slightly downhill section of the stage, in the weeks leading up to the event it had been raining, the stage had dried out apart from a wet muddy patch under some trees, a dip in the patch caused the 205 to roll end over end. Spectators who had been at the scene reported that Salonen who had passed through earlier, backed off slightly but Ari hit the dip flat out.
Despite the rollcage having apparently kept the cockpit in good shape during the accident, Vatanen suffered horrific injuries, had it not been for the Peugeot helicopter finding the crash scene, it is quite likely the Ari would have died, the team used the sump guard (which had been ripped from under the car in the crash) as a stretcher. Vatanen wrote in his book that he felt his seat had broken away from it's mounting points during the crash, and that was what caused him to be so badly injured.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenArgentina1985.jpg
Salonen took the win in Argentina, Reutemann came home in third, the only F1 driver ever to take a podium on a WRC event.
Finland, round 9 of 12, Salonen gave the E2 it's loose surface debut, and with it a popular home win. This win also gave Salonen the World drivers title and Peugeot the manufacturers title, such was the dominance of the French supercar.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen85Finland.jpg
So, the overweight, chain smoking driver with the thick glasses became World Champion, here he is with co driver Seppo Harjanne, the pairing had spent the previous six seasons driving for Datsun/Nissan in uncompetitive cars, although Salonen was reputed to be the highest paid rally driver in the world back in the early 1980s with Datsun, finally he had a car which was up to the job and he had delivered. Seppo Harjanne also enjoyed success with Tommi Makinen, taking the world title in 1996 and 1997 before retiring.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1985Salonen-Harjanne.jpg
Peugeot had a fairly low key end to 1985, Salonen was soundly thrashed by Walter Röhrl in the Audi on the Sanremo. All the factory T16s retired from the '85 RAC Rally.
One last photo from the 1985 RAC Rally, this particular photo brings back good memories for me, it was taken at the Olivers Mount motorcycle racing circuit in Scarborough. Finland's Mikael Sundström had been chosen by Peugeot Talbot UK to drive an original T16, here he is holding up eventual winner Henri Toivonen, Sundström refused to let Toivonen pass him, Toivonen was furious but it made pure theatre for the spectators that day - I know, because I was one of them.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Sundstrom_Toivonen1985RAC.jpg
Peugeot had enjoyed a dominant 1985 season, 1986 promised to be much more competitive, Lancia had taken a 1-2 with it's new Delta S4 on the RAC Rally.
The 1986 Monte Carlo Rally, Peugeot entered three cars for drivers Salonen, Bruno Saby and their new signing Juha Kankkunen.
Kankkunen soon got to grips with the 205, this was his first event in a 4WD car, he finished a solid 5th overall
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KankkunenMC86.jpg
Bruno Saby had high hopes of winning the Monte, but things didn't go too well for him, despite this damage he managed to finish 6th
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Saby86MC.jpg
Peugeot Germany had also entered a T16 for Michele Mouton, she retired with mechanical trouble
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton1986MC205T16.jpg
It was left to Salonen to bring the points home, he finished 2nd.
Next rally was the Swedish, Kankkunen took his first win for the French team.
Round 3 - Portugal
Kankkunen blasts his way through a wall of out of control spectators
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Portugal86KKK.jpg
Salonen and a cameraman had a moment of contact, both the camera and the car came out somewhat second hand!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonencameraman1986Portugal.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen1986Portugaldamage.jpg
Spectators scavenged what they could from the rear cover of Salonen's car
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86PortugalSalonen.jpg
It was all over after three stages, when all the major teams withdrew following the spectator problems.
The Safari was a rally that had never been won by a four wheel drive car, Peugeot had gone to great lengths to ensure they would be the first to do so, they had 1985 winner Kankkunen driving for them and also Kenyan Safari master Shekhar Mehta.
Mehta had won the Safari five times, including four back to back wins between 1979 - 1982 (Many would have considered such a record impossible on what was the toughest event on the WRC calender)
During practice for the Safari, Mehta showed just how well Group B cars burned!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205T16Mehta1986Safari.jpg
The Safari rally was unique back then, in the fact that that it was run on open public roads, this meant that teams were free to run support vehicles on the rally, this chase car would have been used to donate parts to Kankkunen or Mehta, should they have hit trouble, looks like he might have been carrying a spare radiator on the roof, not much carrying capacity inside a Group B car!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986-Safari-205-chase-car-PierrePag.jpg
Kankkunen finished best Peugeot and best 4WD car in 5th position, soundly beaten by the Toyota Celica Turbo (The same car he had won the Safari Rally in just a year earlier)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KankkunenSafari1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KankkunenSafari86.jpg
Next was Corsica, Saby sets out on what he hopes will be his first win in the 205.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Saby86TDC.jpg
Peugeot had given a full factory Evolution 2 version to Michele Mouton, this was to be her very last appearance on the WRC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton1986TDC.jpg
Michele had carved her WRC reputation in Corsica, she had recorded five top 10 finishes on the rally before she joined Audi in 1981. She set some quick times but retired with gearbox problems, a sad end to her WRC career.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton_Pons86TDC.jpg
Service during the '86 Tour de Corse, the cars of Salonen, Saby and Mouton can be seen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Peugeot.jpg
Salonen retired, but Saby went on to win the event in car number 5, it was however a very sombre victory
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Saby.jpg
Kankkunen won the next round in Greece, he now had a healthy lead in the championship, as did Peugeot.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86Acropoliskk.jpg
New Zealand, Salonen in full flight.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/NZ1986Salonen.jpg
But it was team-mate Kankkunen who won the event, this man was unstoppable on loose suface events.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KKK1986NZ.jpg
The sight of a Group B car at full chat was a sight to behold
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/205flame.jpg
Peugeot only managed to finish 3rd in Argentina, but they were still heading towards another world title.
Finland - Stig Blomqvist had been brought into the Peugeot squad to ensure they gained some solid manufacurers points in Finland (Ford had decided to scale their season down, so released Blomqvist temporarily) Stig came home in 4th.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BlomqvistFinland1986.jpg
Finland was (and still is) the fastest rally on the WRC, the 1986 event would see the most powerful cars ever take to the start ramp, this would be a diplay of skill and bravery over the endless high speed jumps, at the end it was Timo Salonen who took the win over team mate Kankkunen. This result gave Peugeot the 1986 world manufacturers title.
Timo during a service halt, with the obligatory Salonen cigarette! Winner of the fastest WRC round, driving the most powerful Group B car the French team had ever fielded, remember that these cars had no power steering, and the phrase 'driver aids' hadn't been invented!! They were brutal machines that took incredible driver input to get the best from.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen205.jpg
Italy, the Sanremo Rally saw a very popular driver back behind the wheel, Ari Vatanen drove the zero course car, he had been out of the sport for well over a year, following that horrific crash in Argentina. Look at the rear of the car on this photo, he had lost none of his flair for inficting damage on rally cars :lol:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenSanremo1986.jpg
Italian pride was at stake, the Lancia team did not want to beaten in this historical final meeting of Group B cars on Italian soil, they had a major problem though, the Peugeot was a superior rally car.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TimoSalonenSanremo86.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86Sanremokkk.jpg
Peugeot were running 3-bar boost and their cars were producing at least 540bhp (something which Lancia could not match)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KKK86Sanremo.jpg
Kankkunen had taken the lead early on in the event, Lancia had no answer.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Kankkunen1986Sanremo.jpg
All the Peugeots were excluded at the beginning of the fourth day, the reason was that the 205s were running illegal skirts (seee pic below) It was hard to see how these skirts gave any significant advantage, this was the most sensational rally exclusion since the Minis were thrown out of the 1966 Monte Carlo rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Sanremo86205skirt.jpg
Next round was the RAC Rally of Great Britain, this would be the very last time that all the major teams would attend a world rally with their Group B cars.
Salonen's car at service, just lok at those fuel prices, unleaded wasn't even heard of back then.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/SalonenRAC.jpg
It was a wet but mild event, Kankkunen finished 3rd, but significantly Markku Alen's Lancia was second, this meant that Alen now had a one point lead in the drivers championship (Although this was very provisional due to the disputed Sanremo result)
Kankkunen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Kankunen86RAC.jpg
The winner of the 1986 RAC - Tmo Salonen, a fine way to sign off his Group B career.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Salonen1986RACRally.jpg
Traditionally the RAC had always been the final round of the WRC, but in 1986 there was a new round in the USA. The Olympus Rally was based close to Seattle in Washington State. Due to the fact that the championship was in dispute, Peugoet and Lancia had no choice but to send a car each for Kankkunen and Alen.
