1986 WRC

[Elford68]

* Teams' Presentation:

1. Peugeot Talbot Sport:

- Timo Salonen (34) was the defending Champion and, obviously, the big favourite to win the WRC in 1986. In 1985, he proved he was a fast and reliable driver, showing that his lack of consistent results before switching to Peugeot was due to the unreliable Nissan.

- Juha Kankkunen (26) replaced an injured Ari Vatanen at the Peugeot team. After two years with small programs in Toyota and a magical win at his first attempt in the Safari Rally of 1985, Kankkunen was looked as the new big promise of the Rallying world. Fast and consistent, although his young age; he proved during the season his abilities.

- Bruno Saby (36) had several years of experience in French and World roads. Very fast at tarmac, he had an important shape in the developement of the Peugeot 205 Group B nad will have a small program for 1986.

- Michèle Mouton (34) was the fastest lady in the Racing World in those times. After a long career devoted to Audi, with whom he fought for the WRC title in 1982, Mouton signed for Peugeot. His main program was the West Germany Rally Championship, but he also drove at Monte Carlo and Corsica for the works team.

- Shekhar Mehta (40) was a specialist of the African roads. Winner of 5 Safari Rallies, Mehta only raced the Safari with Peugeot. He was also linked to Peugeot for Cross-Country races.

- Stig Blomqvist (39) was signed to Ford but raced at 1000 Lakes and Argentina with Peugeot, after Ford's withdrawn from these rounds.

- Andrea Zanussi (24) was an young Italian promise that raced the SanRemo Rally for the Peugeot works team.

- Mikael Sundström (28) was a Finnish racer, who spent his career between Finland and UK, so Peugeot put him in the 3rd car in the RAC rally, in order to have more Manufacturers' points possibilities.

- Ari Vatanen (33) was recovering from the horrendous crash in Argentina the previous year. His recovery was slow, not only because he had several physical injuries but also a deep depression, with fear of being contaminated with AIDS after the blood transfusions he recieved immediatly after the crash. He returned at Sanremo with the Peugeot 0 car, but hadn't considered himself ready to return and instead kept preparing the 1987 Dakar.



2. Martini Lancia:

- Markku Alén (34), the great uncrowned champion, was the Lancia teamleader again. With the pouwerful and fast Lancia DElta S4, Alén really hoped he could win the title in 1986, after a disappointing 1985 season, mostly spent in the developement of this car.

- Miki Biasion (27), the great latin promise in the Rally scene; having been 1983 European Rally Champion and after two good seasons with a Jolly Club's Lancia in WRC, Biasion get a deserved seat with the works team.

- Henri Toivonen (29) was the pure Flying Finn. With a fiery driving style, astoundingly fast, a Gilles Villeneuve from the Rallies, he was really a great driver, although he had some big accidents who prevented him to achieve better results before. But he was really strong in the beginning of 1986, after a 1985 season marked by a big crash that could have left him paralysed. Sadly Toivonen died at Tour de Corsica when he went off the road and the fuel tank exploded with the impact, killing Toivonen and his co-driver, Sergio Cresto.

- Mikael Ericsson (25) had the hard task of replacing Toivonen after Corsica. Linked to Audi Sweden, he had done some good races in Sweden and UK the years before that make him the indicated man to do replaced the great Toivonen.

- Greg Criticos (?) was a Kenyan driver bought to Lancia to do the Safari.

- Vic Preston Jr. (35) was another Safari specialist. Linked to Lancia since 1984, he was the biggest weapon of the team to win the Safari.

- Jorge Recalde (34) raced only in Argentina, his home country. A well-known racer in the South American scene, Recalde had some palmares in the Argentina and Africa Rallies in the WRC.

- Kalle Grundel (37) was an experienced rider in the Scandinavia and Britain routes, "borrowed" by Ford to Lancia at 1000 Lakes, after the withdraw of the Ford team in this round.

- Dario Cerrato (34) raced the SanRemo to help the team in the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championship. ERC defending Champion, Italian specialist; he was the perfect man to help the team in this round.



