Conference terri::cars_uk

	1993 World Rally Championship Calendar
	--------------------------------------

	21-28 Jan	Monte Carlo
	11-14 Feb	Sweden
	02-07 Mar	Portugal
	08-13 Apr	Safari
	01-05 May	Tour de Corse
	29 May-03 Jun	Acropolis
	18-23 Jun	Ivory Coast
	14-17 Jul	Argentina
	04-08 Aug	New Zealand
	25-29 Aug	1000 lakes
	18-20 Sep	Australia
	10-14 Oct	San Remo
	01-04 Nov	Catalunia
	21-25 Nov	RAC

    Is the rally championship becoming F1 ?
    
    Jolly Club and Martini Racing were very quiet about 1993, letting
    everyone believe they would gradually retire, following Lancia's
    decision to stop supplying DELTA INTEGRALE racing cars. This has led
    Auriol to leave a very succesful team.
    
    Now, the latest rumour is that Jolly Club/Martini Racing will be
    present in 1993 with ... Carlos SAINZ as No 1 driver. Juha KANKKUNEN
    could be exchanged with Carlos and be part of Toyota together with
    AURIOL.
    
    Musical chairs ?

     Yes, with Lancia entering 1993 weight cars in Australia, it seems clear
     that they have some fairly active plans for 1993 despite their past
     "decision" to withdraw.
    
    I wonder if the success of this car, and Toyota's troubles with the
    Celica have been an influence.
    
    Shame about losing Auriol though. He's had such a good year.
    
    -Dave. 	

    At the end of the first day of the RAC, Carlos Sainz was in the lead by
    20 seconds.  I believe he was in the lead all day, having set fastest
    time on three of the first 5 stages (of 9 run on Sunday).
    
    During the day, Malcolm Wilson had been in 2nd place (in an aRSe
    Cosworth Sierra Sapphire thingy).  At the end of the day, he had
    dropped down to something like 7th (memory's a bit dodgy).
    
    Colin McRae (Subaru) was showing very well, ending the day in 3rd place,
    with Miki Biasion in 2nd place in a Ford.
    
    Auriol had not had a very good day (he says that he dislikes this event)
    and I think he was at about 10th position.
    
    I cannot remember quite where Kankunnen was, but he was above Auriol,
    about 6th or 8th position...
    
    Second day of the event started at 5am this morning.  If anyone can
    enter some accurate positions, I'd appreciate it.
    
    J.R.

    
    Does anyone know if there will be s stage at Blenhiem palace this
    year?
    	If so,when?
    
    	Cheers
    			Andy.

�    Does anyone know if there will be s stage at Blenheim palace this year
    
    If so, I would have thought it to be held on the Sunday, as that is
    when the [Mickey Mouse] spectator stages are held.  The rest are in
    *proper* rally locations (with the occasional exception).
    
    J.R.

    Anyone know where the Trabant is currently.  Last time I heard it had
    overtaken 29 cars and was only 138 places of the lead ;^)
    
    Shaun.

    Colin McRae has taken the lead from Sainz after SS15. Lead is 1 sec!
    Malcom Wilson is now around 8th.
    
    Paul

    
    I read (somewhere??) that Lombard are offering 100,000 quid to any
    British driver (you mean McRae?) who wins the RAC Rally this year.
    This is due to this being their last year of sponsership of the event. 
    That must be spurring him on a bit eh?
    
    Anybody heard what Ford plan to do with their Cossie Escort, drivers,
    when they plan to enter it?

�    I read (somewhere??) that Lombard are offering 100,000 quid to any
�    British driver (you mean McRae?) who wins the RAC Rally this year.
    
    That's true.  It is the last year of sponsorship of this event
    by Lombard and this is their reason for offering this extra prize.
    
    On the TV coverage, they keep on making a big thing of it, saying that
    it will lead to a lot of pressure on McRae to win (bit late now?).
    Personally, I would have thought that the prospect of winning
    this event would cause so much pressure that the though of winning
    a lump sum of 100 grand would actually fade into the background !
    
�    Anybody heard what Ford plan to do with their Cossie Escort, drivers,
�    when they plan to enter it?
    
    Ford intend using their Cows-worth Escort in WRC events, since it has
    a much better chance of winning than the Sierra/Sapphire.
    
    My view is that they will have a large presence in British events and
    will not do very well against existing World Championship teams (being
    Lancia, Toyota, Subaru, Nissan and Mazda - probably in that order).
    Near the end of the year, their team management will probably be
    getting to grips with world-class events and the car should be
    developed well enough under serious rally conditions to be in the
    running for some wins, when the rules will all be changed for the
    following year - WHEN TURBO's WILL BE BANNED !
    
