Conference terri::cars_uk

    On the same topic Ari VATANEN has been led to believe that with 2
    drivers confirmed for 9 entries (Carlos SAINZ + Colin McRAE) there will
    no room for him to drive, or just on 1 or 2 special occasions (1000
    lakes).
    
    Ari was reported to be very disappointed when he heard the SAINZ
    announcement from David RICHARDS: "Mitsubishi did the same thing to me
    a few years ago, do I really deserve this ?"
    
    I hop his fantastic return (to 5th overall) in the RAC after an initial
    mishap will allow him to get a competitive seat next year.

Anyone heard what will happen to them next season ?

ie :  will they continue to run Deltas (despite no Lancia factory backing) or do
      they have any other plans, for cars or drivers ?


warren

    A little bit late but anyway ...
    
    The Monte Carlo Rally started last Saturday. The different teams have
    started from the usual starting points to gather in Valence, a small
    town down the Rhone valley (mid way from Lyon and Marseille).
    
    Serious driving has begun today with 6 specail stages to take place in
    the hills west of the Rhone Valley. Tonight they'll be back in Valence.
    
    Finish line Thursday morning in Monaco.

    200 cars started Saturday. 185 started this morning.
    
    Among the entrants:
    
    - Toyota		Kankkunen, Auriol
    - Ford		Delecour, Biasion, Thiry
    - Subaru		Sainz, McRae
    - Mitsubishi        Schwarz, Eriksson
    
    all on 4WD, 2litre turbo engines. Renault is heading the new 2WD, 2 litre
    class with a couple of Clio-Williams driven by the usual gang: Ragnotti
    and Oreille.
    
    Weather: freezing until Sunday, today mild and rainy, snow above 1300m
    Forecast: as today for the immediate future (no snow, no ice)

     Here is some news regards the 1995 World Rally Championship. IMHO,
    Rallying over the last couple of years has started to get interesting
    again, especialy with Ford introducing the Escort Cosworth, its first 
    serious contender since the late 70's. 
    
     The Group A 4x4 class cars are to be banned from next years 
    world rally championship. This seems to have an amount of dejavue
    to it..... The year is 1986 and Group B cars are seen to be the 
    rogue cars of the year. Enter Group A  a `milder' class. Does
    this have the same sort of ring as `Formula 2' cars !!!     
                                                           

    Monday report - 6 special stages 180km - Valence-Valence
    
    Schwarz (Mitsubishi) wins the 1st two stages but runs out in 3rd stage
    (Burzet) on snow thrown on the road by spectators. Same mishap on McRae
    (Subaru). Auriol (Toyota) takes the lead until stage 5 when he runs out
    with a broken gearbox. 
    
    At the end of day 1 Delecour (Ford) has a 22" lead on Sainz (Subaru)
    and 25" on Kankkunen (Toyota), Biasion (Ford), Eriksson, Thiry,
    Oreille, Ragnotti.
    
    Today they go around the 'Chartreuse' (mountains west of Grenoble).
    Weather has completely changed: mild temperatures, light rain, snow
    above 2000m, no ice, wet roads.
    
    At this point everyone seem to think this year's MonteCarlo will be an 
    easy win for Delecour. That remains to be seen ...

Patrick

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the usual crowd trying to fix the result.
This practice has been going on for years on the Monte with some effective
results. I often wonder why teams continue to compete on these rallies.
Unfortunately the RAC has suffered the same lunatics on occaisions, this year
they didn't need to do anything as the conditions were so bad!

Keep the results coming.

Mike

Any news on the Minis??

    The problem this year is a very rapid change of weather. Until last
    Sunday everything was covered with snow and/or ice and relatively cold.
    Burzet can be a terrible task with ice and a strong wind blowing snow
    all over the place.
    
    The pictures I've seen on TV last night showed wet roads with some
    patches of snow remaining here and there in fields around the road.
    Temperatures in the 10-15C !
    
    This means that crowds of spectators went to see the cars about
    everywhere. The temptation to see cars going sideways is always high on
    those races. As you rightly mentionned certain groups cannot refrain
    from throwing snow on the roads, especially in hairpins and where roads
    have been cleared. Usually this happens at the Turini.
    