3. Audi Sport:

- Hannu Mikkola (43) was one of the biggest drivers ever in WRC history. WRC 1983 Champion, he came from an hard 1985 year with the team and was one of the favourites to win the title.

- Walter Röhrl (38) had also an wonderful palmares, with 2 WRC titles. Akso a favourite, he had a slightly better year than Mikkola in 1985 with the fast but hard and unreliable Audi Sport Quattro.



4. Austin Rover WCT:

- Tony Pond (40) was one of the best British drivers in the late 70's - mid 80's. He also had WRC experience, that made him the natural leader of the MG team.

- Malcom Wilson (29) had the same cractherictics of Pond, but with less experience. He was a fast racer, but crashed a lot.

- Per Eklund (39) was racing mainly in Scandinavia and UK and was bought by Austin Tover to race at Sweden, 1000 Lakes and RAC. Formed at SAAB School in the late 60's - 70's, he was one of the best snow specialist those times.

- Marc Duez (38) spent his career between Touring Car Races and Rally Races, mainly at the European and Belgium Championships. His tarmac experience made him one of the Austin Rover drivers.

- Didier Auriol (27) was a French rally promise. Unknown in the WRC and ERC scene, he raced for MG in French Championship (he won at the end of the year) and his experience at French routes gave him the 3rd Austin River car in Corsica.

- Harri Toivonen (25) was the younger brother of Henri Toivonen. Although he wasn't so fast, he was also a great promise. He was doing the BRC and was bought by MG to do the 1000 Lakes and RAC Rally.

- Jimmy McRae (42) was a BRC specialist, with 3 titles and, obviously, the perfect man to help Austin Rover in the RAC.

- David Llewellin (25) was, in opposition to Jimmy McRae, the great BRC promise in the 80's. The Welsh had this opportunity, the 1st attempt at the WRC with an works team.



5. Citroën:

- Jean-Claude Andruet (43) was the best Freench rider those times. Although he spent the last years between the French and European Rally Championships, he had several WRC experience from teh Alpine times. Linked to Citroën, he was the main person behind Citroën developement and WRC team. Sadly, he wasn't so fast as in his glory times.

- Philippe Wambergue (37) was also linked to Citroën since the early 80's, racing mainly in te French Rally Championship. He is know well-known by his performances at Cross-Country Races with Peugeot and Citroën.

- Maurice Chomat (32) was another experienced in French driver and linked to Citroën in the national racing scene. He was also the pioneer of the Citroën WRC team in 1983.




6. Ford Motor Co.:

- Stig Blomqvist (39) changed from Audi (from whom he was 84 WRC Winner) to Ford. The car was promising and fast, but unreliable; and Ford withdrew from some rounds. Blomqvist was told he could race with other team and was the 3rd Peugeot driver in Argentina and 1000 Lakes.

- Kalle Grundel (37) came from Peugeot. As I had said, he was an experienced rider, very fast but inconsistent. In 1000 Lakes he was, as Blomqvist, set free with the withdrawl of Ford and raced for Lancia.

- Mark Lovell (25) was a great British promise, caming from British Junior Rally Team (heLped by Ford UK). His good campaign at the BRC made him deserve a seat in the Works team for the RAC.

- Stig Andervang (36) was an experienced Swedish rider, linked to Ford Sweden and won his place in the Works team after being Dutch Rally Chamion with a Ford RS2000.



7. Toyota Team Europe:

- Björn Waldegaard (42) was one of the greatest riders in the Rally scene ever. 1979 Champion, he could have one more titles if the WRC had been founded before. in the mid - 80's, he signed for Toyota and specializes himself in the African rounds.

- Lars-Erik Torph (24) was one of the greatest unfulfilled promises in the WRC scene ever. Linked to Opel in the Swedish and British rally scene, he signed his 1st big contract for the african races with Toyota.

- Erwin Weber (36) was the second best German rider in the 80's. Linked to Opel, he raced for the 1st time in WRC at Safari's 1985, being 5th. His abilities in Africa made him the 3rd Toyota driver.