    All my opinion, but very likely to be the case.
    
    Note that GM (or Vauxhall) are not bothering with the effort and
    (more importantly) the expense of rallying the 4WD Calibra Turbo,
    as they can use the 16v Astra right now (and there is a class for
    cars without turbo-chargers in the championship as it is...)
    
    Basically, (I think) Ford have forgotten how to win rallies.
    Or maybe they never learnt how to win them following the end of Group 4 !
    Just compare what the aRSe Cosworth Escort is compared to the [scrapped]
    RS1700T which was proposed *many* years ago.  Only 4WD as an improvement ?
    
    J.R.

    
    > Note that GM (or Vauxhall) are not bothering with the effort and
    > (more importantly) the expense of rallying the 4WD Calibra Turbo,
    
    Not entirely true. The Calibra Turbo actually recently won its first
    event (A Rallysprint like event in Denmark, I think, beating
    Integrales and Celicas). There is also some question over what car some
    of the other European subsidaries will run in their home championships.
    The Belgians (whose 16v FWD Calibra recently finished well in Sam Remo)
    are thinking of using the Turbo Calibra. You are, of course, right
    about the Vauxhall entry, but that's a step UP for them, from the small
    Nova.
    
    > Just compare what the aRSe Cosworth Escort is compared to the [scrapped]
    > RS1700T which was proposed *many* years ago.  Only 4WD as an improvement ?
    
    I hadn't thought of the comparison before, but there's not a lot of
    difference is there? Although the RS1700T was _supposed_ to be a Group
    B rally car and the RS Cosworth is a _supposed_ to be road car first and
    foremost. 
    
    Mark
    
    PS Is the turbo ban your opinion of what may happen or definite? I've
    heard this talked of in many areas.

    
    
    Ford should have no trouble beating Nissan next year as Nissan won't
    be participating :-)
    
    Although the Vauxhall rep said they'd decided to run the GSI because
    it was cheaper, I also think that the Calibra is simply too heavy
    to compete effectively against the likes of the Lancia or Toyota.
    
    Richard.

    
    > I also think that the Calibra is simply too heavy to compete effectively 
    > against the likes of the Lancia or Toyota.
    
    I doubt it. The Cavalier competes effectively in the touring car
    championship against smaller cars and the 16v Calibra was head and 
    shoulders ahead of the other 2wd competition in San Remo.
    
    The Celica and Integrale are limited to a minimum weight, I expect a 
    serious GM Turbo Calibra/Cavalier challenger could reach that limit
    with ease.
    
    Mark

�    PS Is the turbo ban your opinion of what may happen or definite? I've
�    heard this talked of in many areas.
    
    This is entirely my own opinion.  No real fact to back it up.
    
    Personally, I think that since Group A was brought in [partly] to
    reduce performance of rally cars, then that would have been the best
    time to ban turbos.  After all, there had been a number of fires in
    Group B cars.  Without a red-hot turbo, you decrease the risk of fire
    (although the brake discs would still get to be red hot in operation).
    
    Also, there was never any worthwhile way to test the output of a
    rally car to ensure that it didn't break the '300 bhp' rule.
    With 'atmo' engines, this would be much less of a problem.  If an
    engine (of 2-litre capacity) is tuned to give over 300 horsepower,
    it will not deliver good low-end power, so will not have much effect
    in making a rally car go faster overall.
    
    [I think] one of the reasons that turbos were not banned in the
    original formation of Group A regulations would have been because a
    fair number of manufacturers were fitting 'standard' cars with turbos.
    Nowadays, that appears to have been something of a fashion (albeit one
    that generates some pretty decent cars) that has been superseded by
    the trend for more-than-two-valves-per-cylinder engines.
    
    J.R.

    The only changes due to the Group A regulations in 1993 are the
    increased weight limit (to 1200kg) and a decrease in tyre widths from
    660mm to 650mm.
    
    There are no plans to ban turbo's.
    
    Although it is clear that all the top contenders for the title are
    generating more than the mandated 300hp, they are certainly nowhere
    near the 550+hp that Audi annd Peugeot and Lancia were delivering in
    the old Group 'B' days (pretty wild for mostly under 2 litre engines).
    
    Interesting enough though, with advances in aerodynamics (following on
    from the 205T16E2 and Quattro S1) and transmissions, cars with 350hp on
    tap have been faster than the Group B cars over special stages at least
    for the last 2 years. One of the reasons that Group B was banned was
    that the cars weren't really able to handle all the power (an consequent
    speed) that they developed (remember Vatanen's accident in Argentina?).
    