Drivers pose at the Tacoma Dome prior to to start
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986Olympusscrutineering.jpg
The factory 205 of Kankkunen next to the privately run 205 T16 of American driver Jon Woodner
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus_1986.jpg
Kankkunen made a good start, trading times with Alen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus_19861.jpg
Service at the local high school, note the James Bond front plate to allow jack access!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus_19862.jpg
Kankkunen lost the lead when he had to change a battery, Alen took the lead and never lost it. Theoretically, this made Alen World Champion, but the FIA courts would have to decide that.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus_19863.jpg
While Peugeot waited for the fate of the world drivers championship to be decided, some good news from Germany, Michele Mouton became West German Rally Champion, this was the point that Mouton retired from competitive driving, so in the end she went out in style.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton1986Germany.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MoutonGermanChampion1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MoutonGermany1986.jpg
he Lancia Delta S4. This car was unique in the fact that it used a supercharger and a turbocharger, the idea being that the supercharger supplied instant response and the turbo provided the serious power, it also gave the car a unique sound.
The S4 was badly delayed, the car showed poor reliability in testing, so when it finally made it's debut on the 1985 RAC Rally, it was intended to be just a test for the 1986 season.
Markku Alen did all the testing prior to the RAC, it paid off as he went straight into the lead.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MarkkuAlen85RAC.jpg
'Maximum attack' - A phrase which Markku Alen coined, it summed up his style perfectly. He held the lead up until stage 12 when Mikkola took over in the Audi.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1985RACDeltaS4.jpg
Alen re-took the lead on stage 21 when Mikkola hit problems. The 1985 event was turning into a wintry affair, for 3 days the temperature never rose above freezing, studded tyres were outlawed on the British event.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1985RACRally.jpg
It was a hell of a test controlling a group B car with 450bhp on those roads, traction control was strictly ruled by the drivers right foot!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen85RACRally.jpg
Alen at Olivers Mount in Scarborough, he had what he described as the biggest spin of his career here, back then the event was a secret route rally, so there were no pace notes, co-drivers could only use maps and their knowledge from memory.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1985RACOliversMount.jpg
Henri Toivonen was Lancia's second driver on the event, he had set off cautiously, due to the fact that he had hardly so much as sat in the car prior to the start.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen1985RAC.jpg
Alen went off the road late in the event, this allowed Toivonen through to take the win, with Markku recovering to take second place, this was a dream start to the S4's competition life, a 1-2 finish on the gruelling RAC Rally which in 1985 was held over 63 stages and 547 miles of flat out driving.
Toivonen had not won a world rally for five years, he was super fast but sometimes a risk taker in the same way Ari Vatanen was, and later Colin McRae would become, this trait would be very useful for getting the best from the S4 as it was a very difficult car to drive.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen85RAC.jpg
Next outing for the S4 was the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally, Henri took the lead immediately, he was the only Lancia driver who could take on the Peugeots.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen1986MCS4.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen86MC.jpg
Toivonen was flying
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen_Cresto1986MonteCarlo.jpg
But then it all went badly wrong, Toivonen hit a non-competing car on a road section, as you can see from this photo it was a big impact.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonenaccident86MC.jpg
The team got to work repairing the mangled wreckage
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ToivonencrashMC1986.jpg
Miki Biasion in car number 9
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86MCBiasionS4.jpg
Markku Alen was his usual flamboyant self on all surfaces
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1986MC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AlenS4MC1986.jpg
Toivonen had amazingly got going and was back on the attack, this photo highlights just how difficult it is for drivers to choose the correct tyres on the Monte, stages can start off as snow covered roads and then change to dry roads.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen_Cresto1986MC.jpg
Toivonen's car was bent like a banana (and would have certainly handled like one), he overcame the odds to take a victory that is still fondly remembered today
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1986ToivonenLanciaDeltaS4.jpg
Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto celebrate victory in Monaco harbour
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen_Cresto1986MCwinners.jpg
Three weeks later Toivonen was leading the Swedish Rally (Incredible, considering that this was Henri's first Swedish Rally!) but he was sidelined with a seized engine.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/S4Sweden1986.jpg
Rallye de Portugal. Group B cars attracted spectators wherever they went...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986PortugalLancia.jpg
...but in Portugal, the sport had become perhaps too popular for it's own good
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BiasionPortugal1986.jpg
Toivonen was equal fastest on stage 1
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen86Portugal.jpg
Alen was on the attack, he was somewhat of a specialist in Portugal, having won the event four times
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen86Portugal.jpg
By stage 3 Biasion had taken the lead, but it was all in vain, the top teams all withdrew from the event
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Biasion1986Portugal.jpg
Lancia decided not to take the S4 to the Safari Rally, instead they dusted off the 037 in which Alen finished 3rd.
The all tarmac Tour de Corse, Lancia entered three cars for Alen, Biasion and Toivonen.
A quiet moment before the off, Markku Alen watches on as co-driver Ilkka Kivimaki fuels up
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986TDCAlen.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986TDCfuel.jpg
Toivonen at the start, Sergio Cresto walks ahead of car number 4
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ToivonenCresto86.jpg
The Peugeots were quickest over the first few stages, then Toivonen started to get a feel for the S4, he began setting one fastest stage time after another
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen86TDC1.jpg
Car number 1 - Alen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen1986TDC.jpg
Toivonen was thrilling the crowds with his mastery of the hard to drive Lancia
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TourdeCorse1986HenriToivonenLanciaD.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TourdeCorse1986ToivonenLanciaDeltaS.jpg
Roadside service always gave spectators an extra chance to see the cars and drivers up close
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Toivonen4.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC_Lanciaservice1986.jpg
The g-forces that drivers and co-drivers were now experiencing were far greater than any rally drivers had ever seen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86.jpg
Alen shares a moment with Toivonen at a service halt. Sadly, this may have been the last time the two drivers ever spoke to one another...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Toivonen1.jpg
Toivonen set a stage time a staggering 47 seconds faster than the 205 of Bruno Saby, this now meant that Henri had a lead of 2 minutes 45 seconds, the event was surely his
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen_Cresto1986TDC.jpg
What happened next shook the world of motorsport to the very core, Toivonen's car left the road on a left hand bend, it flipped in the air, hit some trees and exploded, the fire that followed was so severe that it melted the engine block, in fact all that was left was a part of the spaceframe. Toivonen and Cresto were dead.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen_crash_tour_de_corse86.jpg
Motorsports governing body FISA (as it was known then) immediately announced that Group B would be replaced by Group A for 1987, Group B would however be able to continue for the remainder of the 1986 season.
As a mark of respect, the number 4 was not seen on a car during the Tour de Corse for many years.
Thanks Henri.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Toivonen5.jpg
The next round following Toivonen's death was the Acropolis Rally, the mood in the Lancia team must have been pretty low, they had lost the one driver who seemed capable of fully mastering the S4. You can only imagine what must have been going through all the Group B drivers minds, would they survive the season, what if they went off, would their car go up in flames, all of a sudden it was like being an F1 driver in the 1960s or '70s.
Alen was pushing Kankkunen by the end of the rally, he gave the team the instruction to turn the boost right up on his car, the S4 retired with an expired engine.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AlenDeltaS41986Acropolis.jpg
New Zealand, always popular with the drivers, some of the nicest rally roads in the world.
Alen at speed
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AlenNZ1986.jpg
Alen had the fright of his life in New Zealand, every drivers worst nightmare is finding a non-competing car coming towards you on what is supposed to be a closed road, the problem when organising rallies is making sure everybody who lives on the edge of the stages is aware that the road is closed. This forest vehicle obviously hadn't got the message, thankfully no harm was done but it was very close, it threw Alen completely and he dropped back from challenging Kankkunen for the lead to finish a distant second.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alenvsfarmer86NZ.jpg
South America, Rally Argentina.