- Rod Millen (34) had several experiences in North America and British Rallies, that made him the perfect man for the 3rd Toyota at Olympus Rally. He was also an hillclimb specialist, winning several times Pikes Peak.

[JAG]

Does anyone have any info on the mid engined Quattro, Lancia ECV1/2, Turbo Metro 6 R4, Vauxhall Astra 4WD Turbo, and MR2 Group B/S?

The FIA proposed Group S for '300bhp' 1.2 turbo(?)/2.5 atmo cars in 1987, but surely these cars could have produced 400bhp+, even back in 1987.

[chunder]

There is a site somehwere that has some great pics, if you look up the Klein pic gallery there is some stuff on his

And also type in Lancia ECV on Youtube and you will get a slideshow of pics of BTH ECV cars, the red one and the later wqeird looking one. cool!!

[Graz]

Originally Posted by JAG

Does anyone have any info on the mid engined Quattro, Lancia ECV1/2, Turbo Metro 6 R4, Vauxhall Astra 4WD Turbo, and MR2 Group B/S?

The FIA proposed Group S for '300bhp' 1.2 turbo(?)/2.5 atmo cars in 1987, but surely these cars could have produced 400bhp+, even back in 1987.

Here's a some info. Seems like the only Group S cars actually built were the Lancia and Toyota

http://homepage.virgin.net/shalco.com/lancia_gp_s.htm

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Group_B

http://www.g0rd.com/gallery2/v/Goodw..._7046.jpg.html

[chunterer]

Well the Astra 4S prototype was definitely built and tested. It later formed the basis of John Welch's superb STP Rallycross car I think?

Is there any chance that the engine for the mooted Twin Turbo Metro 6R4, was also copied by later Rallycrosser as well?

[MG Rover Sport]

Continuing off topic if that is OK...

I doubt Austin Rover Motorsport would have used a twin turbo engine in the back of the 6R4 for a Group S entry. They certainly didn't have a suitable 1.8 or 2.0 litre engine within their product range, and I doubt they'd have used the 3.0 litre V64V engine as with the added turbo equivalency factor (2991cc x 1.4 = 4187cc!) the minimum weight of the car would have been massive!

I had heard that a supercharged engine, possibly reduced to 2.2 or 2.5 litre, might have been planned at some point, possibly for a 2nd Evolution Metro 6R4 though, rather than any Group S entry.

The amount of money that the original Metro 6R4 project / V64V engine cost to develop, and the amount of money that the company lost when Group B was banned, would have made it nigh on impossible for 'Motorsport' to get the board's approval for a second project. The fraud investigations that rocked Cowley / Longbridge in 1987 cannot have helped either.

Cars & Car Conversions ran an article at some point in 1986, which previewed the FIA's plans for Group S, and speculated a little bit about what each manufacturer had planned for the series. As far as they are concerned the MG EX-E concept vehicle would have been a good basis for Austin Rover's Group S entry.

I'll see if I can dig out the article - or should that be kept for another topic altogether?

[MG Rover Sport]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Well the Astra 4S prototype was definitely built and tested. It later formed the basis of John Welch's superb STP Rallycross car I think?

Andrew Wood used a Vauxhall Astra 4S on the 1986 Audi Sport Rally, and a brace of Bastos liveried Opel Kadett 4S also ran on the Paris-Dakar rally in the late 1980s as well...

[MG Rover Sport]

Some great names in that list you have posted 'Elford68', but I wonder what the aim of your post was, as on here the topic has moved towards Group S instead of concentrating on the great drivers that made up the 1986 season...

...some of which who are sadly no longer with us - Shekhar Mehta, Henri Toivonen, Jorge Recalde, Tony Pond, Mark Lovell, Lars-Erik Torph...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

Continuing off topic if that is OK...

I had heard that a supercharged engine, possibly reduced to 2.2 or 2.5 litre, might have been planned at some point, possibly for a 2nd Evolution Metro 6R4 though, rather than any Group S entry.

