Rally History

Rallye Monte Carlo 1980 video clips

Video clips uploaded to YouTube of the 1980 Monte Carlo Rally in which Walter Rohrl (Fiat Abarth 131) began his sequence of four consecutive victories on the event, which would all be achieved in different makes of car.

The previous year’s winner, Bernard Darniche, had to settle for second in his private Lancia Stratos HF as the car started to become obsolete at the top level. Bjorn Waldegaard was third in another… Continue reading

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1982 World Rally Championship videos: Walter Rohrl becomes first person to win the title twice

Walter Rohrl became the first person, in 1982, to win the World Rally Championship for a second time.

Driving the Rothmans Opel Ascona 400 Rohrl found himself embroiled in a bitter battle with Audi quattro queen Michele Mouton which the media hyped up to the max.

Mouton drove the season of her life that year (her performance under extremely trying circumstances on the Ivory Coast particularly stands out… Continue reading

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Henning Solberg will continue with Team Expert in an M-Sport Ford Focus for all 12 rounds in the 2009 WRC

Team Expert will continue to provide backing for Henning Solberg in a full WRC campaign of 12 events for 2009. Solberg also announced that he would continue to drive an M-Sport Ford Focus WRC for the season ahead, according to nrk.no.

There had been speculation by the Norwegian media just prior to the announcement that Expert would withdraw, or decrease, their support for Henning. But after… Continue reading

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WRC early 90’s film by Pirelli

Pirelli film capturing the WRC seasons of 1990, ‘91 and ‘92 featuring the Group A machines in their pomp.

Drivers like Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol, Miki Biasion, Francois Delecour, Colin McRae, Markku Alen, Timo Salonen, Pentti Airikkala, Ari Vatanen, Armin Schwarz etc, all created a captivating narrative during the era. Also, the manufacturers competing at the time included Lancia, Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Opel… Continue reading

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Colin McRae Metro 6R4 Donegal International Rally 2006

Colin McRae mania descended on Donegal in June 2006 when he brought the Metro 6R4 over to contest the rally.

The RPM clip below, which has been uploaded to motorsportmad.com, captures the highlights of that magical weekend in Donegal where McRae (co-driven by Nicky Grist) was mixing it with the modern WRC cars in his 20 year old machine.

He annihilated the national section… Continue reading

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Lombard RAC Rally 1980: Henri Toivonen becomes the youngest WRC event winner in the Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus

Henri Toivonen became, at 24, the youngest winner of a world rally championship event (that is if we regard 1973 as being year zero, otherwise Simo Lampinen would still hold the record even today by winning the 1963 1000 Lakes aged just 20) on the 1980 Lombard RAC Rally driving the Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus.

Some say he was fortunate, being gifted the rally after the punctures that befell Anders Kullang’s… Continue reading

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