Local driver Jorge Recalde sets off in front of an enthusiastic crowd, he finished fourth with Alen second. Biasion took the win, a rare victory for the S4
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/LanciaJorgeRecalde86Argentina.jpg
Finland, Alen already had a good win record on his home soil, he was always quick out of the box and went straight into the lead
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AlenFinland86.jpg
Markku held the lead until stage 34, but under pressure from the Peugeots of Salonen and Kankkunen he went off, he recovered to finish third but this ended Lancias challenge for the manufacturers title, Lancia really were missing Toivonen.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen19861000Lakes.jpg
I have already told the story of the Sanremo Rally in the Peugeot section of this thread. Once they were free from the French team, Lancia were able to shuffle their drivers around, this allowed Alen to take the win and take the drivers title to the wire.
Alen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86SanremoS4Alen.jpg
Biasion should have won, but when he had to take deliberate time penalties he ended up third!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/S4Sanremo86Biasion.jpg
The RAC Rally, Alen finished second, beating his title rival Kankkunen into third.
Lancia brought Swedish driver Mikael Ericsson into the team, he actually led the rally on the third day but retired with engine failure.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986RACRallyS4MikaelEricsson.jpg
It all went down to the final round in the USA
Alen's car at scrutineering
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus1986MarkkuAlen.jpg
An early head to head battle with Kankkunen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus1986MarkkuAlen3.jpg
Service during the event
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus1986MarkkuAlen1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus1986MarkkuAlen2.jpg
Kankkunen had a minor problem with a battery, allowing Alen to win and take the world drivers championship...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Olympus1986MarkkuAlen4.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AlenOlympus86.jpg
... Alen was world champion for 11 days! The govering body removed the Sanremo results from the championship, thus relieving Markku of 20 points. Alen never did win the world drivers title and he still remains to this day the most successful WRC driver never to have won the title.
During 1981, British Leyland competitions manager John Davenport met with the Williams F1 team to look at designing a car which would take on the all new Audi Quattro, plans were laid to build a mid-engined 4 wheel drive rally car. Initially, power came from a Rover V8 which had 2 cylinders chopped off to make a V6 2.5 litre, with the use of some Rover Vitesse touring car internals, the engine produced 250bhp. Tony Pond tested the first car in private at the beginning of 1983.
Not until the beginning of 1984 did the car make its debut in front of the public, Tony Pond ran the car on the York National Rally, after setting a string of fastest stage times, the car retired with a minor fire, the car had shown it had serious potential.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond84YorkNational.jpg
During 1984 the 6R4 started to use aerodynamic 'F1 style' wings (the first rally car to do so) Here is Pond on the 1984 Mewla Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TonyPondMewla1984.jpg
Pond on the 1984 Audi National Rally, by now the aero package had moved to the front of the car.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TonyPondAudiNationalRally1984.jpg
Marc Duez was also testing the car in Belgium
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DuezCondroz1985.jpg
The 6R4 also made it onto prime time TV in the UK when ITV screened drama programme 'The Winning Streak'
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WinningStreak.jpg
Back to the serious stuff. By 1985 an all new 3.0 litre purpose built V6 engine was in place, this was not what Williams Grand Prix designer Patrick Head had originally planned for the 6R4, he had wanted to run a compact, lightweight V6 2.5 litre unit in a car which he saw running 13 inch rims and a narrow track, Michelin had already developed a new rally tyre for Audi and Peugeot which ran on 15 inch rims, the 6R4 had to grow to accommodate.
200 units were built and duly homologated by the end of 1985, just in time for the RAC Rally of Great Britain. Two factory cars were entered for Tony Pond and Malcolm Wilson.
Wilson on a spectator stage
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MalcolmWilson85RAC.jpg
Pond got off to a cautious start, he had famously retired from the 1984 event after hitting a tree on a spectator stage
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TonyPond85RAC.jpg
Wilson initially set the pace over Pond but his car retired with engine trouble before the halfway point of the event - 13 was definitely unlucky for him!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MalcolmWilson1985RAC.jpg
Pond got faster as the event progressed
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1985RAC6R4.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond_Arthur1985RAC.jpg
The weather was bitterly cold during the 1985 rally, by the end of the event it was a battle between the lone 6R4 of Tony Pond and the Lancia Delta S4s of Alen and Toivonen. The British crowds really got behind the 6R4, cheering it along, even on road sections, in the end Pond brought the car home in third overall, a fine result for a world debut.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TonyPond1985RACRally.jpg
A British legend had been born.
Austin Rover saw 1986 as a learning season, they had never done a full world rally championship season before, so a lot of new events to take in.
Crowds gathered in Paris as the cars set out on the Monte Carlo Rally. Pond and Wilson were again the drivers.
Wilson in Paris, prior to the start
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Wilson86MC.jpg
Rallying was enjoying its biggest ever following, as can be seen from these photos of Pond
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1986MC.jpg
Pond had an accident on a road section and he was out
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/PondMC1986.jpg
Wilson lasted little longer, out with transmission problems
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Wilson_Harris6R4MC1986.jpg
Wilson and Per Eklund took cars to Sweden but both went out with engine trouble, Wilson did however set some top 3 stage times, showing the car had potential.
Portugal, this time there was a three car entry, Marc Duez joining Pond and Wilson
The car of Duez, before the start of the rally
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Duez1986Portugal.jpg
Wilson powers his way through the huge uncontrolled crowds
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Wilson1986Portugal.jpg
The rally was all but over after 3 stages, all the major teams withdrew following a car going into the crowd, this story made the national news headlines all over the world, Tony Pond was quite vocal in his opinion, he was deinitely not prepared to go on driving in Portugal, Pond had previously predicted that it was only a matter of time before a car went into spectators somewhere in the world. Now it had finally happened.
Pond and Walter Röhrl face the worlds media
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Portugaldriversmeeting86.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Portugal86driversmeeting.jpg
Corsica 1986 - Battle of the Group B giants
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986TDCparcferme.jpg
Austin Rover had entered three cars in Corsica for Pond, Wilson and up and coming French driver Didier Auriol.
Auriol's car was prepared by British preparation comany R.E.D.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC1986Auriol.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TourdeCorse1986DidierAuriolMGMetro6.jpg
Auriol only completed stage 1, the photo says it all!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Auriol1986TDCretirement.jpg
Pond was somewhat of a tarmac expert, not only that, he had compteted in Corsica four times previously, finishing as high as 3rd overall in 1981. Being seeded at 3 Pond was ahead of Toivonen on the stages, such was the pace of Toivonen and Lancia, they actually caught and passed Pond on some of the longer stages, it was now highly apparent that the normally aspirated 6R4 was no match for the turbo cars.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Corsica1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/PondTDC86.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC86Pond.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/PondTDC1986.jpg
The Metro was suffering overheating problems on some rallies, looking at these photos, Corsica may have been one of those events.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1986Corsica.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/6R4TDC1986.jpg
Malcolm Wilson was making his Corsican debut
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WilsonHarris1986TDC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC_Wilson_86.jpg
All was not going well
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WilsonHarris1986TDC1.jpg
Wilson retired on day one with an engine fire, Pond went out on day two with cambelt failure (This turned out to be a weak point on the 6R4)
The factory cars stayed away from the Acropolis and New Zealand rallies. However, a private 6R4 showed up in New Zealand, driven by local driver Tony Teesdale, after delays he finished well down the field, but did record some quick times.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TonyTeesdale1986NewZealand.jpg
Finland - Three cars entered for Wilson, Eklund and Harri Toivonen (Henri's younger brother). Hopes were high after Wilson won the Mantta 200 Rally a few weeks before, this was a Finnish national rally which was often used as a shakedown for the 1000 Lakes, the win made Wilson the first non-Scandinavian to win a rally on Finnish soil.
Wilson rolled his car on the first leg of the rally but kept going and finished 10th overall, much to the delight of the local spectators as Wilson drove his heavily battered car on the stages, Toivonen was 8th and Eklund 7th, a good solid event for the car considering the previous unreliability problems.
Eklund on the '86 1000 Lakes
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Eklund1986Finland.jpg
The 6R4 had found its feet in the British Rally Championship, winning 3 out of 6 rallies.
David Llewellin and Phil Short on the 1986 Manx Rally, they finished 2nd.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Llewelyn_Short86Manx.jpg
Tony Pond took a break from the WRC to take the win on the Manx, this was his fourth and final win on the event, Pond had made the Manx Rally his own, and also made his home on the Isle of Man.