Just a quickie, in the Rover thread there was some suggestion that the ex Marlboro TWR car that was run by Bill Griffin in the '87 BTCC was actually used at some point as a test bed for a variation of the 6R4 engine probably in 1986?

Could there be a link to this?

[MG Rover Sport]

Yeah I remember that being mentioned on the other thread mate, but have never questioned the likes of John Davenport, or anyone else involved with the team, whether there was any truth in this story.

Another question to add to the list...

[chunder]

Rallycross basically evo'ed up most of the GpB cars apart from the Delta.

Most of the RS200 Fords were using 2.1 litre BDT engines, with a couple of cars tunning a lighter overall weight by running the 1.8. There were many differnet tuners, all quoting 6-650 bhp.

There were evolutions on a theme here, Schanche ran 2.1, 2.3 and 2.0 litre versions, settling in the end with a 2 litre

THe 205 was run in various guises and was not surprisingly the class of the field winning 4 title in a row. THe initial car was run as a 1.780, then Alamaki made his even lighter to run I think 1.740cc, this enabled him to run under 900 kiols I think.

The Metro is by far the most modifded car. Guys ran anything from 2.5 clubman to the general 3 litre. 3.2. 3.5 and even 3.9 litre V64V.

THe turbo cars were originally developed in Norway by Dagfin Larsen, ne built 2, a 2,3 and a 2.8. The 2.3 was his and very quick, much more manageable. The 2.8 was s brute and rolled tyres, broke driveshafts etc.

Gollops was developed by Will and Cliff Humphries together, it was 2.3 and very clever! Using only 4 gears aswell Will was a pioneer of Proflex suspension to get the thing to handle, he could run silly power if necessary but tyres were a problem.

THe Delta was run in fairly limited form in France and by Alamaki, he gave up ASAP with it. I imagine tuning parts were limited with Lancia already at capacity running GpA Delta whereas PTS were able to help 205T16 runners.

The S1 Quattro aswell was a popular car, not sure how many mods were made, the E2 was pretty much as is for rallycross, was tricky though as its nose heavy handling was not suited to short sprint.

Olle Arnesson eventually gave up and put a 20v motor into an A2, this was car was evantually bought by Tommy Krisstoffersen and he won a race with it.

The E2 though was a brute, Arnesson and Herbie Brieteneder won with them but that says more for them than the car compared to a 205 or RS200.

Phew any questions!!

Regarding the Astra chunt, Basically the orginal Schanche/Welch Escort Xtrac idea was sold to Opel for this car, they were impressed with the gearbox etc.

Welch was pretty much a shoe in for the car though noone had a clue before it was unveiled! Ran a BMW F1 turbo setup and a sleeved Manta 400 engine.

Was pretty quick for a one off and very powerful, handled real well but John was suffeirng from back pain for last few years and results were nowere near as good. Car was sort of copied later on by Steinar Joranli who used a Vactra with supercharged 16v.

[MG Rover Sport]

A very interesting little rallycross review there 'chunder' - top man for trying. However, regarding the Metro 6R4...

Originally Posted by chunder

The Metro is by far the most modifded car. Guys ran anything from 2.5 clubman to the general 3 litre. 3.2. 3.5 and even 3.9 litre V64V.

THe turbo cars were originally developed in Norway by Dagfin Larsen, ne built 2, a 2,3 and a 2.8. The 2.3 was his and very quick, much more manageable. The 2.8 was s brute and rolled tyres, broke driveshafts etc.

Gollops was developed by Will and Cliff Humphries together, it was 2.3 and very clever! Using only 4 gears aswell Will was a pioneer of Proflex suspension to get the thing to handle, he could run silly power if necessary but tyres were a problem.

As far as I'm concerned, no 2.5 litre Clubman was ever rallycrossed. The original V64V engine capacity was 3.0 litres, and admittedly some drivers used it in the 'standard' Clubman tune first (approx 250 bhp) to acclimatise to the car, before graduating to the International tune (380-410 bhp) of the 'works' Group B cars later on. The 2.5 litre was specifically introduced for stage rallying in the UK by the RACMSA.

