Network Q RAC Rally 1993: Juha Kankkunen wins a very snowy RAC in his Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

Juha Kankkunen was already World Champion by that year's RAC and  in typical Scandinavian conditions he was fortunate to stay out of trouble and take the win. Though it wasn't as easy as that, as first he had a hard charging Colin McRae threatening for a first British victory since 1976, then he had a storming Kenneth Eriksson to contend with.

Kankkunen, in a TTE Celica, set off from Birmingham and took control of the Stately Home stages to lead on the Sunday evening. He continued to open up a gap on Monday until Colin McRae, driving the new Subaru Impreza 555 for the first time competitively, put in a set of fastest times in the Welsh forests and Kankkunen punctured. McRae had the lead and held it to the Scottish borders until he ran into a ditch and a log holed the radiator and he still had 15 miles of the test to do. Emergency servicing at the end of the stage got the engine going again but on his return to the main service the engine was going no further so he would have to wait another year before winning the rally.

Eriksson, in a Mitsubishi Lancer, had punctured on the first forest stage losing three minutes and he set about a charge that would have seen him win the rally if he hadn't punctured. He ended up second to Kankkunen who was very lucky as he had nearly gone off on icy conditions in Cropton at the first corner, the car scattering logs and a post punching a hole through Nicky Grist's side window just missing his head. Kankkunen won by nearly 2mins and it was a great way for him to crown his championship winning year.

It was also a year where Brits did well which would last right through the decade. Malcolm Wilson took his best RAC result with third in his Escort Cosworth. The new young charger Richard Burns drove a very sensible rally to finish 7th and Alister McRae was tenth, both were n identical Subaru Legacy RS's. 

Eriksson may have won if it wasn't for a puncture

 

Delecour was a creditable 4th

Colin McRae came close again in 93

Images: rallykrumlov.cz

Top Ten RAC Rally 1993 Results:

1st		Kankkunen, Juha  Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185)	FI	A8	6h 25m 48s
2nd		Eriksson, Kenneth  Mitsubishi Lancer Evo I	SE	A8	+1m 44s
3rd		Wilson, Malcolm  Ford Escort RS Cosworth	GB	A8	+5m 38s
4th		Delecour, Francois  Ford Escort RS Cosworth	FR	A8	+7m 09s
5th		Vatanen, Ari  Subaru Impreza 555	FI	A8	+8m 11s
6th		Auriol, Didier  Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185)	FR	A8	+13m 51s
7th		Burns, Richard  Subaru Legacy RS	GB	A8	+21m 37s
8th		Schwarz, Armin  Mitsubishi Lancer Evo I	DE	A8	+25m 14s
9th		Jonsson, Mats  Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185)	SE	A8	+35m 00s
10th		McRae, Alister  Subaru Legacy RS	GB	A8	+36m 24s

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