The pairing of Tony Pond and Rob Arthur on route to a popular Manx win
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1986Manx.jpg
Sanremo - Wilson at a time control in Pisa
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Wilson86Sanremo.jpg
Pond's car was showing signs of a hard rally
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Sanremo86Pond.jpg
Pond at speed in the Italian countryside
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1986Sanremo6R4.jpg
Sanremo result - Duez retired on stage 1 with engine failure, Pond retired on stage 32 of 41 after an accident and Wilson brought the third car home in 4th overall, this was however after the exclusion of the three factory Peugeots, as previously mentioned in this thread, the results were eventually excluded from the championship.
Jimmy McRae ran a 6R4 during 1986, the car was prepared by Dave Richards Autosport (which was later to become known as Prodrive). McRae competed on the British Open Rally Championship and other selected international rallies.
Jimmy McRae and Ian Grindrod on the 1986 Corte Ingles Rally, held on the Spanish island of Las Palmas.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/McRae_Grindrod1986CorteIngles.jpg
The same pairing on the way to 8th place on the RAC Rally, the cars last appearance on the WRC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/McRae86RAC.jpg
It was perhaps fitting, that the highest place 6R4 on its final WRC event was driven by the man who developed the car from day one. Tony Pond took 6th place on the RAC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond1986RAC.jpg
This was also Pond's last ever international rally, Austin Rover didn't have a car which was suitable for the new Group A rally rules, and Pond had perhaps become slightly disillusioned with the sport.
How we all best remember him, Pond at speed in the 6R4
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond_Arthur1986RAC.jpg
The 6R4's design lent itself well to advertising, here is the Belga sponsored car which Marc Duez ran in 1986
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Duez6R4.jpg
This is the second shot of Duez in this thread driving a 6R4 without a helmet! During a shakedown for the Condroz Rally in Belgium
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Duez1986Condrozshakedown.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DuezBelga6R4.jpg
Earlier in this thread we saw Didier Auriol retiring in a pool of fluid on the Tour de Corse. Things were going much better for Auriol on the French Rally Championship though, he was battling with Francois Chatriot for the French title, here are some photos from France in 1986
Auriol once described the 6R4 as his favourite ever rally car
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AuriolGarrigues1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986Alsace-Vosges.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Auriol6R41986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DidierAuriolMetro6R4.jpg
For some reason (unknown to me) Auriol used a Group A Mercedes 190 2.3 on the '86 Tour Auto, where he finished a very respectable second, only beaten by the Group B Renault 5 Maxi Turbo of Chatriot
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AuriolTourAuto1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Auriol86AntibesRally.jpg
Massive crowds on the Cevennes Rally in Montpellier
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Auriol86Cevennes.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/86CevennesAuriol.jpg
The title battle went down to the wire, late November 1986, the cars and drivers arrived at the tenth and final round of the championship, the Var Rally, based in Sainte-Maxime in the south of France. Auriol had a comfortable lead, so it would be a case of taking no risks...
...Of course, whenever things are going your way in life, something comes along to try and snatch them away. Auriol was in real trouble after losing massive amounts of time with this damage to his car
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Auriol6R4VAR1986.jpg
Auriol managed to continue, by the end of the rally he came home in a lowly 9th position, his title rival Chatriot won the rally in convincing style.
The points were revealed for the French rally drivers championship of 1986:
Francois Chatriot 119 points
Didier Auriol 119 points
Auriol won the championship by a tie deciding rule!!!
The 6R4 had won an international rally championship on the very last international rally held in Europe in 1986 (with a little help from a German saloon car!) a superb end to its rally career
Didier Auriol and Bernard Occelli, they just went from strength to strength after this, winning the French title in 1986, '87 & '88, followed by taking the world rally championship for drivers in 1994
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DidierAuriol1986.jpg
Beyond this, the 6R4 (like all Group B cars) was outlawed from all international rallying, but the 6R4 story didn't stop there, it can still be seen each weekend in the UK, competing (and sometimes still winning!) national rallies, and it is still a crowd favourite, just as it was 25 years ago.
Although the 6R4 is always remembered as the great British Group B supercar, there is another car that also comes under that banner.
Ford had been in the rallying wilderness since the demise of the Mark II Escort, they then tried building a RWD car based on the Mark III Escort which was known as the RS 1700T, but this was aborted when it became apparent that 4WD had become a must on the world rally championship.
Ford then hired F1 designer Tony Southgate, he set to and came up with the RS200, which never even tried to look like a road going car! This was an extremely well designed car, double wishbones and twin dampers at each corner meant that it should be unbeatable on rough rallies, it had superior weight distribution to any other mid-engined supercar, which meant it should handle superbly.
An original cutaway drawing of the car
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/rs200.jpg
The car was developed in Britain, and the driver who did most of the testing was also British, Malcolm Wilson had burst on the British rallying scene in the late 1970s as a teenage sensation, often challenging the likes of Mikkola, Vatanen and such like, on their then regular British rally championship outings. The RS200 won first time out on the 1985 Lindisfarne Rally, Wilson won after a hard battle with Tony Pond, Wilson then surprised his Ford team by signing to join Pond at Austin Rover!
Despite this off, Malcolm Wilson steered the RS200 to its first win
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WilsonLindisfarne1985.jpg
The RS200 was supposed to be homologated in time for the 1985 RAC Rally, but it was delayed and actually made its first appeaance on round 2 of the 1986 WRC, the Swedish Rally
Stig Blomqvist was a previous seven time winner of the Swedish Rally, off he set in car number 1. By the end of day one, he was in 4th place but a water leak was giving him a problem, he retired on day two with a seized engine
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist1986Sweden.jpg
Ford's other driver was also a Swede, Kalle Grundel had made his name driving a VW Golf Gti, taking a number of top 10 finishes on WRC events - Now he had finally got hold of something a little more competitive!
Grundel slowly got used to Group B power to take 3rd overall on the debut WRC event for the RS200
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Grundel86Sweden.jpg
The car was producing about 450bhp in rally trim, but this was just an interim measure, Ford were well down the road with an evolution engine (designed by Brian Hart) which would give closer to 600bhp, Ford were simply testing the car until they got hold of some serious power.
Next event was Portugal.
Blomqvist at scrutineering, an interesting moment for Stig, as he stands next to the car that made him (Saab 96) and his Group B supercar.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/BlomqvistPortugal86RS200_Saab.jpg
Crowd problems were immediately evident...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/RS200Portugal_1986.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/GrundelPortugal1986.jpg
...then came the accident that many had feared, local driver Joaquim Santos had been officially entered by Ford in a third car. On stage one, when Santos came over a crest flat out, he found spectators in the road, he avoided them, but this put him off line and caused him to spin into the huge crowd at high speed, three spectators were killed and many more were injured.
The aftermath of the horrific accident
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RS200accident86.jpg
Ford did not appear again until round 6, the Acropolis Rally, this would be the most promising event in the RS200s very short career
Kalle Grundel took the lead from stage 11 to 15, Grundel then arived at service, a wheel nut was stripped in the rush and the hub change took so long he was out!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/KalleGrundel1986Acropolis.jpg
Blomqvist took the lead on stage 17, only to retire immediately, when he put the car off the road, most unlike Stig
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986AcropolisRS200Blomqvist1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BlomqvistAcropolis1986.jpg
The RS200 offered great access for servicing
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RS200serviceAcropolis1986.jpg
It should be noted that Ford burned out two RS200 practice cars in Greece prior to the Acropolis Rally, far worse was the accident in which Marc Surer hit a tree on the Hessen Rally in Germany, his car burst into flames and his co driver was killed, the accident also ended Surer's F1 career, the team fitted a plumbed in fire extinguishing system just before the Acropolis - Amazingly, back in 1986, this was not mandatory.
Back in the UK, Mark Lovell had ben putting in some solid performances on the British rally championship
Lovell on the Welsh Rally...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1986WelshLovell.jpg
...and on the Scottish Rally
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Lovell1986Scottish.jpg
Lovell famously rolled his RS200 on that Scottish Rally, but he manged to get going again to bring the car home in second place
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Lovell86Scottishcrash.jpg
By the final British round, Lovell was in contention to take the title. Once McRae's 6R4 had expired, Lovell was able to stroke it home in 3rd place to become 1986 British Rally Champion, he did so without winning a single round, I can't ever remember another driver doing that.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Lovell1986ManxInternational.jpg
Ford were to make their final WRC appearance with the RS200 on the RAC rally, three cars were officially entered for Blomqvist, Grundel and Lovell
Lovell was out on stage 20 with a fire, Blomqvist followed him on stage 26 with a turbo failure
It was left to Grundel to salvage a decent result, this puncture early on didn't help
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Grundel86RAC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Grundel86RACRally.jpg
In the end, Grundel finished 5th overall, behind the dominant Peugeot and Lancia teams, but in front of a string of 6R4s
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Grundel1986RAC.jpg
Perhaps if evolution Group B cars not been banned immediately after Toivonen's accident Corsica, maybe Ford would have fared much better and even taken on the French and Italian super teams. But this was the end of the RS200s rallying career
The Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo, not exactly a rally car name that rolls off the tongue. The car was homologated in the summer of 1983, it wasn't exactly what the engineers at Team Toyota Europe had dreamed of, Japan had given them a Group B car without 4WD, but it did have a relatively powerful engine (for 1983), this was still early days for turbo charging, but the 4 cylinder, 8valve turbo engine gave about 320bhp in its original form.