    Now I've seen McRae and Schwarz. They were going really fast on those
    very slippery roads. In contrast Delecour gives the impression of going
    slow. Maybe he's decided to keep his adrenalin for the last night ....   

    Tuesday - Valence-Gap - 6 tasks
    
    Delecour's day with 5 wins. Last night in Gap Delecour was leading KKK
    by 44", Sainz well behind (2'..), ...
    
    Obviously Delecour took a very careful start Monday. Yesterday he drove
    like a bullet and noone could follow. KKK has clearly said that he was
    waiting for 'nordic' road conditions.

    Wednesday morning - Gap-Monaco - 4 special stages
    
    The rally will reach Monaco around noon time. The final night (Turini,
    etc ...) will start tonight.
    
    This morning Delecour has again increased his lead over Kankkunen. At
    9:00 after 3 stages he leads by 1'40". Sainz won the 3rd task but
    clearly does not expect anything. Biasion looks very disenchanted. Gaps
    are enormous.
    
    Alain Oreille has crashed leaving Ragnotti with Gr A Clio-Williams alone 
    in the top 10.

Patrick

Thanks for the update. I am curious, the gaps as you said are enormous, almost
as though several people haven't got the enthusiasm for it. Any comments in the
local press to give an insight? Delacour is good enough to win WCR events but
even he must be surprised at the lead over the majority of the field.

Mike

    Any news on Paddy Hopkirk and the Mini Cooper ?
    
    (I heard he entered - 30 years after winning the last time)
    
    Paul

    No big surprise:
    
    1. Delecour		Ford
    2. Kankkunen	Toyota 	+1'03"
    3. Sainz		Subaru	+1'40"
    4. Biasion		Ford	+enormous gap (something like 5')
    5. Eriksson		Mitsubishi
    6. Thiry		Ford
    .....
    
    Both Schwarz and McRae have deployed an immense amount of skill, energy
    and risk trying to get back into the top 10. I think Schwarz has
    managed while McRae is still almost 40' late.
    
    In the F2 category (2WD, 2Ltr normally aspirated) the works Clio Williams
    team only places Ragnotti in 14th place due a lot of minor troubles
    during the last 2 days (misfire, broken wheel).
    
    Easy win for Delecour who managed the whole thing like an old-timer.

Hi Patrick.

Thanks for the news. Apparently according to BBC Ceefax McRae created a record
by climbing 102 places. Autosport makes interesting reading about the er "bias"
of the spectators against Schwarz and McRae amongst others. Delacour being
quoted as saying he doesn't understand how he could be so far in front having
made so many mistakes. Strong criticism of the organisers coming from several
quarters, Kankkunen being very lucky not to kill anyone. 

Unfortunately if this persists will will end up with a WCR season made up of a
series of single venue mickey mouse stages with the "spectators" behind cages.
The Romans obviously had it cracked with the Christians and Lions.

Mike who gave up years ago going round following the RAC rally because of the
cretins.

I read Ari V's book and he brought up the time when some natives in one of 
the African countries put a tree across the rally route.  Granted, they don't 
have the cliffs that MC has, but it still caused some damage.

Dave

Dave

I didn't mean to imply that I was singling out MC, as you point out it is an
ever increasing malaise on all "popular" rallies. I dread to think what could
happen on places like Corsica if were held in the Winter!

God Bless the Clubman......

    Talking of Ari Vatanen, I just happened to meet him on a plane a few
    days ago, while he was going to race in the ice-racing events that
    currently take place in the Alps. He currently has a contract with
    David Richards (one of his former co-drivers !), boss of ProDrive who
    handles the Subarus in the WC, but he's still not sure if, how and when
    he'll be racing the Subaru. Sainz and McRae are the designated racers. 

Has he done any of the rally-raids lately?

Dave

    It's all about money not talent. McRae is the rising star, Sainz was
    the most recent World Champion available. Poor old Ari got left out in
    the cold.
    
    I saw the ice racing on Eurosport and Ari made a mockery of it at
    times. His car control on such surfaces is a joy. It's like watching
    Moss on tarmac, very very quick but with the minimum of fuss.
    
    Losing talent like that is a sick joke, there again the FIA don't give
    a .......
    
    Mike

    Hi all,
    
    For the rally and computergame fans.
    