The 6R4 had been handicapped in various ways since Group B was banned from 31 December 1986 - firstly there was a 300bhp limit, then there was the addition of several seconds per mile added to the stage times of each 6R4 competitor, then the engines were reduced to 2.8 litre with Clubman injection, and finally the 2.5 litre with International / slide injection was added as an alternative to the 2.8 litre Clubman.

The turbocharged cars of Dagfinn Larsen and Arne Rasmushaugen were actually developed by the V64V engine's original designer, David Wood. They were also joined by the bi-turbo car of Bengt Wiklund as well.

Will Gollop's bi-turbo 2.3 litre also had the honour of winning the European Rallycross Championship in Group B's final year in the series, 1992.

[KA]

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

Cars & Car Conversions ran an article at some point in 1986, which previewed the FIA's plans for Group S, and speculated a little bit about what each manufacturer had planned for the series. As far as they are concerned the MG EX-E concept vehicle would have been a good basis for Austin Rover's Group S entry.

I'll see if I can dig out the article - or should that be kept for another topic altogether?

I think I remember that article- didn't it suggest AR might have gone with something fairly radical on the engine front for Group S- possibly a variant on the supercharger+turbo setup as used on the Delta S4...?

[KA]

Originally Posted by Elford68

4. Austin Rover WCT:

- Tony Pond (40) was one of the best British drivers in the late 70's - mid 80's. He also had WRC experience, that made him the natural leader of the MG team.

- Malcom Wilson (29) had the same cractherictics of Pond, but with less experience. He was a fast racer, but crashed a lot.

- Per Eklund (39) was racing mainly in Scandinavia and UK and was bought by Austin Tover to race at Sweden, 1000 Lakes and RAC. Formed at SAAB School in the late 60's - 70's, he was one of the best snow specialist those times.

- Marc Duez (38) spent his career between Touring Car Races and Rally Races, mainly at the European and Belgium Championships. His tarmac experience made him one of the Austin Rover drivers.

- Didier Auriol (27) was a French rally promise. Unknown in the WRC and ERC scene, he raced for MG in French Championship (he won at the end of the year) and his experience at French routes gave him the 3rd Austin River car in Corsica.

- Harri Toivonen (25) was the younger brother of Henri Toivonen. Although he wasn't so fast, he was also a great promise. He was doing the BRC and was bought by MG to do the 1000 Lakes and RAC Rally.

- Jimmy McRae (42) was a BRC specialist, with 3 titles and, obviously, the perfect man to help Austin Rover in the RAC.

- David Llewellin (25) was, in opposition to Jimmy McRae, the great BRC promise in the 80's. The Welsh had this opportunity, the 1st attempt at the WRC with an works team.

Going back to the original post, and looking at the Austin Rover driver lineup as given, if I remember correctly, only Pond, Wilson and possibly Duez appeared in 'works' Computervision cars. The other drivers were doing programmes in national championships etc with other teams, and were drafted into the Austin Rover lineup for selected events.

• Eklund and Duez doing European events in Konrad Schmidt-run 6R4s, Eklund sponsored by Clarion and Duez by Belga. Duez was also drafted in as part of the ARG armada (all of the drivers named above except for tarmac specialist Auriol...) for the RAC
• McRae did the British Open series and some European events in a Dave Richards-run Rothmans-sponsored car
• Auriol, Llewellin and Toivonen all drove for RED. Auriol on the French championship in the distinctive orange/yellow 'Export 33' car, and Llewellin/Toivonen in the British series- plain wihte cars, Toivonen with some Unipart sponsorship and Llewellin's carrying just Austin Rover logos. He got a new car and Computervision sponsorship mid-season.

As I remember, they all generally used their regular cars on the WRC appearances?

[MG Rover Sport]

Not bad KA, not bad at all!

You are correct regarding which driver drove for which team with which sponsorship on their respective cars, ie Eklund & Duez were Schmidt run, Auriol, Llewellyn & Toivenen were R-E-D run, and McRae was Richards run.