    One of the reasons why people are suggesting Lancia may continue next
    year (overiding their stated intention to pull out) is that they have
    been running a 1993-spec car for the last few rally's (although with
    660mm tyres). Toyota have clearly had their hands full getting the 1992
    car to preform and haven't even started working on their 1993 car. So
    Lancia may feel they they will continue to have a comeptitive
    advantage. Maybe though 5 successive world championships is getting a
    bit boring and they may be worried about what Mr Todt of Peugeot is
    doing with his time (and a 405 4wd turbo)...
    
    re: Ford. The car is clearly a good one with good aerodynamics. But so
    was the Nissan. What makes a winning difference is the commitment of
    the manufacturer, the professionalism of the team, the tyre
    manufacturers and the drivers. There are a lot of things to get
    together for Ford yet.
    
    -Dave

    Official !
    
    Carlos SAINZ and JOLLY CLUB/MARTINI have officially announced a
    one-year contract (1993).
    
    This really sounds like musical chairs: AURIOL leaves the LANCIA camp 
    (JOLLY CLUB MARTINI) for TOYOTA while SAINZ does the opposite.

    Juha Kankkunen also leaves the Jolly Club camp (Martini have given up)
    and follows Auriol at Toyota.
    
    Peugeot have introduced the 405T16 at the Paris Auto Show. The 405T16
    is a 4WD (with central viscodrive and a rear Torsen) equipped with a
    2ltr 16 valve turbo-charged engine. Peak power: 200bhp with 220bhp on
    overboost for 45 seconds max. This car will be available for sale in
    France in Feb 1993. My guess is that Peugeot are getting ready to enter
    another discipline in motor sport. Will they do it ?

    Happy New Year Rally fans !
    
    The ACM (Automobile Club de Monaco) organisers of the MonteCarlo Rally,
    report that they had received 160+ requests for participation by the
    deadline 31-Dec-1992. Current regulations only allow 150 participants.
    
    This is a good sign. Previous rumours indicated that there might be
    less than 100 entrants, due to the current worldwide economy slump.
    
    Most rally teams are (and have spent several weeks) testing their cars
    at different places on the MonteCarlo Rally roads. The hilly area west
    of the Rhone valley is the preferred area. Ford have been working on
    the new 4WD Escort Cosworth more than any other team. Auriol and
    Kankkunen have quickly set fast times with their Toyota Celica 4WD
    while the Repsol sponsored Jolly Club Lancia team have had difficulty
    finding a free area to have Carlos Sainz do some preliminary testing. 
    
    December has been mild and dry, but things changed a week ago with
    temperatures below freezing, ice and even some snow.  
                                                                         

    The Gr. A works teams will look like:
    
    Toyota Team Europe		Auriol		Kankkunen
    Jolly Club			Sainz		Aghini
    Ford			Biasion		Delecour
    Mitsubishi			Eriksson	Schwarz
    
    These 8 drivers/cars should be present for the whole season and will be
    competing for the 1993 title.

    Was in Lausanne on business trip Wed-Fri. So Wed night just got out in
    the cold night for a walk when I walked into a crowd. It was the start 
    of the Monte Carlo. Lausanne is one of the 5 european starting points.
    
    No big names (Serpaggi, Dor maybe). About 25 cars, mostly Escorts (the
    new 4WD Cosworth).
    
    No snow. Good weather for the time being ...

Both Lancias have gone in accidents - just when Sainz was looking to challenge
the leader.

Delacour and Biasion are comfortably leading 1-2 in their Escorts - lets see if
Francois can keep it on the road this year. The two Celicas are 3rd and 4th.

-Steve

    some details:
    
    - Delecour decided to go flat out in the early stages and build a big
      gap. Strategy worked fine
    
    - Biasion is experiencing some problems with the engine
    
    - Auriol has had problems with handbrake leading him to spin, crash
      into a wall and puncture tyres
    
    - Sainz has suffered from punctured tyres too
    
    - Schwarz has crashed in the early stages
    
    - a spectator has been killed when Jean-Pierre Ballet's 309 GTI 16 came
      out wide from a corner 
    
    - Sunday: both Lancias crashed during the final timed stage. Aghini
      could not restart while Sainz managed to bring the car home but lost
      40' in the accident (ice on narrow stone bridge)

    Monday 25 Jan - after 17th stage
    
    1. Delecour		Ford
    2. Biasion		Ford  	+ 1'03"
    3. Auriol		Toyota  + 1'11"
    4. Kankkunen	Toyota	+ 5'20
    5. Eriksson		Mitsu	+11'...
    ......

    Auriol is back into great shape. Today he has won several stages by a
    very wide margin. Sainz has won one stage. The Ford guys are still in
    the lead but the Toyota is closing up fast.
    
    Schwarz who suffered transmission problems (after his initial mishap)
    started the day with 4WD but soon found himself with a FWD car very
    difficult to handle ("at those speeds I don't even need notes ...")
    