    Last week I bought the games RALLY from Network Q.
    This is a simulation of the RAC rally. All the 35 stages are there.
    You can choose from 4 different cars and can select your type of tires.
    And then you can drive.
    
    The BIG FUN of this game is that your navigator helps you via text or
    via the SOUNDBLASTER. So the navigator talks: "LONG STRAIGHT", "RIGHT
    HAIRPIN", "LEFT 7" etc.
    
    Price (in Holland) 20 Pound (60 guilders).
    
    Greetings,
    
    /-/	Henk. (who_loves_rallying)

    Henk
    
    Got an address for this???
    
    Mike

    I've seen it in all shops that sell computer games, e.g. W.H.SMITH,
    HMV, Virgin, etc.
    
    Phil Gill.

    Back to real work guys ...
    
    The Swedish Rally is the next on the list. Unfortunately the top drivers
    are not interested in competing, therefore the teams are not interested
    either. So the whole thing has become mor or less a local F2 event: 2WD
    and 2000 n/a engines.
    
    Interesting point: the temperatures in Sweden are reported around -15C
    + lots of snow and ice. Real fun. 

    MonteCarlo: the Minis (Hopkirk et al.) have not made it to Monaco. All
    were stopped with mechanical failure at some point.

    
    Re: -2 (Swedish Rally)
    
    How can drivers that are "professionals" not be interested in an event?
    Isn't that a slightly strange attitude for a "professional" to have?
    
    I really like rally racing but we don't get much coverage over here in
    Canada so my questions might be born out of ignorance.
    
    Brian Pituley
     

Does the Swedish rally count for drivers and makes points?  If it doesn't 
count for drivers there isn't always an incentive for them to go.

Dave

    Until all the WCR events are run like F1 then some teams will always
    miss out some events. It makes a mockery of the whole series. To be
    able to score points even as a best of, you should have to compete in
    all events unless you can clain force majeur, at least for world
    championships.
    
    Paddy Hopkirks Mini fell out because the fan belt broke and the spares
    were the wrong size!!!! Oooops. I bet somebody got a b---------! Up
    till that point they were still in the top 50 and running 3rd and 4th
    in class behind the Skodas, a long way behind, but they didn't care
    because they were having a whale of a time.
    
    Colin McRaes account of the rally in Autosport (am I advertising here,
    this is about the 5th time I've publicised this rag this week!) makes
    interesting reading. Having forced Schwarz and McRae off the road the
    spectators then stood around and watched till they reckoned Delacour
    was far enough ahead. Some of the pictures show just how bat the Monte
    has got re spectator control. There wasn't any. Several people are
    saying that they won't go back unless the organisers do something about
    the crowds and the ludicrous concentration run.
    
    The Swedish Rally has the F2 cars seeded 1st, though looking at the
    entry list it is expected the winner will come from further down. There
    are all the usual Nordic headbangers in their VR4's etc waiting in the
    wings.
    
    Mike

    
    Re - Network Q rally game.
    
    Check out PC magazines for a better price for games.
     You'll save around a tenner on shop prices.

I have cross posted the original note about the rally simulator game to 
OASS::RACERS, note 962.  You are welcome to continue any discussion of the 
game over there, even though I'm not sure if the game is available in the US 
yet.

Dave (Racers co-mod)

    Rally of Portugal - Day 1
    
    Delecour leads Kankkunen by 4 secs. 3rd man is Biasion. Auriol sounded
    a bit lost. Aghini seems in good shape.
    
    Finish line Friday 

Portugal final:

Kankkunen	Toyota	6:20.59
Auriol		Toyota	-0.40
Baision		Ford	-0.50
Sainz		Subaru	-2.16
Peres		Ford	-28.40
Macedo		Renault	-44.53

I also read that Ari V has a drive for 4 WRC events and 3 Asia-Pacific events 
for this year with Schmidt Motorsports in a Ford Escort Cosworth!

Dave

    Thanks for the report Dave. I was on vacation for half of last week.
    
    Very good result for the Toyota boys, especially for KKK who is
    probably looking forward to his 5th world rally championship !
    
    Very difficult race with changing conditions. Delecour, Aghini, McRae
    are among the unlucky ones who did not finish for one reason or
    another. 