On various occasions throughout the 1986 WRC season, the ARWCT (Austin Rover World Championship Team) nominated other drivers so that their results would count for the Manufacturer's Title, and they would gain their respective points accordingly - pretty much as you stated.

However, there were several occasions when these drivers drove Cowley prepared cars belonging to Austin Rover Motorsport, rather than their normal steeds. Duez often ran with a joint Computervision / Belga livery, whereas Toivenen retained his Unipart sponsorship. Llewellyn was Computervision sponsored by mid season anyway (from 1986 Scottish Rally onwards in fact!) so there was no real change for him...

Marc Duez / Willy Lux
• 1986 Port Wine Rally of Portugal - Reg Nº C870 EUD - ex Tony Pond 1986 Monte entry
• 1986 Hunsruck Rally - Reg Nº C97 KOG - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Scottish entry
• 1986 San Remo Rallye - Reg Nº C868 EUD - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Monte entry
• 1986 RAC Rally - Reg Nº C868 EUD - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Monte entry
• 1986 Attilio Bettega Memorial Trophy - Reg Nº C868 EUD - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Monte entry

David Llewellyn / Phil Short
• 1986 Marlboro Port Talbot National Rally - Reg Nº C818 FFC - ex Tony Pond 1986 Portugal entry
• 1986 Hunsruck Rally - Reg Nº C98 KOG - new car but later Pond's 1986 Manx entry

Harri Toivenen / Cedric Wrede
• 1986 1000 Lakes Rally - Reg Nº C96 KOG - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Corsica entry
• 1986 RAC Rally - Reg Nº C96 KOG - ex Malcolm Wilson 1986 Corsica entry

Hope that helps...

[racer69]

Did Nissan or GM/Opel have any programs in 1986?

In previous years, for instance 1985, the manufacturer seemed to nominate local entries for manufacturer points (eg.. with Opel, the likes of Aaltonen on the Safari, Brookes & McRae on the RAC)

[KA]

Thanks for that David- it's filled in some big gaps in my memory

Originally Posted by MG Rover Sport

However, there were several occasions when these drivers drove Cowley prepared cars belonging to Austin Rover Motorsport, rather than their normal steeds. Duez often ran with a joint Computervision / Belga livery, whereas Toivenen retained his Unipart sponsorship. Llewellyn was Computervision sponsored by mid season anyway (from 1986 Scottish Rally onwards in fact!) so there was no real change for him...

So on these occasions the cars were run and serviced by the Cowley mechanics rather than the Schmidt/RED/etc crews? I'd assumed that the ones I remembered (Toivonen on the 1000 Lakes and Duez and Toivonen on the RAC) might just have been 'Cowley' works cars loaned out to the various 'factory-supported' teams.

Didn't RED also run a programme on national events for Willie Rutherford, with Sanyo/Comet backing? RED boss Geoff Fielding also appeared in 6R4s from time to time and I think both did the '86 RAC, so RED weren't exactly short of work on that event...

[KA]

Originally Posted by racer69

Did Nissan or GM/Opel have any programs in 1986?

In previous years, for instance 1985, the manufacturer seemed to nominate local entries for manufacturer points (eg.. with Opel, the likes of Aaltonen on the Safari, Brookes & McRae on the RAC)

GM definitely had their regular British-entered Manta 400s out on the RAC- (Brookes only- McRae having jumped ship to the Dave Richards/Rothmans 6R4 programme), plus various Group A Astras/Novas entered under the British 'GM Dealer Sport' banner, but I don't know about official Opel entries- certainly not on the RAC as far as I can see
http://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986_entries.html..and I don't know if Brookes was nominated for points- though as the sole 2wd car seeded in the top 20 or so, a points-scoring finish might have been a tough call

Louise Aitken-Walker's 240RS on the RAC was entered under the 'Team Nissan Europe' name, but I think Japan had pretty much pulled the plug on the 240RS programme by '86?

[MG Rover Sport]

I'll have to check my files regarding who actually ran the additional Cowley 6R4s for the drivers I've mentioned, so I'll get back to you later on this KA.