    Biasion's Escort Cosworth cannot use full revs.
    
    Auriol's Toyota works fine now that the engineers have retuned the
    engine. No more mistakes in the tyres choice.

    Today, 26 Jan, the drivers take a break in Monte Carlo. The final task
    starts tonight around midnight. They will have to race 5 special stages
    (Turini pass and others in the mountains north of Cannes-Grasse).
    Finish line in MonteCarlo around 8am tomorrow.

    Didier Auriol has managed to win the MonteCarlo Rally with a gap of 15
    seconds over Francois Delecour. I don't have any details on how he's
    managed to do this, but it must have been something to watch.

    
    Brilliant driving by Auriol - his co-driver even admitted to watching the
    pace notes rather than the road (which he couldn't bare to watch!) when 
    Didier was really pressing on - must have been great to watch live.
    The Fords look like they are going to be the cars to beat, it was 
    looking like an Escort Cossy 1,2 before Didier did his stuff.
    Sainz doesn't seem 'at home' in the Integrale yet, but time will tell.
    I reckon this will be the best season for a long time.
    

    I've just got a report from friends who were standing by the last night
    stages. Auriol and Sainz were going flat-out, late brakings, maximum
    attack, spinning through hairpins at top speed, left foot braking and
    right foot acceleration, everything. 
    
    The Ford men, Delecour and Biasion were noted for gentle driving, almost 
    stopping through hairpins. Sounds like they really had severe problems
    with engine or transmission and were given instructions to bring the
    cars home ...
    
    Actually, during the final night, Delecour won the 1st stage (Turini
    pass) by 5 seconds over Auriol. It turned out that Auriol had a slight
    mishap during the downhill portion. The next (final) 4 stages Auriol 
    did not make any more mistakes and he always went faster than Delecour
    by a wide margin. 

    Mats Jonsson, Toyota has won the Swedish Rally some 13 seconds ahead of
    team mate Juha Kankkunen.
    
    This year's event, unlike most previous year's, was run on 'dry roads',
    no snow, no ice. Apparently the swedish forrest roads are covered with
    all sorts of debris, stones, etc ... so most drivers experienced
    punctures.
    
    Also because of the dry roads most cars were set for icy conditions and
    have suffered mechanical problems.
    
    The strong men this year, except for Mats Jonsson who has worked his
    way up to the top, were:
    
    - Didier Auriol (engine oil pressure problems)
    - Colin McRae
    - Juha Kankkunen 
    
    No Lancias and no Fords present.

    As indicated, Didier Auriol has suffered engine oil problems. He could
    not finish the race but he is facing a more serious problem. During a
    special stage the pressure dropped. Having stopped he took an oil can
    and added 5l of lubricant into the engine and drove to the finish line.
    
    Apparently the oil can was NOT carried in the car and was handed by a
    spectator (a Toyota race team member ?). This is strictly forbidden by
    the Championship rules. Didier has been disqualified (no problem since
    the engine died later anyway).
    
    What's more important is that if he is found guilty of the above the
    rules say that he looses the points of his best result of the season ie
    the 20 points of his MonteCarlo victory.
    
    It will be interesting to see the results of the investigation.

    Francois Delecour and Miki Biasion have won the Portugal Rally. This is
    a first victory for both the new 4wd Ford Escort Cosworth and for
    Francois Delecour.
    
    Delecour and Biasion have led from start to finish. Carlos Sainz has
    never been in position to challenge the Fords, he has left the rally
    during stage no 22 when he crashed.
    
    Portugal final results:
    
    1.	Delecour	Ford
    2.	Biasion		Ford
    3.	Aghini		Lancia
    4.	Alen		Subaru
    5.	Eriksson	Mitsubishi
    6.	Fiorio		Lancia
    
    World Rally Championship standings after Portugal
    
    Drivers			Manufacturers
    
    Delecour	35	        Toyota		40
    Biasion	27		Ford		37
    Kankkunen	23		Mitsubishi	33
    Auriol	20		Subaru		26
    
    ....
    

    Next race:	Corsica	2-4 May

    Can someone explain how it is the Ford drivers are 1st and 2nd yet
    Ford are 2nd in the Constructors .
    
    
    Nev

A regional SCCA PRO Rally will be held in Helen, GA, USA this
weekend (equal to a club event in the UK I gather) and one of the
cars entered is an Escort Cosworth 4WD!  I plan on attending
the event to watch and take some pictures.

It has been entered by a driver from Maine and they evidently
built it up in the US with parts from the UK, since the car
is not imported into the US.  John Buffum will be his co-driver,
so I have a feeling JB either built the car or helped.