    Some bits:
    
    Toyota scored well at the Safari even if then-race-leader Kankkunen
    lost his car on a series of nasty bumps (the car jumped nose up and
    then dived nose down causing a series of 360s, driver and passenger
    unhurt). Local man Ian DUNCAN won, while Didier AURIOL finished 3rd.
    
    Bad year for DELECOUR. After a DNF because of a broken valve during the
    Portuguese Rally, DELECOUR was injured earlier this week in a road
    accident near his home (North of France between Calais and Lille). He
    was driving a friend's Ferrari F40 (at legal speed) when someone forgot
    to stop at a STOP sign at a crossroad. The F40 front end does not exist
    anymore and DELECOUR is in hospital with broken legs, heels and minor
    injuries. Doctors have asked him to keep away from racing cars for
    several months, meaning that he will miss at least 3 championship
    rallies (Corsica, Greece, Finland ?). Ford have not announced a
    replacement yet.

Hi all,


      Anyone got any news of the Tour ??

Placings / crashes etc ??

Warren

Sorry Warren, in my haste to get to the dentist (?) this morning I forgot the
list. The only one I can remember is Sainz in 2nd. Patrick,,help!

Mike

    Last night (thursday night)
    
    	1. Auriol	Toyota
    	2. Sainz	Subaru
    	3. McRae	Subaru
    
    That's as much as I know (did not watch any TV ...)

    Tour de Corse results
    
    	1. Auriol	Toyota
    	2. Sainz	Subaru
    	3. Aghini	Toyota	 (not sure)
    	4. Kankkunen	Toyota
    
    Non existant Ford team in the absence of Delecour. McRae in the Subaru
    went a little too fast.
    
    The race was basically a Auriol-Sainz fight. On the 3rd and last day 
    Auriol lost a lot of time due to gearbox oil dripping on the clutch, 
    but when he was about to be overtaken, Sainz broke an anti-roll bar. 

    Met Bernard Occelli (Didier Auriol's teammate in the Toyota) at Nice
    airport on my way back from Monaco. He and Didier were flying to
    Greece to prepare the Acropolis Rally (starts 28 May). Bernard told me
    that the Tour de Corse was very hard with a lot of pressure from the
    Subaru boys: Sainz all the time and McRae only in the early part of the
    race.
    
    They currently lead the drivers championship by 2 points ahead of
    Kankkunen. Bernard reckons that the fight for the title is going to be
    fierce between them, Sainz and Kankkunen. They'll try anyway.
    
    Very friendly chap.    

So what happened to McRae. All I've got is a garbled report that he was somewhat
dubiously excluded for fixing a windscreen that was caused by officials failing
to pin down the bonnet (hood), the officials in question doing a quick check at
the start of a stage (I wonder what the engine looks like?).

Officials in all forms of motor sport do not seem to be holding their
credibility of late....F1, F3000, Indycar, BTC, .......

Mike

    
    From what I read in Autosport he was disqualified for serious
    unsportsmanlike activities.
    
    As mentioned his windscreen was shattered by the opening of the bonnet.
    The Subaru mechanics removed the shattered glass and McRae drove the
    stage without a windscreen. He reported to the checkpoint and had the
    windscreen replaced. Apparently he refused to let the other cars past
    him to begin the next stage. (he was leading the rally and should have
    been first on the road). He held the rally up for some 29 minutes
    whilst the windscreen was replaced. 
    
    POL.
    
    P.S. Did anybody see the German Touring Cars last night and that 14
    minute Merc engine change?????

They had to ban engine changes in CART a while back for the same reason, it
really is very easy because all you do is undo about 4 bolts, pull off all the
spade connectors and the fuel line and lift the car onto the new engine.
Somebody in CART had it down under a minute!!!

    McRae wins New Zealand Rally !!!
    
    1. McRae-Ringer		Subaru
    2. Kankkunen-Grist		Toyota
    3. Schwarz-Micha		Mitsubishi
    4. Eriksson-Parmander       Mitsubishi
    5. Auriol-Occelli		Toyota
    ...
    