Quite right regarding R-E-D, but they also ran 'the' Roger Clark on the 1987 National Championship, and were going to run Louise Aitken-Walker as well - until Peugeot Sport UK refused to give her permission.

At the time Louise was driving a Pug in the British Championship, and they were obviously bothered that she might get more publicity from the 6R4 in the National Championship than the Pug in the British Championship, so refused to give her permission to drive the car.

[MG Rover Sport]

Andrew Wood was also GM Dealer Sport's entry on the 1986 National Championship in an Opel Manta 400, which as I stated on Page 1 was exchanged for a 4WD Vauxhall Astra 4S for the final round of the series - the 1986 Audi Sport Rally. GM had hoped it would have narrowed the gap to the 6R4s and helped Wood clinch the Championship, however it didn't and Alistair Sutherland won it in his CBC Motorsport run 6R4.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by KA

GM definitely had their regular British-entered Manta 400s out on the RAC- (Brookes only- McRae having jumped ship to the Dave Richards/Rothmans 6R4 programme), plus various Group A Astras/Novas entered under the British 'GM Dealer Sport' banner, but I don't know about official Opel entries- certainly not on the RAC as far as I can see
http://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986_entries.html..and I don't know if Brookes was nominated for points- though as the sole 2wd car seeded in the top 20 or so, a points-scoring finish might have been a tough call

Louise Aitken-Walker's 240RS on the RAC was entered under the 'Team Nissan Europe' name, but I think Japan had pretty much pulled the plug on the 240RS programme by '86?

Seems to be the case, in 1985 the McRae and Brookes entries for instance on the RAC were "Opel Euro Team" entries, rather than "GM Dealersport" entries as they were in the Open Championship

Similiarly for Nissan as you point out, there weren't even any works entries seemingly on the Safari.


On another topic, i'm not the most informed as to how the driver seedings worked, but how was Ingvar Carlson seeded at #7 for the 1986 RAC in a Group A Mazda?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by racer69

On another topic, i'm not the most informed as to how the driver seedings worked, but how was Ingvar Carlson seeded at #7 for the 1986 RAC in a Group A Mazda?

I seem to recall there was a bit of a 'hoo-haa' about seeding on one of the 80's events because 'slower' cars were seeded ahead of Group B's etc. Like you not sure as to why this happened. Maybe it was this particular year?

Carlsson may have finished strongly the previous year in an RX7 variant or something though, hence the seeding. Don't know?

[racer69]

Carlsson had a third on the 1985 Acropolis, in what i always thought was a very good looking RX7, that would i be the reason he was seeded so high (i only say so high as it was in a Group A car, Ingvar showed in subsequent years what a capable driver he was)

It would be like Petter Solberg entering the Rally of Portugal next month in a Group N Subaru, yet running at #5


It's amazing to look at the high turnover of drivers in 1986, so many works rides available particularly on the European events. For all its faults, there was certainly no shortage of Group B cars or people willing to run them.

[chunder]

Barry Hathaway ran a clubmans spec Metro in rallycross for many yeras actually, winning Lydden championship.

And Steve Palmer finished second in a round at Knockhill once, running a 2.8 coz he had sold his 3.8 to a Belgian guy

And Larsen built Rasmushaugens and Wiklunds, coz they were the same car!

[MG Rover Sport]

Sorry 'chunder' if my post came over a little critical of your knowledge - it was certainly not intended that way I assure you.

Barry did indeed win the 1987/1988 Lydden Winter Series in a Clubman 6R4, but it wouldn't have been a 2.5 or 2.8 Litre, but rather the 3.0 Litre original Clubman V64V engine. Wasn't his car orange / white and sponsored by Craft at some point, or am I getting him mixed up with someone else?

Didn't know about Steve using a 2.8 Litre in his car at Knockhill. Was the Belgian guy he sold the 3.8 Litre to Paul Kumpen?

My mistake about the fact that Rasmushaugen's and Wiklund's cars being one and the same, sorry. Arne used it from 1987-1990 and Bengt from 1990-1992 by my reckoning. The car then went via David Appleby to Ian Rowlance who still owns it I gather.