Dave

Would you believe they had to cancel the rally because of snow?  As
you might have heard we had a massive snow storm up the entire
east coast of the US last weekend.  Atlanta got between 6-10"
and the North GA Mountains (hills, really) got up towards to 2 feet
in places.  Some places are still being dug out, 4 days later....

Everyone showed up Friday night, but the snow came Saturday and
shut *everything* down.

Rumor has it that the Escort has around 380 bhp and weighs 2600lbs.
It is expected to blow away the Audi Quattros and everything else
this year in the US SCCA series.  It also has a 7 speed gearbox!

Dave

ps - I got the technical info from a driver who did show up, I stayed
home with the flu....

Autosport reports that Toyota have been fined $300K for their infringement
in the Swedish rally when Auriol stopped to fill the engine with oil,
provided by a spectator in a no-service zone.

Apparently they would have faced disqualification but for the fact that
the appropriate rule had not been ratified.

Seems a bit hard on Auriol when the engine expired anyway, forcing him
out. (He was disqualified at the event).

-Dave.

World Rally Championship   Safari Rally results
======================== = ====================

1-2-3-4 win for the 4 car Toyota team.

1. Kankkunen	Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
2. Alen		Toyota
3. Duncan	Toyota
4. Iwase	Toyota
   .....


Drivers championship standings	Manufacturers
---------------------------------------------

1. Kankkunen	43	1. Toyota	60
2. Delecour	35	2. Ford		37
3. Biasion	27	3. Mitsubishi	33
4. Alen		25	4. Subaru	26
5. Auriol	20	5. Lancia	14
   Jonsson	20
   ........		   .....

    Apparently Subaru had entered 3 microcars (Subaru Vivio, 600cc,
    supercharger, 70bhp peak, 4WD, 145kph top speed). One was driven
    expertly by Colin McRae, who managed to get up to 4th place at some
    point before he crashed and bent suspension links.

    Tour de Corse.
    
    End of day 1 (sunday 2-May)
    
    Delecour, Ford Escort Cosworth leads by 1'05" over Auriol, Toyota. 3rd
    is Sainz on a Lancia Integrale HF, 4th is Chatriot, Toyota. 5th is
    Aghini , Lancia.
    
    Local man Loubet on Toyota is delayed by punctures. Biasion has been
    penalized 11 minutes.

Sainz 11 seconds back from Auriol. Should be good.

-Dave

    Kankkunen and the other finns did not enter. It's a well known fact
    that they don't like asphalt roads (unlike latin drivers).
    
    Day 2
    
    Delecour suffered engine problems (fuel injection) and lost 50 seconds
    but kept the lead while Auriol was chasing him hard. With a revitalised
    engined Delecour won 4 timed stages in a row to finish the 2nd day with
    a 51 seconds lead over Auriol. 3rd man is Francois Chatriot (one time
    Toyota driver).

Delecour did it again !

Final results:

1. Delecour	Ford
2. Auriol	Toyota	+ 1'02"
3. Chatriot	Toyota	+ 2'42"
4. Sainz	Lancia	+ 3'48"
5. McRae	Subaru	+ 9'03"
6. Beguin	Ford	+16'31"
7. Biasion	Ford	+18'58"
8. Ragnotti	Clio W	+21'30" (1st 2 litre N/A)
 ....

Delecour has won 14 special stages on a total of 24 !

Rally Championship standings after Corsica

Drivers				Manufacturers
----------------------------------------------------------
Delecour	55		Toyota		77
Kankkunen	43		Ford		57
Auriol		35		Subaru		36
Biasion		31		Mitsubishi	33
Alen		25		Lancia		26
McRae		24		.....
Jonsson		20
Eriksson	18
Aghini		12
Duncan		12
Chatriot	12
Sainz		10
....

    re: Ragnotti
    
    Is that still Group N or did they change the classes?
    
    Dave

    .43�    re: Ragnotti
    .43�    
    .43�    Is that still Group N or did they change the classes?
    
    No, that's Group A. There's a movement towards 2WD, 2litre, normally
    aspirated engines. No championship yet, but a category. The french
    manufacturers are very interested.
    
    Renault have developped a 2 litre version of the Clio 16S, called Clio
    Williams, and have supposedly built 2500 units to get Group A
    homologation. I looked at the road version which is spec'd at 150bhp
    (129kFF).
    
    Tour de Corse Group N winner is
                          
    10. Manfrinato	Ford Escort Cosworth	+40'49"

    Okay, thanks for the clarification.  So possibly there will be a split
    inside Grp A, 4wd/turbo and 2wd/non-turbo, then still a Grp N.  Sounds
    good for the entrants.
    