    World Rally Championship 1994 standings
    
    1.  Auriol		75
    2.  Kankkunen       72
        Sainz		72
    4.  Schwarz		31
    5.  Biasion		30
    6.  Delecour	20
        Duncan		20
        McRae		20
        Vatanen		20
    10. Eriksson	18
    ....
    
    Constructors
    
    1. Toyota		128
    2. Subaru		115
    3. Ford 		 68
    4. Mitsubishi        41

    Some (good and bad) news
    
    - Vatanen, who has replaced Delecour at the wheel of the 2nd works Escort
      is doing very well. He was fighting for the lead when he crahed
      during the last Rally of New Zealand
    
    - Delecour is back. Before taking part again in the World Championship
      he and Ford agreed that he should try in a secondary race. Delecour has
      won the "Pole Position Rally" of Finland. He should be back at the
      wheel of the works Escort for the 1000 Lakes.
    
    - Going through a major restructuring effort, Ford have decided to stop
      their works Rally involvement. The reason invoked is that they need
      the Boreham site for some other activity. Just like Lancia did a few
      years ago, Ford will probably assist a few selected customers next
      year.
    
      This is bad news but on the other hand one has to consider the many
    facets of motorsport where Ford are directly involved: Indycar, F1,
    Rallying, Touring Cars in several countries, ... Ford's top management
    have decided to concentrate their efforts where return is most likely
    (you see very little rallying on TV, a real shame in my opinion).

>World Rally Championship 1994 standings
>        McRae		20
     
So this is the first time McRae has finished (in the top 20) this year?

Good old 'crash or win' style, huh?

Dave

    The NZ rally is kind of unique with lots of stages run on tracks with
    banks rather than ditches, maybe McRae just bounced off them a lot ;-)
    
    Unfair....
    
    McRae did say that it was real easy and he wasn't trying very hard, the
    Impreza must be really suited to that Rally.

    San Remo Rally	9-13 Oct

    This morning (ie last night) Carlos Sainz and the Subaru had built a
    gap of more than 2 MINUTES on Didier Auriol and the Toyota. 
    
    Didier Auriol, Colin McRae, Juha Kankkunen, etc ... are fighting but it
    seems that Sainz/Subaru are in superior condition.  

    A super-motivated Didier Auriol wins the San Remo Rally. 
    
    On day 1 Sainz had managed to build a substantial gap (2'11") over 
    1994 championship leader Auriol. The Fords of Bruno Thiry and Alistair 
    McRae were following with Auriol in 4th position. Francois Delecour and
    Miki Biasion suffered a lot of engine problems (electronics).
    Delecour's engine stopped working before the end of the day.
    
    On day-2 the Fords continued to challenge Sainz. Kankkunen, driving the
    new Toyota Celica, managed a few record times but was already too far
    down to compete for leadership. Auriol gained 1 minute over Sainz.
    
    On the last day, Auriol won the 6 special stages and gradually moved
    to the top, finishing with a 21" gap on Sainz.
    
    Championship standing before RAC Rally
    
    1. 	Auriol 	Toyota	110pts
    2.	Sainz	Subaru	 99
    
    The RAC Rally will definitely have a race in the race. Sainz must win
    whereas Auriol can shoot for 4th place if Carlos wins. 

Patrick

You'd make a good reporter! Sainz was as you say well ahead but then started to
have some major fuel injection problems. The team even changed the fuel tank
with some mutterings about foreign bodies.....hmmmm. Still it ain't finished
till the fat lady sings, the RAC should be pretty spectacular. Unfortunately I
think it might also attract even more lunatics to watch from the middle of the
road.

Mike,

Anyone got an update for today?

Is McRae still showing them the way, and by how much(time)

Hopefully the young Scot's crew can bring the Subaru home in first place, making
it the first British victory since 1976!

Thanks....John 

    He's car's normally blown up by now, hasn't it :-) ?
    
    I do hope he wins for once. It always seems to be the car that lets him
    down.
    
    Trivia : Anyone remember what stopped him last year?

Yip, by now Colin is usually out of the rally, because he always gives it 101%.

He(McRae) now realises, as stated by the Subaru team manager, that he can 
win without driving flat out all the time!

Last year he had an encounter with a tree, which wrecked the cooling system,
which in turn wrecked the engine!