TTE, the team was based in Colonge, Germany - Rally teams were somewhat smaller back in the '80s
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/TeamToyotaEurope.jpg
The car made its WRC debut on the 1983 1000 Lakes Rally, drivers were Bjorn Waldegard, and the young then unknown Finn, Juha Kankkunen. Waldegard finished in 12th position,but Kankkunen came home an impressive 6th overall.
Kankkunen making his factory backed WRC debut - Finland '83
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/83FinlandKankkunen.jpg
The car didn't make another showing on the WRC until the Ivory Coast Rally in October 1983, Waldegard took a win over the Quattro of Mikkola, Per Eklund brought another Celica home in 3rd position, the Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo had kind of found its niche - African Rallies.
Waldegard taking the first WRC win for the car - '83 Ivory Coast
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/83ICWaldegard.jpg
Final outing of 1983 was the RAC, a three car entry for Waldegard, Kankkunen and Eklund.
Waldegard - '83 RAC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/83RACWaldegard.jpg
Kankkunen - '83 RAC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/83RACKankkunen.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/83RACkkk.jpg
Waldegard and Eklund retired, Kankkunen came home in 7th, 40 minutes behind the winning Quattro of Blomqvist!
1984
Portugal, both Waldegard and Kankkunen retired, here is Kankkunen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84PortugalKKK.jpg
Safari - A second win for Waldegard and the Toyota
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84SafariWaldegaard.jpg
Waldegard '84 NewZealand
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84NZWaldegard.jpg
Waldegard, Finland '84 - Engine failure brought retirement
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84FinlandWaldegard.jpg
Kankkunen did take 5th place though
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84FinlandKKK3.jpg
RAC '84 - Waldegard and Kankkunen retired, it was left to Per Eklund to save the day, he took an excellent 3rd place, only beaten by the 4WD cars of Vatanen and Mikkola
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/84RAC-Eklund.jpg
1985
Kankkunen took his first WRC win on the Safari - Run monkey, run!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85SafariKankkunen.jpg
Kankkunen was the first driver in the history to win the Safari at first attempt
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85SafariKKK.jpg
1985 New Zealand - Kankkunen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85NZKankkunen.jpg
KKK flying high - Finland '85 :-)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85FinlandKankkunen2.jpg
A river crossing during the 1985 Ivory Coast, Kankkunen and Waldegard finished 1-2 respectively
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85ICWaldegard_KKK2.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85ICWaldegard_KKK.jpg
The Ivory Coast Rally (like the Safari) was run on public roads (Whilst Marlboro were event sponsors, Bastos had the foresight to hand sunstrips to the locals!)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85ICkkk.jpg
Kankkunen finished 5th overall on the 1985 RAC, and first 2WD car, he was in fact so far ahead of the Manta of Russell Brookes, when Alen went off the road in the Delta S4, Kankkunen stopped and towed him out of a ditch, Toyota team boss Ove Andersson was said to be far from happy, this mattered little to Kankkunen, he had been signed by Jean Todt to drive for Peugeot, no need to remind you how successful that move was.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/85RACKKK.jpg
1986
Safari, Waldegard was joined by two new team mates, Sweden's Lars-Erik Torph and Germany's Erwin Weber. It was almost the perfect event, Waldegard won, Torph 2nd and Weber 4th (Alen spoiled the party in the Lancia 037)
The Celica was perfect for African rallies, it was strong, reliable, powerful (by now it was producing 370bhp and only weighed just over 1000kg), it coluld do 160mph on the fast African roads, and was very simple to repair due to it being low tech.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86SafariWaldegard.jpg
The '86 Ivory Coast, Toyota finally got their 1-2-3 finish Waldegard winning with Torph and Weber following home.
All smiles on the '86 Ivory Coast, from the left - Weber, Waldegard and Torph celebrate what would be the Group B Toyota's final win, Toyota were unbeaten in Africa for three years using the Celica.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86ICWaldegard_Weber_Torph.jpg
There was to be one last outing for the car, the very last WRC round in which Group B cars would be eligible, the 1986 Olympus Rally in Washington State, USA.
The cars of Waldegard and Torph and Steve Millen at scrutineering on the '86 Olympus
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86Olympus-Waldegard_Torph.jpg
Group B would never have been banned if all rounds had been held in the USA, crowds flock to see the car of Waldegard!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86OlympusWaldegard1.jpg
Lars Erik Torph's car during service
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86OlympusTorphservice.jpg
Torph took 4th place ahead of Waldegard in 5th
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/86OlympusTorph.jpg
It may not have been the greatest Group B car, but it does hold a place in rallying history.
The Mazda RX7 was one of the least campigned Group B cars, so much so, that some people will be unaware of its existence.
Mazda put a toe in the water by entering a car on the 1983 Acropolis Rally, the car was driven by German driver Achim Warmbold, he finished fifteenth (Warmbold was also team manager at Mazda)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1983Acropolis-AchimWarmbold.jpg
It was a full year before a fully homologated Group B version of the RWD RX7 appeared on the WRC, again on the Acropolis Rally. The Group B version had approximately 300bhp and weighed just less than 1000kg (Interestingly, Colin McRae once said the ideal rally car should be RWD and weigh 1000kg - However, I don't recall Colin saying that it should have a rotary engine, but Mazda always did things differently!)
Swedish driver Ingvar Carlsson drove one of the cars on the '84 Acropolis, he retired with differential problems
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984AcropolisCarlsson.jpg
Achim Warmbold took the first WRC points for Mazda by finishing ninth on the 1984 Acropolis
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984AcropolisWarmbold.jpg
Carlsson won the Polish Rally in 1984, one of the few wins at international level for the RX7, although it has to be said that the opposition was not very strong!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984RallyeSkodaCarlsson.jpg
Mazda entered two cars for the final WRC round of 1984, the RAC Rally
Carlsson in car 26...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984RACCarlsson.jpg
...he retired with rear axle troubles
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984RACCarlsson2.jpg
The second car on the '84 RAC was driven by Frenchman Phillipe Wambergue. This great photo shows Wambergue making the RWD car dance, poetry in motion :-) Sadly he retired with a lost wheel.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1984RACPhilippeWambergue.jpg
Marc Duez made an appearance on the 1985 Boucles de Spa driving an RX7, a good drive saw him finish second, only beaten by the Quattro of Waldegard (Not difficult to see why a 4WD car beat him)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985BouclesdeSpa-Duez2.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985BouclesdeSpa-Duez3.jpg
First WRC event of 1985 for Mazda was Ingvar Carlsson's home event, the Swedish Rally, he came home in eighth place, which was the highest placed 2WD car
Carlsson on the '85 Swedish (I bet the crew member who put the number 8 on upside down never lived it down!)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985SwedenCarlsson3.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985SwedenCarlsson.jpg
The 1985 Acropolis Rally saw the car take its highest finish at WRC level, Carlsson brought the car home in third place, this remains the highest placed finish for a rotary engined car on the WRC
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985AcropolisCarlsson.jpg
The final outing for a factory RX7 was the 1985 RAC Rally.
New Zealand driver, Rod Millen came home in ninth. The large rear wing housed an oil cooler.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985RACMillen.jpg
Followed by Ingvar Carlsson in tenth place
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1985RACCarlsson2.jpg
The RX7 was never again officially entered on a WRC event, Mazda instead opting to develop a 4WD car for the new Group A formula for 1986.
A privately entered RX7 did come home in an impressive sixth place on the 1986 New Zealand Rally, only beaten by 4WD Group B cars, the car was driven by local driver Neil Allport
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Album%202/1986NZ-NeilAllport.jpg
Brockas
16-06-2011, 02:14 PM
That is just awesome. Can't wait for more.