    We had a similar thing happen in the SCCA rallying over here.  We have
    Grp A (same as yours), but not too many entrants.  The 'top' class is
    simply named Open.  That's were all the 4wd/turbo cars end up, like old
    quattros and such.  It's also were all the old Grp N (Production and
    Production GT) cars end up.  Lots of them are 2wd/non-turbo or at least
    not 500bhp wonders like the top cars.  Some regions have implemented an
    'Open Lights' class for the older Prod/Prod GT cars which will at least
    make them competetive within the class.
    
    Dave

Yes, on a national level, there seems to be a big future for the "Formula 2"
category because of it's lower costs...

-Dave.

    I forgot to mention that the Tour de Corse was the debut of the Renault
    Clio Williams both in Group A (Ragnotti, Oreille) and in Group N form
    (Jordan, Balesi).
    
    The 2 GrA cars finished in 8th and 9th position. The 2 GrN cars led the
    GrN for a good portion of the race but suffered lots of problems and (I
    think) DNF.
    
    The rumour (FFSA at least) is that there will be a 'formula 2'
    championship in 1994. Will it be national (France) or international
    (FISA), I don't know. Balestre (FFSA president) is pushing for it. 

Now will people believe that Subaru isn't a joke?

Actually the win was probably engineered to solve the embarassment of running
the Impreza at the next round. Fuji industries originally said that Prodrive
could only do that if the Legacy won in NZ. Prodrive pressured and got the
decision overturned, however I doubt Fuji were very pleased. They can't say 
a lot now though, can they!

��Now will people believe that Subaru isn't a joke?
    
    Tsck ! Good one :-)
    
    I've got one: Paddy Englishman, Paddy Scottsma...

I followed the NZ rally. McRae certainly drove well and without his usual
over-exhuberant style !

Sympathy for Ari who lead after the 1st day (after Delecour had gifted him
the lead) and was flying on the Motu stage (The longest and probably toughest
of any SS in the championship) before hitting a rock and retiring during
the stage. We were in a 'copter following him at the time and the poor
guy was obviously very upset...

On the last day, Delecour was obviously in 2 minds about what to do. After
2 stages he was only 7 seconds behind McRae and it looked like he could
take the rally, but then he eased off, McRae went faster and Delecour
was luck to keep 2nd place from the hard charging Auriol. In the end
2 seconds was all that separated them. Auriol was unhappy.

This is my first look at the Escort. It is a very tidy car. It impresses
with the way it sticks to the road without needing lots of left foot
breaking, oversteering etc to make it work fast. Although Delecour has a 
very even, tidy style anyway, even with Biasson the car looked very 
composed. The whisper is that the trick rear diff is responsible. I had a
look at it and it looked pretty conventional to me.

I was present at the Ford service at the end of the 1st night and the 
discussion between Delecour and the team management about the tactics for
the 2nd day were interesting. 30 minutes later Delecour deliberatley
incurred 20 seconds time penalties so as not to be the first car on the
Motu.

Sainz tried very hard but was denied a crack at winning by an engine
misfire during the 2nd day.

Great rally. Credit to McRae, in no way was this easy for him. Everyone
but everyone was pleased to see Subaru do it after 10 years of trying...

-Dave Eaton.

    After 8 stages, Kankkunen leads the 1000 Lakes in his Celica GT4 with
    Ari second in a Subaru Impreza 555. 

    1st  Juha Kankkunen Celica GT4
    2nd  Ari  Vatanen	Impreza 555
    3rd  Dider Auriol	Celica GT4
    

I keeps tellin people how good these Subarus are..........

Not a bad result for first time out eh! :-))))))

Mike

Yes of course I own one!

Now that Prodrive seems to be going well (initially) with the Impreza (imprezza)
is there any plans for them to introduce the car into the British Championship
next year, thus doing away with the Legacy ?





warren     just-purely-and-utterly-curious

    Australia final results
    
    1. Kankkunen	Toyota
    2. Vatanen		Subaru
    3. Delecour		Ford
    4. Dunkerton	Mitsubishi
    5. Raider		Audi
    6. McRae		Subaru
    ....

    Championship standings after Australia
    
    Drivers		   		Makes
    
    1. Kankkunen	111		1. Toyota	151 (1993 champion)
    2. Delecour		 82		2. Ford		125
    3. Auriol		 71		3. Subaru	 90
    4. Biasion		 66		4. Mitsubishi	 69
    5. McRae		 50		5. Lancia	 67
    6. Sainz		 35		6. Renault	  4 (!)
    ..........

    Delecour lead early on, with Liatti (Subaru) in second. However
    Delecour has retired and Liatti has dropped to sixth.
    
