During the 1970s we only had three TV channels in the UK, so motorsport on our screens was like gold dust, as a young boy of 7 or 8 years old I picked up on a sport called rallying, it was becoming a major spectator sport in many countries, as rallying made its way into the 1980s, it started to become almost out of control in certain parts of the world.
Here follows a photographic tribute to rally spectators around the world, I guess this could become one of my seemingly endless threads, hopefully it will capture the spirit and magic that only rallying can offer to motorsport fans.
Back in 1960, the RAC Rally became a closed road / special stage event, prior to this it had been a series of time trials around Britain.
The winner of that 1960 RAC Rally was Swedish driver Erik Carlsson in a SAAB, looking at this photo, it is hard to believe it, but this was the start of something big! Note the lack of spectators, but word was spreading...
...Fast forward 25 years, some might say this was the monster that had been created, Ari Vatanen drives flat out through a sea of spectators on the 1985 Rally of Portugal
Miki Biasion - 1986 Sanremo Rally, last appearance of the Group B cars in front of the Italian fans
I guess that most motorsport fans have had favourite drivers over the years, for me there are three drivers that really stand out in rallying, when you stood at a corner, you just knew that these guys were the most likely to try something different, they became the spectators favourites, legends in their chosen sport.
Ari Vatanen - 1979 Rally of Portugal
Henri Toivonen - 1983 Sanremo Rally
Colin McRae - 1995 Rally of Portugal (Anybody who says that the crowds died off when Group B was banned, well take a look at this!
Soundtrack - Alfa Romeo V6, Surface - Tarmac roads with hairpin bends in the South of France. The 1985 Garrigues Rally.
Corsica 1984, local BMW importer Patrick Bernardini was known for his giant killing drives on the Tour de Corse, twice winning Group N on the WRC event. 323i - Another 6 cylinder RWD rally car, always popular with the crowds
Portuguese driver Jose Miguel Faria flying high on the 1985 Rally of Portugal, he came home 6th overall, one of the very last results for a MkII Escort at top level
Portuguese driver Jose Miguel Faria flying high on the 1985 Rally of Portugal, he came home 6th overall, one of the very last results for a MkII Escort at top level
This is the picture that so epitomizes the problems of Group B. Everyone trying to get their photo of air under the car before moving out of the way...
Not until 1991 did Spain host a round of the World Rally Championship, here are a few photos taken in the 1980s on the Spanish National Rally Championship, Spanish spectators were (and still are) equally as enthusiastic as the Portuguese fans!
Salvador Servià on the 1984 Costa Brava Rally, Servià went on to win the Spanish title in 1985 & '86
The 1985 Girona-Guillerias Rally, based in the province of Girona in north-eastern Spain. At the wheel of the Renault 5 Turbo is a then unknown driver by the name of Carlos Sainz, he would go on to greater things!
Antonio Zanini on the same event, exploring the same piece of road Zanini was an eight time Spanish Rally Champion, he also won the European Rally Championship in 1980
Masochist - definition according to the dictionary 'Enjoyment of an activity or situation that most people would find very unpleasant' Rally spectator is not actually listed, but anyone who will travel for hours, then wait in all weathers just to see a car once for a few seconds and possibly get pelted with stones etc, well I'll let you make your own mind up!
Antonio Tognana - 1982 Sanremo, Tognana actually won the 1982 Italian Rally Championship driving this Ferrari 308, he never competed outside of Italy
Masochist - definition according to the dictionary 'Enjoyment of an activity or situation that most people would find very unpleasant' Rally spectator is not actually listed, but anyone who will travel for hours, then wait in all weathers just to see a car once for a few seconds and possibly get pelted with stones etc, well I'll let you make your own mind up!
Or find a good solid piece of land to hide behind Jean Ragnotti recovered from this impact to finish top 2WD car and 7th overall on the 1995 Monte Carlo Rally, his last WRC points scoring result
Or find a good solid piece of land to hide behind Jean Ragnotti recovered from this impact to finish top 2WD car and 7th overall on the 1995 Monte Carlo Rally, his last WRC points scoring result
Is this a hairpin right that they are cutting or is this a full-speed, opposite lock moment just before an off? Kind of seems like the former, but I don't know this rally very well.
Alan, thanks for making SS a fun place again. I really enjoy your threads. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, the Biasion shot is definitely a hairpin right or similar.
Thanks for the good feedback guys, I'm not really doing anything so special, I just collected lots of rally photos off the worldwide web, one day it occurred to me that nobody ever seems to take all these great photos and put them in some sort of related thread (hence my rally car threads) I've got some other interesting stuff planned for the coming months.
Meanwhile, back on subject.
The British rally spectator of the 1970s could often be seen wearing the woolen bobble hat Here is Timo Makinen on his way to a hat trick of wins on the 1975 RAC Rally, co driver Henry Liddon can be seen enjoying the view, until the 1990s the RAC was a blind event, so no pace notes were read.
The stupid rally spectator! This photo was also taken on the 1975 RAC Rally, I have also seen this sort of thing, people pushing prams whilst rally cars are competing on the stages, madness!! For the record books, the Triumph Dolomite Sprint was driven by Brian Culcheth
Because the RAC Rally was such a marathon event, there was usually no problem with crowds, the UK also traditionally has called upon its huge base of motor clubs to provide marshalls for the event. Roger Clark on his way to a popular home win in 1976, it would be another 18 years until another British driver won the RAC again, when Colin McRae won for Subaru in 1994, that was a long wait for British fans.
Just this past weekend at Rally de France, a key stage got canceled -- too many speccies to control. This has happened several times at recent WRC events.
So even in "wild west' type Euro rallies, the speccie control issue is being addressed as best as possible?
One of the most popular corners on the WRC in recent years, was the flyover on the Viladrau stage of the Catalunya Rally
Colin McRae - 1990s
Richard Burns in 2000
But perhaps most well remembered was the 2002 rally, this photo of Colin McRae shows some tell tale tyre marks left by the rally leader Gilles Panizzi
Panizzi had a 45 second lead going into the final stages of the rally, so he decided he would entertain the crowd with a donut mid stage!
For those who can't remember (or want to see the Panizzi donut again) here it is. I would have loved to be at that corner, judging by the reaction of the co driver (Gilles brother Hervé) it looks like even he didn't know that Gilles was going to pull that one off, a classic WRC moment
One of the most popular corners on the WRC in recent years, was the flyover on the Viladrau stage of the Catalunya Rally
perhaps most well remembered was the 2002 rally, this photo of Colin McRae shows some tell tale tyre marks left by the rally leader Gilles Panizzi
Panizzi had a 45 second lead going into the final stages of the rally, so he decided he would entertain the crowd with a donut mid stage!
For those who can't remember (or want to see the Panizzi donut again) here it is. I would have loved to be at that corner, judging by the reaction of the co driver (Gilles brother Hervé) it looks like even he didn't know that Gilles was going to pull that one off, a classic WRC moment
"...I wuzzn't doin donuts, Mr Steward...we spun at that hairpin and the driver made an aggressive recovery!"
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Special Stage Forums
447K posts
10.7K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to North American rally car owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!