RS_Gav
16-06-2011, 02:29 PM
RS200 please!?!
Buckets
16-06-2011, 02:30 PM
THE BEST THREAD EVER !!! TJ this is fucking awesome. More please.
Rs200 and Toyota Celica added!
RX7 added..
Now that was the days of group b...
what about before it?
well read below :)
Continuing the thread. The autor titled this one......
The Original Rally Supercars...
Most people wil be expecting to see a thread on Group B cars I guess. Ever wondered what came before Group B? Well, it was Group 4. Homologation rally cars were required to be built in quantities of 400 road going versions to compete at international level.
Starting with one of the most amazing rally cars ever to compete on the World Rally Championship - Ferrari 308
Jean Claude Andruet finished 2nd overall on the 1982 Tour of Corsica, the cars best WRC result. Andruet had also finished 2nd in the 1981 European Rally Championship at the wheel of a 308.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82Andruet4.jpg
The cars pulled a crowd whenever they showed up around the major rallies in Europe.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82Andruet1.jpg
Every schoolboys dream, a Ferrari rally car, then they grow up and buy a Porsche instead :D
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82ANDRUET.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC1982_Andruet.jpg
The car was also entered for the 1982 Monte Carlo Rally, although this photo shows the car at full chat on snow, the '82 Monte was a fairly snow free affair which was eventually won by Walter Rohrl in an Opel Ascona 400.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Andruet_1982_Monte.jpg
Sadly it all ended in tears with Andruet hitting a bridge and retiring the car, the 308 rally weighed approximately 1000kg and put out a then healthy 310bhp, perhaps if Rohrl had been let loose with one of these cars in '82 the record books might have read somewhat different....
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AndruetMC821.jpg
Flying high, same sponsor but new colour scheme, apparently the French importer of Pioneer Japanese Hi Fi equipment was a motorsport enthusiast and saw the potential media attention and public reaction a good enough reason to put some sponsorship the way of Ferrari-France.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Andruet308.jpg
In 1983 one the cars was sold to French comic book artist Albert Uderzo, who was famed for the Asterix cartoons, he used it in club events and eventually sold it in 1998, the car is now back in it's original condition and resides in the suburbs of Paris.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/308Rally.jpg
The BMW M1 rally car was run by BMW France during 1982-84. Two drivers were chosen, both French tarmac experts, first was Bernard Darniche, he was a former 5 time winner of the Tour of Corsica driving Alpine Renaults and Lancia Stratos, so he was no stranger to rallying exotica.
Here we see Darniche making the car dance during one of it's few appearances outside France on the Ypres 24 Hours in Belgium.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BMWM1Darniche1984Ypres-1.jpg
Especially for Dave here are some more photos from Corsica.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82Darniche1-1.jpg
The M1 was the most powerful RWD rally car ever with 430bhp on tap, when it had chance to get that power down, the M1 was a pretty awesome car, just look at it laying rubber down in this shot.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82Darniche3-1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDC82Darniche2-1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Darniche82CorsicaM13.jpg
The other M1 rally driver was Bernard Beguin, here you can see how clumsy the M1 could be on the tight hairpins of Corsica, the M1 was 200mm wider than it's biggest rivals. Check out the tyre marks left by the previous cars at the same corner! As you can see, the M1 was not on quite the same line!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/M1_rally.jpg
Those magnificent men and their flying machines B)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BMWM1FranceBeguin2-1.jpg
Next up, quite possibly the most iconic of all the rally supercars, the Lancia Stratos. Homologated in 1974, the Stratos was of tubular frame construction and had a tuned 270 bhp Ferrari V6 engine from the Ferrari Dino road car, it goes without saying that the Stratos was one of the best sounding rally cars of all time.
Sandro Munari on route to victory during the 1976 Tour de Corse, back then the Corsican round of the WRC was held in early November, just prior to the RAC Rally, hence this photo looks more like a scene from a spectator stage on the RAC rally!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TDCMunari76.jpg
Alitaila were title sponsor to the Lancia team, so Lancia were unique back in the '70's in having the luxury of being able to fly their rally cars to certain events, here they are setting off for the 1977 East African Safari.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Safari77.jpg
...and here is one of the cars on that same 1977 Safari Rally, it turned out to be the wettest Safari ever!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Stratos77Safari.jpg
A feature which was not seen again for 10 years when the Group B Peugeot 205 T16 was released, was the ability to remove the front and rear of the bodywork for servicing. Occasionally the same bodywork was known to detach itself, most famously on the 1975 RAC Rally with Bjorn Waldegard at the wheel.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/LanciaStratosWaldegard1975RACRally.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Waldegard1975RAC.jpg
Here is Waldegard on route to a home victory on the 1975 Swedish Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Swedish1975Waldegard.jpg
Stig Blomqvist won his home event an amazing 7 times, it should have been 8 wins in Sweden for Stig but a problem on one stage meant he missed out on a victory in his only Stratos outing in 1978, he completely outclassed the field on just about every other other stage.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Stratos1978SwedishBlomqvist.jpg
Sandro Munari on his way to 2nd on the 1976 Sanremo, team mate Waldegard took the win.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Munari1976Sanremo.jpg
The official Lancia rally team stopped using the Stratos at the end of 1978, the car itself ran out of homologation at the end of 1981, it was then unable to compete at WRC level after this, incredibly it was still a winner at top level right until the end. Bernard Darniche won the 1981 Tour de Corse, here he is during the 1980 Acropolis Rally. Darniche won the European Rally Championship for drivers using a Stratos in 1976 & 1977, at the time this was the highest accolade a driver could achieve (WRC drivers crown didn't start until 1979)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DarnicheAcropolis80.jpg
Markku Alen gave the car it's final appearance on the 1981 RAC Rally, he led on the early spectator stages but retired after an accident in the forest.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Alen81RAC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rac81Alen1.jpg
So what was the first car to really make use of the homologation rules that governed International rallying? Many people will name the Mini Cooper as a possible candidate, but the Cooper was a Mini with a bigger engine and other mods, so not really that daring, even if it was a very successful rally car.
The original rally supercar was the Alpine-Renault. Alpine started building lightweight cars on Renault chassis during the early 1950's in Dieppe. The Alpine A110 had a glassfibre body, early cars had various engines from 1100 to 1470cc, then a 1600cc, then latterly an 1800cc.
1600cc doesn't sound like a supercar engine right? It produced a reasonable 155bhp but the reason the car went so well was its weight, it tipped the scales at just 680kg.
Here is Jean-Luc Therier on the 1970 RAC Rally, Therier had already won the Sanremo and Acropolis rallies during 1970.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Therier70RAC.jpg
Ove Andersson on the 1971 RAC, he had enjoyed a successful season, his win on the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally had convinced Lancia rally boss Cesare Fiorio to push ahead and create the Lancia Stratos, so we have a small garage owner in Dieppe to thank for the Stratos, and every other Group B supercar that followed - French clutter!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/OveAnderssonGeraintPhillips1971RAC.jpg
Jean-Pierre Nicolas on the 1972 Monte Carlo, by now the works cars were running 1800cc engines, these gave 175bhp, the cars had gained a little weight and were now just over 700kg. 12 years later, Nicolas would become the first driver to score WRC points at the wheel of the 205 T16, a car which he helped to develop.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/J-PNicolas72MC.jpg
Morocco 1973, yes thay actually had a WRC round in Morocco back then, car number 1 and the winning car is that of Bernard Darniche (his name keeps showing up in this thread) Alpine-Renault won the World Championship for makes in 1973, the first time a world championship for rallying was held. Once the Stratos arrived in 1974, the Alpine was on a downhill slide, but for a while, like all great rally cars, it was top dog.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Darniche_1973_Maroc.jpg
So what was the first car to really make use of the homologation rules that governed International rallying? Many people will name the Mini Cooper as a possible candidate, but the Cooper was a Mini with a bigger engine and other mods, so not really that daring, even if it was a very successful rally car.
The original rally supercar was the Alpine-Renault. Alpine started building lightweight cars on Renault chassis during the early 1950's in Dieppe. The Alpine A110 had a glassfibre body, early cars had various engines from 1100 to 1470cc, then a 1600cc, then latterly an 1800cc.
1600cc doesn't sound like a supercar engine right? It produced a reasonable 155bhp but the reason the car went so well was its weight, it tipped the scales at just 680kg.