    After 20 stages:
    			1. Cunico   	Ford 	
    			2. Sainz    	Lancia
    			3. Snijers  	Ford
    
    Ends today Wednesday.

    Yep, the Toyotas did not enter, Delecour went off road on stage 7,
    Biasion disappeared shortly after, Aghini did the same, no Subarus, ...
    that leaves us with Gianfranco Cunico in the Escort a couple of minutes
    ahead of Sainz in the Lancia.
    
    This was probably Delecour's last chance to challenge Kankkunen for the
    title (arithmetically there's still a very small chance).  

    San Remo results
    ----------------
    
    1.	Cunico	Ford Escort Cosworth
    2.	Sainz	Lancia Integrale
    3.	Snijers	....
    ...........
    
    World Rally Championship standings    after San Remo
    ----------------------------------
    
    	Drivers				Makes
    
    1.  Kankkunen	111		1. Toyota	151 (1993 champion)
    2.	Delecour	 82		2. Ford		125
    3.	Auriol		 71		3. Subaru	100
    4.	Biasion		 66		4. Lancia	 84
    5.	McRae		 50		5. Mitsubishi	 69
    6.	Sainz		 35		6. Renault	  4
    7.	Vatanen		 30
    8.  ... more

    Catalunya Results
    -----------------
    
    1. Delecour		Ford
    2. Auriol           Toyota
    3. Kankkunen        Toyota      	
    4. Biasion          Ford      	
    5. Fiorio

    Forgot to add the most important piece of data:
    
    .62�    3. Kankkunen        Toyota      	
    
    With this 3rd place in Spain
    
    Kankkunen wins the 1993 world rally champion title
    
    (4th title if I count correctly)

    RAC Rally
    
    Anyone listening ? UK readers please feed us with detailed info ....
    
    Last night, 1st day of the rally, after 7 stages, Kankkunen was leading

I went to the car to get the news. The news coverage you must understand is
somewhat thin unless you can get near a TV!

Here is what I gleaned.

As at SS15

Juha Kankannun is still 1st
Colin McRae now second only 13 secs adrift even after spinning off on SS13
Malcolm Wilson appears to be 3 1min 50 secs back (I'm not sure I believe the
position)
4th is Didier Auriol
5th Francois Delacour
13th Alastair McRae despite hitting a tree
Roger Clark's son has retired after an accident on SS11.

If anyone has any more details from any source (Internet??) please put us out of
our misery.

Like where is Ari?, the Mitsubishis? If Malcom Wilson is 3rd nearly 2 minutes
back is it a 2 horse race?

WHAT IS HAPPENING?????

Mike

    RAC Rally - End of Day 2 - 19SS
    -------------------------------
    
    1. McRae
    2. Kankkunen
    3. Wilson
    4. Eriksson
    5. Delecour
    6. Auriol
    
      ..... Sainz, Schwarz, ... ? Where are they ?

    
    Sainz is at home, isn't he?
    
    Mark

SS19

1 C McRae          1hr 48m 24s Subaru Impreza
2 Kankunen         2hr 48m 45s Toyota Celica
3 Wilson           2hr 50m 48s Ford Escort
4 Eriksson         2hr 50m 58s Mitsubishi Ralliart
5 Delacour         2hr 51m 08s Ford Escort
6 Auriol           2hr 51m 43s Toyota Celica
7 Burns            2hr 54m 20s Subaru Legacy
8 Vatanen          2hr 54m 27s Subaru Impreza
9 Jonsson          2hr 56m 40s Toyota Celica
10 A McRae         2hr 58m 28s Subaru Legacy
11 Head            2hr 58m 57s Ford Escort
12 Evans           2hr 59m 24s Ford Escort
13 Lindholm        2hr 59m 40m Ford Escort
14 Schwarz         3hr 05m 51m Mitsubishi Ralliart

Sorry I can't give much more as my phone line is down so I couldn't copy much
more from the ceefax.

Schwarz and Vatanen had major offs, it was VERY icy. Rumour has it that Kankunen
slowed down so that if it snowed he could follow McRaes wheel tracks. He didn't
confirm or deny it! I hope it doesn't snow!

Mike

Carlos Sainz is indeed away because there are no Lancias. They weren't quick
enough so they took their ball and went home.

Colin McRae is out. He hit a rock on SS21 and lost all the water from the engine
with the resulting obvious consequences. This time it was the stage after
Grizedale but it happens to be the longest stage thus no chance of repair before
the engine blew.

Several others have had the same problems, including Malcolm Wilson, though he
has managed to stay in 5th.

Again, complain to the BBC Radio 5 for the pathetic information!

Mike

Any chance of getting a complete list of entries?  A fellow rallyist from 
the US, Tim O'Neil, has been in England most of the year crewing and hoping 
to get a ride at some point this year.  I don't know if he managed to get a 
ride for the RAC or just some club events.

