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On this section you will find little known curiosities from world of rallying.
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Not exactly a WRC snippet this one, but so interesting it would be a shame to miss it.
In 1910 Ferdinand Porsche, who later founded sports car marque bearing his name, took part in Prinz Heinrich Fart -rally and went on to win it. Not only that but he was co-driven by a certain Josip Broz, later to become Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia. Note that in those days co-driver was not only navigator but also a mechanic, reliability of the cars was something different from what we know.
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It is very difficult and indeed impossible to pinpoint the first official works rally driver. Not only would complete access to early works teams contracts archives be vital but even more so to define what is meant by "works driver", or with "works team".
John Davenport has presented an elegant solution to this dilemma. According to him, swedish Saab test driver and Monte Carlo Winner Erik Carlsson "personifies the transitional period between the serious amateur and the professional in rallying". For all intents and purposes, JUWRA recognises Erik Carlsson as first works driver.
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At first glance this snippet may not mean much to a non-finn but be patient, there is a catch. This is very famous incident that is asked about a lot.
For 1000 Lakes Rally of 1975, top-class national driver Jussi Kynsilehto was drafted to drive works Ford Escort. By the saturday afternoon, he was lying ninth overall but then came stage 23, Raikuu. Jussi had just shifted to fifth gear and was hurtling onwards at 190 kph. As co-driver reads "full over crest, right into left, cut", Jussi has a moment to think that it looks helluva place to go flat out but notes are notes.
Unfortunately, those notes were for next crest some 300 meters later. Real call would have been "full brake, second gear, very bad jump". Car took off from the crest and flew some seventy meters before landing hard and somersaulting four times end-over-end before wreck came to a halt. Incidentally, Raikuu is a finnish word for a 'loud noice'.
And the catch? Co-driver was none other than Martin Holmes himself.
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Mid-race pitstop is nothing new in Formula One but how about mid-stage tyre change in rally? And I do not mean change of wheels because of a puncture.
Lancia used this trick in snowy Monte Carlo 1983 with two-wheel driven 037 Rally against opposition from 4WD Audi quattro. After just four kilometres from stage start, Lancias stopped to change soft rear tarmac tyres for studded ice tyres. Stop cost the cars about one minute but allowed them not only to finish the stage but to gain some 20 or so seconds from their competitors AFTER the swap.
In overall result this bravado did little good but it proved the ingenuity of Cesare Fiorio's planning and did more in demoralising the opposition than in actual stage times.
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