John 

    Kind off. He seemed to think a stone had come flying up, because
    something had smashed the bottom hose of the radiator, and he fried the
    engine getting it to the end of the stage.
    
    The popped a new head gasket on and tried turning it over, but it never
    happned.... one dead Subaru. Shame, really.
    
    :-(

    RAC Rally - final day
    
    Current positions:
    			1- McRae-Ringer		Prodrive Subaru
    			2- Sainz-Moya		Prodrive Subaru
    			3- Kankkunen-Grist	TTE Toyota
    			   plenty of Ford Escorts
    			9- Auriol-Occelli	TTE Toyota
    
    The driver's championship is at stake. Auriol is likely to gain a few
    places (he is currently 25'+ behind, with some Group N cars in front)
    and TTE have said Kankkunen would be asked to give way. On the Prodrive
    side, Dave Richards has also indicated that he might ask McRae to let
    Sainz win if necessary ....
    
    It's Adelaide II 
                    

    
    Sainz has retired, Auriol is world champion.  Colin is way out in
    front, and has another 2 hours to hold on.
    
    Apparantly, some over-zealous spectators, angered by Subaru's intention
    to have McRae 'throw' the race for Sainz to get the necessary WC
    points, put a pile of logs in front of him on today's first stage. 
    This unnerved young Carlos who went-off in the next stage.
    
    
    
    Nev

    
From my entry in 2348.4
    
        
    Sainz has retired, Auriol is world champion.  Colin is way out in
    front, and has another 2 hours to hold on.
    
    Apparantly, some over-zealous spectators, angered by Subaru's intention
    to have McRae 'throw' the race for Sainz to get the necessary WC
    points, put a pile of logs in front of him on today's first stage. 
    This unnerved young Carlos who went-off in the next stage.
    
    
    
    Nev

Latest update......Wed 10:40am


McRae now leading by 3min 30 sec, his team mate has crashed out, making Auriol 
world champion!

Hopefully McRae can keep the other Subaru on track for a well deserved win

John 

    An interesting use of the expression "over-zealous spectators". I wish an
    over-zealous judge would lock these idiots up for a long time.
    
    	Rik

    No snow forecast this year then, for a bit more excitement :^)

    McRae has won the RAC Rally.
    
    Tyrone
    

    Hoorah!

    
    I'll second that ! well done Colin....
    

Being a Scot myself, and a great fan of McRae, I am well pleased!

This drive was well thought out and executed, indicating that McRae has at last
realised that he can beat the rest without flamboyant and over aggressive 
driving......he has matured now and will probably be more devastating in
the future....even Juha Kankinen is taking note.

The margin was significant as was this win.

A man to watch in next years world championship! 

    1994 World Rally Drivers Championship - Final Standings
    -------------------------------------------------------
    
     1.	Auriol		116 points
     2.	Sainz		 99
     3.	Kankkunen	 93
     4.	McRae		 49
     5.	Thiry		 44
     6.	Biasion		 42
     7.	Schwarz		 31
     8.	Delecour	 30
     9.	Vatanen		 28
    10.	Makinen		 22
    11.	Duncan		 20
    12.	Eriksson	 18
    13.	Shinozuka	 15
    14.	Aghini		 12
    15.	Blomqvist	 10
    	Fiorio		 10
    	Njiru		 10
    	Stohl		 10
    	                   

    1994 World Rally Manufacturers Championship - Final Standings
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    
    1.	Toyota		151 points
    2.	Subaru		140
    3.	Ford		113
    4.	Mitsubishi	  0 (41 points in 3 scores)
    
    1994 World Cup for 2litre 2WD
    -----------------------------
    
    1.	Opel		42
    2.	Skoda		41
    3.	Nissan		40	 

    1994 World Rally Group N Drivers Championship - Final standings
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    
    1.	Puras		50
    2.	Holderied	42
    3.	Recalde		27
    4.	Kamioka		13
    	Menem		13
    	Njiru		13
    	Ordynski	13
    	Reininger	13 
    
    ...... more

    Didier Auriol has won the Race of the Rally Champions, the annual event
    run by previous Rally driver Michele Mouton. The final round opposed
    Auriol to Blomqvist.
    
    Not a world championship event but I know that the guys have a heavy
    right foot ....