Thanks
Dave

    Dave
    
    Have you got a fax number at work, I'll bring it in if I remember.
    
    In the meantime, hot off Ceefax
    
    Colin McRae holed a radiator 5 miles into the 2nd stage of the day a 25
    mile stage. The cambelt melted was the quote!!!! I would have thought
    that was the least of his problems!
    
    An accident on SS21 involving William Hill (broken foot) and codriver
    Clive Hilton (broken hand) in a Ford Escort stopped the stage and crews
    starting in 89th and after were credited with the same time.
    
    6 inches of snow in Kielder
    
    SS24 Wauchope East has at least 20 cars stuck in the stage because the
    can't get any grip to get up a hill. Following crews have been diverted
    and again been given the same time.
    
    1 Kankunen		4hr 17m 03s
    2 Eriksson		4hr 19m 47s
    3 Wilson		4hr 21m 49s
    4 Delacour		4hr 21m 56s
    5 Auriol		4hr 23m 06s
    6 Vatanen		4hr 23m 17s
    7 Burns		4hr 27m 42s
    8 Head		4hr 33m 47s
    9 Schwarz		4hr 37m 37s
    10 Jonsson		4hr 41m 39s
    11 A McRae		4hr 42m 51s stuck in logs lost 12 mins
    12 Evans		4hr 47m 23s
    
    
    Mike

Lots of arguments this morning, crews refusing to start because of the
conditions being threatened with disqualification! 40 minute delay in start
time, I'll post last nights final standings soon.

Mike

Last nights results

1. Kankunen	5hr 16m 04s
2. Eriksson	5hr 17m 25s
3. Wilson	5hr 18m 20s
4. Delacour	5hr 19m 41s
5. Vatanen	5hr 21m 01s
6. Auriol	5hr 21m 12s
7. Burns	5hr 29m 02s
8. Schwarz	5hr 37m 37s
9. Jonsson	5hr 43m 26s
10 A McRae	5hr 44m 29s
11 Evans	5hr 49m 38s
12 Llewellin	6hr 02m 15s Vauxhall Astra
13 Jones	6hr 05m 69s Mitsubishi VR4
14 Triner	6hr 06m 49s in a SKODA !!!!!!

Kankunen lost several minutes with 2 punctures which has closed things up again,
it is still very much wide open, especially because of the conditions.

I'll try and get some more news at lunchtime.

Mike

Still the same top 5. Kankunen is now 1m 30s ahead of Eriksson with Malcolm
Wilson a further 1m 30s back. Dalby is yet to come.

The problem at the beginning of the day appears to be that the organisers wanted
to change the route because of the conditions and lop 7 miles off the 1st stage.
Whilst this would have worked a few years ago we now have PACE NOTES and these
would have become somewhat superfluous! Needless to say Kankunen objected and a
40 minute delay ensued.

Of course I could be wrong and we will have to wait for next weeks Autosport to
find out what really happened!

Mike_who_is_trying_his_best_to_keep_you_updated

    With 1 stage to go the positions are basically as previously published
    except that 22yr old Robbie Head has retired, stuck in a stage.
    
    On the way home I heard that Kankunen had been recorded doing 130mph in
    Dalby. Now I have driven the Dalby stage and I can tell you that 60-70
    mph is real scary, 130 is completely unimaginable. This remember is not
    tarmac, it's shale, it's icy, it's covered in snow.... The man is
    totally insane.
    
    Judging from the reports on BBC's Ceefax, everyone is having real
    problems staying on the road.
    
    I'll try and give the final positions later tonight, but you may have
    to wait because I'm with a customer all day tomorrow, I have to earn
    some money sometime!
    
    Mike
    
    

    RAC Rally brief results
    -----------------------
    
    1. KKK	
    2. Eriksson
    3. Wilson
    4. Delecour
    5. Vatanen
    6. Auriol
             

  Thanks for the updates Mike and Patrick.  I can concur that the speeds
  that the top drivers reach can be very outrageous.  Sometimes I'm glad
  I've taken up a slower sport now....
  
  Dave

    Hi
    
    Warning ... Extremely creepy name dropping exrercise follows....
    
    Toyota have just sent me two World Rally Championship Badges for my
    "Carlos Sainz" Limited edition Celica GT4 Turbo.  Which is black looks
    gorgeous and goes like brown stuff off a blanket.
    
    
    Have a nice day.
    
    Bruce
    

    >and goes like brown stuff off a blanket.
    
    I think you mean shovel !
    

    re'  Last.
    
    There are no shovels in my bed.
    
    Come to think about there is no brown stuff in either.  :*)
    
    Bruce