Here is Jean-Luc Therier on the 1970 RAC Rally, Therier had already won the Sanremo and Acropolis rallies during 1970.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Therier70RAC.jpg
Ove Andersson on the 1971 RAC, he had enjoyed a successful season, his win on the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally had convinced Lancia rally boss Cesare Fiorio to push ahead and create the Lancia Stratos, so we have a small garage owner in Dieppe to thank for the Stratos, and every other Group B supercar that followed - French clutter!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/OveAnderssonGeraintPhillips1971RAC.jpg
Jean-Pierre Nicolas on the 1972 Monte Carlo, by now the works cars were running 1800cc engines, these gave 175bhp, the cars had gained a little weight and were now just over 700kg. 12 years later, Nicolas would become the first driver to score WRC points at the wheel of the 205 T16, a car which he helped to develop.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/J-PNicolas72MC.jpg
Morocco 1973, yes thay actually had a WRC round in Morocco back then, car number 1 and the winning car is that of Bernard Darniche (his name keeps showing up in this thread) Alpine-Renault won the World Championship for makes in 1973, the first time a world championship for rallying was held. Once the Stratos arrived in 1974, the Alpine was on a downhill slide, but for a while, like all great rally cars, it was top dog.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Darniche_1973_Maroc.jpg
Note: Not sure everyone in the US will fully understand the significance the Ford Escort RS has in the UK (I remember Jake asking me about them when we saw one at a trackday at Donington a few years back) Even now in 2008 the greatest number of cars registered with a competition RAC licence remains the Mark II Escort, even though they stopped rolling off the production line almost 30 years ago. The late Colin McRae had one specially built and described it as his favourite rally car.
Up to now this thread has looked specifically at the out and out homologation specials, this is the point where that changes. No rally car thread from the Group 4 era would be complete without the Ford Escorts, namely the Mark I and Mark II Escorts. This thread will probaly get split into two, due to the long time span the cars competed (and the number of pics in my collection:-) )
Things started way back in 1968, here is our very own Roger Clark on the 1968 Scottish Rally, an early outing for the car, this was the 1600cc Twin Cam version, basically the same unit as used in the Lotus Cortinas, it gave 160bhp and the car weighed 900kg.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Clark68ScottishRally.jpg
Here is Roger Clark again, this time on the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, note that the car had now gained the recognisable wheel arch extensions.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/RogerClark1970MC.jpg
The Escort became the staple diet of British rallying in the 1970's, even today if you ask any rally fan to sum up rallying, they would probably start talking about an Escort going sideways through the forests.
In 1972 Roger Clark and Tony Mason took a famous victory on the RAC Rally, it turned out to be the first of eight consecutive victories for the Escort on the RAC, here follows a photo tribute to those eight victories and the distinctive colour schemes that the cars all wore (I'm sure we all have our own favouries)
1972 Roger Clark & Tony Mason - ESSO Uniflo
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1972RACClarkMason.jpg
1973 Timo Makinen & Henry Liddon - Milk
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/FordTimoMakinen1973RACWinner.jpg
1974 Timo Makinen & Henry Liddon - Colibri Lighters
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MakinenLiddon74RAC.jpg
1975 Timo Makinen & Henry Liddon - Allied Polymer
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/TimoMakinen1975RAC.jpg
1976 Roger Clark & Stuart Pegg - Cossack Hairspray
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ClarkRAC1976.jpg
1977 Bjorn Waldegard & Hans Thorszelius - British Airways
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Waldegard1977RAC.jpg
1978 Hannu Mikkola & Arne Hertz - Eaton Yale lift trucks
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MikkolaHertz1978RAC.jpg
1979 Hannu Mikkola & Arne Hertz - Eaton Yale lift trucks (Again!)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola79RAC.jpg
Roger Clark on the 1976 Monte Carlo, note the rarely seen tarmac spec arches.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Monte_76_Clark.jpg
One for the motor club quiz night - Who was the last driver to win the 1000 Lakes / Rally Finland without the use of pace notes? Answer Kyosti Hamalainen in 1977, after many of the works cars dropped out it was a chance for the multiple Finnish Rally Champion to grab his moment of glory and take one of the most prized trophies in rallying. Remember, Sebastien Loeb only got this in his trophy cabinet for the first time just a few weeks ago.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1000LakesHamalainen1977.jpg
Waldegard winning the wettest East African Safari ever in 1977.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1977SafariWaldegaard.jpg
A driver not really linked with Escorts is Markku Alen, in 1973 he had this big accident on the RAC during the early spectator stages, but went on to finish an impressive 3rd overall. After this he was snapped up by the Fiat group, a relationship that continued for an incredible 16 years.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MarkkuAlanRAC1973.jpg
Classic combination of Mikkola and Escort - 1979 Rally of Portugal.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola1979Portugal.jpg
Waldegard on the 1979 Quebec Rally, Canada had it's very own WRC round back then, shame there isn't any top level rallying in North America nowadays, they have some great rallying terrain.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Waldegard1979Quebec.jpg
Another superstar driver in an Escort, Henri Toivonen competed in a 2 car Total Oils team back in 1979.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ToivonenEscort1979.jpg
His team-mate was an equally young Malcolm Wilson, who is now the Ford WRC team boss.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/WilsonRAC79.jpg
Pentti Airikkala in the Yorkshire forests - 1981 Mintex Rally
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/AirikkalaMintex81.jpg
One of the most famous Escort drivers - Ari Vatanen 1981 Sanremo
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VatanenSanremo81.jpg
Vatanen holds the record for wrecking cars on the WRC, his record makes Colin McRae look like your grandma :lol: 1981 Ivory Coast Rally
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Vatanen1981IvoryCoast.jpg
For 1981 Vatanen secured (with the help of his co-driver Dave Richards) a budget from Rothmans to compete on the WRC, this was the first year of the Quattro, but Audi were still finding out how to make the car work properly, so it was the Escorts last chance to take the World title, Vatanen had many accidents but when he finished 2nd overall on the 1981 RAC Rally he became World Rally Champion, this was the point that his co-driver retired from the passenger seat and started Dave Richards Autosport, which would later be renamed Prodrive.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1981RAC.jpg
The Escort didn't run out of homologation until the end of 1984, but it never enjoyed success at the very top level again, a new era of turbo charging and 4 wheel drive was dawning and the Escort had ceased production in 1979.
Here is a very late appearance of the Escort on an international rally, Robert Droogmans on the 1983 Ardennes Rally in Belgium. Of course, spectators are still treated to sideways action every weekend in the UK, the Escort will never die, will it?
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/DroogmansArdennes1983.jpg
The Mark II Escort had some serious competition from Italy, in the shape of the Fiat Abarth 131. Homologated during the 1976 season (Although Fiat had little intention of using the car in WRC anger until 1977)
Finland '82, Audi took a 1-2 victory, Mikkola beating Blomqvist, Stig was held in second by team orders.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola1982Finland.jpg
Sanremo, another 1-2 but this time it was Blomqvist ahead of Mikkola, Mouton was fourth, with Rohrl third.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1982Sanremo.jpg
The drivers title was now being fought out between Walter Rohrl and Michele Mouton, just two events remained, the Ivory Coast Rally and RAC. Rohrl hated rallying in Africa, but was forced to go there unless he wanted a woman to take the title from him!
By now, Audi had a flamboyant young German team manager by the name of Roland Gumpert, he would sit alongside Mikkola on the 1982 Ivory Coast Rally as chase car to Mouton.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mikkola_Gumpert82IvoryCoast.jpg
Mikkola and Gumpert actually retired about halfway through the event, Gumpert was known for being a hands on kind of guy, here he is working on Michele's car.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Gumpert1982IvoryCoast.jpg
Michele sadly crashed after time control 46 of 54, her father had died on the eve of that 1982 Ivory Coast Rally, he had been her mentor throughout her career, so you can imagine her state of mind. Rohrl was the 1982 World Champion.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Mouton1982IvoryCoast.jpg
Yet another 1-2 finish on the '82 RAC, Mikkola ahead of Mouton. This gave Audi the 1982 manufacurers title. This 4WD rally car had come good.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/82RAC.jpg
The Porsche 911, one of the most successful rally cars ever'
I find that statement usually causes a reaction! I think a lot of people dismiss the 911 as a rally car because its so long since the car was winning international rallies. The 911 actually pre dates the Group 4 rules themselves, not only that but it was actually re homologated into Group B (I'll have to go back to that in the Group B thread)
Porsche started to take rallying seriously in the mid 1960's, this was the era of the 2 litre 911, for 1967 they signed the brilliant young British driver Vic Elford away from Ford, the photo below shows Elford on the right with co driver David Stone during the 1967 Monte Carlo, they finished 3rd overall.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteElfordStone1967.jpg
One year later, same pairing, same car, but this time there were no mistakes, Elford took a famous win, which remains to this day, the last time a British driver won the Monte Carlo Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VicElfordMontePorsche1968.jpg
A proud moment for any driver, collecting the silverware from Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. It is worth noting that Elford travelled straight to the USA after this win, one week later he took victory on the Daytona 24 Hours, Porsche's first ever 24 hour race victory, not a bad few days work.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VicElford_DavidStone1968Monte.jpg
On the right of this photo, the man with the two cameras is Huschke von Hanstein, he was public relations manager at Porsche before public relations existed! von Hanstein actually won the 1940 Mille Miglia driving for BMW, stood next to him is Pauli Toivonen (Henri's father) who finished second to Elford in 1968.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MC68PToivonenVonHanstein.jpg
A small crowd gathers for the start of the 1969 Mote Carlo Rally!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MC69Start.jpg
Elford switched to the race team full time for 1969, Porsche signed Swedish driver Bjorn Waldegard for their rally team.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Waldegard69MC.jpg
Waldegard took the 911 to victory, not just on the 1969 Monte but also on the 1970 event, three Monte Carlo Rallies on the bounce for the 911.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/BjrnWaldegrd_LarsHelmr1969MC.jpg
The 911 performed on all types of events, here is Waldegard on his way to 2nd place on the 1971 RAC Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Waldegard1971RAC.jpg
An interesting chase car, 1978 would be the 4th Monte Carlo win for the 911, this time the car was a 3.0 litre, 300bhp model, weighing in at 1000kg, car #3 is the winning car, driven by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nicolas. The car was prepared by Almeras.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Chasecar_nicolas_78.jpg
Waldegard was back with the 911 for the 1978 Safari, he very nearly won but had to settle for 2nd.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1978SafariPorsches.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/VicPreson1978Safari.jpg
1980 would mark the last WRC victory for the 911, Jean-Luc Thérier winning the Tour de Corse in this Almeras car.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Therier1980TDC.jpg
Many people link Walter Röhrl and Porsche nowadays, Röhrl only actually ever ran a 911 once on a WRC event, the 1981 Sanremo, back then the Sanremo was run on tarmac for the first leg, so it was no surprise that Röhrl led the event as they entered the second day of the event, he started to slip back when the cars got to the gravel section, the Quattro was coming of age (see elsewhere in this thread) Röhrl eventually retired after 4 of 5 days with gearbox problems, it must have been quite something to see the then world champion at the wheel of a 911.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Rohrl81Sanremo.jpg
1982 would see the end of Group 4, some thought this would be the end of the 911 in rallying, quite a few drivers sampled the car for the '82 season.
Guy Frequelin finishing 4th on the Monte Carlo Rally, in front of him in 3rd was his Almeras team mate Jean-Luc Thérier.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo82GuyFrquelinPorsche911SC.jpg
Waldegard was reunited with the 911 yet again.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/MonteCarlo1982BjrnWaldegrdPorsche91.jpg
Per Eklund, Finland 1978
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/1000LakesEklund1982.jpg
Bring back the 911 to top class rallying!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Jean-LouisDumontCircuitdesArdennes1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Duez-LuxArdennes82.jpg
Talbot Sunbeam Lotus. Well, the clue is in the name, Talbot Sunbeam doesn't quite cut it without the addition of the Lotus tag. In 1978 Chrysler UK approached Lotus Cars to see if they could find an engine to drop into a limited run of homologation special Sunbeams, this would be a car to take on the mighty Ford Escort RS which had won the RAC Rally every year since 1972. Lotus had a suitable engine, a 2.2 litre, twin cam, 16 valve unit, which when fitted with twin carburettors would produce 240bhp in rally trim.
By 1979 the team was preparing for a rally programme. Tony Pond was the lead driver but the car was not immediately reliable and good results were thin on the ground.
The highlight of the 1979 season came when Tony Pond and Ian Grindrod took the car to 4th overall on the Sanremo Rally.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Pond_Grindrod1979Sanremo.jpg
By 1980, Pond had gone back to driving for British Leyland and the TR7 V8. Two new drivers had been hired, 1977 French Rally Champion Guy Fréquelin and a young Finn - Henri Toivonen.
Here we see Toivonen in typical full flight action during the 1980 Rally of Portugal, he retired with rear axle problems but team mate Fréquelin came home in 3rd.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ToivonenPortugal1980.jpg
By the end of 1980 the Sunbeam Lotus was becoming a reliable and capable rally car, Toivonen had been watched carefully by team manager Des O'Dell (and sometimes no doubt he had bitten off Toivonen's ear for his reckless rally driving)
This picture shows Des O'Dell (centre) with Toivonen and co driver Paul White.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen1980.jpg
Toivonen, at the age of 24, became the youngest ever winner of a WRC event when he won the 1980 RAC, this was probably the finest hour for the Sunbeam Lotus.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/ToivonenWhite1980RAC.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen1980RACwin.jpg
The same driver line up was kept for 1981. This is Fréquelin during service on the Rally of Portugal, interesting lighting pod set up.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Frquelin81Portugalservice.jpg
Fréquelin again, this time during the 1981 Tour de Corse, an excellent 2nd overall, by now he was becoming Ari Vatanen's most serious threat to the 1981 world drivers title.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Frequelin1981TDCjpg.jpg
Sanremo recce 1981 - On the left (in the foreground) is Talbot's new engineer David Lapworth with Toivonen in the background, Toivonen had been practicing the stages in the black car, it was not unusual to practice stages 6 times or more at high speed back then, Lapworth had driven out in one of the proper rally cars to meet up with Toivonen.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Lapworth_Toivonen1981Sanremorecce.jpg
Toivonen stormed to 2nd overall on that 1981 Sanremo, only beaten by the 'unbeatable' Quattro of Mouton. Henri loved rallying in Italy in front of the enthusiastic crowds.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Toivonen81Sanremo.jpg
1981 saw Talbot take the world title for makes, but Vatanen won the drivers title from Fréquelin.
1982 - Stig Blomqvist took the Lotus Sunbeam to 8th on the RAC Rally, this would be the end of the line for the car, by now Peugeot (Talbot's parent company) were busy developing the 205 T16...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Blomqvist82RAC.jpg
Summing up, it had not been a bad 4 years for the a small team, taking a world title and winning the RAC Rally.
fourseven
16-06-2011, 04:41 PM
Up in the asshole of Timo!
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wqQhQSbe6fw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i0GpR9lwgsw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jqNaWTifOhk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p77ryTbBlpk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NeZxahWDgJI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Miggy
16-06-2011, 05:31 PM
Just sat down with a coffee and read this. BRILLIANT! Now I want to enter a rally :(
dont do it, it costs you alot more than you think :P
Tj, thankyou for putting this up! Im one of the few gravel rally competitors on AL, Its good to bring it up in everyone's minds now and again...
...where did you find this all??
Saint_23
16-06-2011, 07:41 PM
EPIC READ.
BEST. THREAD. EVER
Thanks TJ
WRickX
27-06-2011, 08:40 PM
Hey hey hey, your not the only one that competes in rallies, I do but its only co-driving haha. Cheapest way by far to get into it, and co-drivers are always in demand.
Awesome thread by the way too.
dont do it, it costs you alot more than you think :P
Tj, thankyou for putting this up! Im one of the few gravel rally competitors on AL, Its good to bring it up in everyone's minds now and again...
...where did you find this all??
+1
cept i win
If you want to see some of these cars in action, watch a doco called 'Too Fast To Race'.
It's all about the old days of rallying, and focuses on Group B in the 1980's.
Soooo awesome!
Oh and something of a favourite of mine ;)
http://i54.tinypic.com/2le15j4.jpg
Reverb
01-07-2011, 03:51 PM
If you want to see some of these cars in action, watch a doco called 'Too Fast To Race'.
It's all about the old days of rallying, and focuses on Group B in the 1980's.
Soooo awesome!
+1
Awesome documentary!
+1
cept i win
Immm.... not following :( ?
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.