Rally GB

Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales. From its first running in 1933 until the 53rd event in 1998, it was known as the RAC Rally until adopting its current name in 1999.

History

1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally and Coachwork Competition

The inaugural event was the 1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally, which was the first major rally of the modern era in Great Britain. Of the 367 crews entered, 341 competitors in unmodified cars started from nine different towns and cities (London, Bath, Norwich, Leamington, Buxton, Harrogate, Liverpool, Newcastle-on-Tyne and Edinburgh.)

The Official Programme explained, "Different routes are followed from the nine starting points, each approximately convert|1000|mi|km long, but all finishing at Torquay. On every route there are four controls in addition to the starting and finishing controls, and these are open for periods varying from seven to four hours. Competitors may report at these controls at any time during the hours of opening.......At the final control they must check in as near their fixed finishing time as possible, and any considerable deviation from this time results in loss of marks."

As well as completing the route to a time schedule the competitors were required to perform a special test involving slow running, acceleration and braking. Additionally a Concours d'Elegance was held at the finish in Torquay. There was no official winner, although Colonel A H Loughborough in a Lanchester 15/18 was recorded as having the fewest penalty points in the decisive test at the finish. [ [http://www.ukmotorsport.com/networkq/1997/history.html "History of the RAC Rally"] , UKMotorsport.com, September 23 1997]

Pre- & post-war years

The following year's RAC Rally followed a similar format, but with Hastings as the chosen finish. Over three hundred competitors entered, and this time Miss Kitty Brunel, driving an AC Ace, was the driver with the fewest penalties.

The rally was run annually until 1939, after which the outbreak of the Second World War forced its suspension. However, it resumed in 1951, and has been contested every year since with only two exceptions, 1957 (Suez Crisis) and 1967 (Foot and Mouth Disease). This latter incident was on the eve of the event, so competitors staged a mock rally at the Bagshot proving ground as consolation for the press and television (ATV had been persuaded to provide major coverage with in-car cameras for the first time).

Forest stages

In 1960, organising secretary Jack Kemsley negotiated with the Forestry Commission to allow a two mile (3 km) section of forest road in Argyll, Scotland to be used as a competitive section. It proved enormously successful, and the following year forest roads all over the country were opened up to the drivers. This, combined with the introduction of special timing clocks and seeding of entries, secured the rally's future, and cemented its reputation as one of the most gruelling and unpredictable fixtures on the calendar. [ [http://www.carkeys.co.uk/columns/ross_finlay/1501.asp "Jack Kemsley And The Forests"] , Ross Finlay, CarKeys.co.uk, December 9, 2001]

Mickey Mouse stages

In 1971, 'Spectator Stages' were introduced and, by 1975 had become an important part of the event, usually at stately homes and other public venues like Sutton Park. The first day was, by then, devoted to these stages. Drivers did not enjoy them, and referred to them disparagingly as "Mickey Mouse stages" because of the lack of challenge they offered, [ [http://www.rallynews.net/~rallynews.net/public_html/2001/kent01/rally_news_no8.htm Francois Duval, "Unofficial Leaderboard after Stage 16 (final stage), Rally of Kent (Formula Rally)"] , RallyNews.net] [ [http://scivi.air-nifty.com/motors/wrc/index.html Michael Park, Motors Blog:WRC] ] but nonetheless they contributed to the results. More recently, they have given way to the 'Super Special Stages', which are equally maligned by the drivers, but just as popular with spectators.

Group B

The 1986 RAC Rally was the last European event for Group B vehicles. These highly-tuned turbocharged cars were to be banned as they were deemed too powerful and dangerous, in light of the various accidents in which they were involved. In the end, the Peugeot 205 T16s of Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen and Mikael Sundström took three of the top four places, with only Markku Alen's second position in the Lancia Delta S4 preventing a monopoly of the podium.

There were 83 finishers out of 150 starters in 1986, compared to year of worst attrition in 1981 when only 54 of the 151 starters reached the end. This was in stark contrast to the early years: in 1938, there were only 6 retirements from 237 starters.

candinavian successes

Scandinavian drivers have enjoyed rich pickings in the RAC Rally. Home drivers won the first six runnings of the race from 1953, when an outright winner was first declared. However, in 1960 Erik Carlsson of Sweden, drove his Saab 96 to a hat-trick of victories in 1960–62, and of the six drivers to have won three or more titles since then, all but two — Colin McRae (1994, '95, '97) and Richard Burns (1998–2000) — have been Swedes, Finns or Norwegians. The record for most victories is four, shared by Hannu Mikkola (1978–79, '81–82) and Petter Solberg (2002–05), whose consecutive streak is unique.

Title sponsors

Until 1970, there was no overt sponsorship, but in that year advertising decals appeared on cars and the Daily Mirror newspaper sponsored the event. This deal lasted four years before finance company, Lombard North Central took over in 1974. The event became known as the Lombard RAC Rally, and Lombard's name became synonymous with the event.

Following Lombard's withdrawal of sponsorship after nineteen years, the rally became known as the Network Q RAC Rally and later, the Network Q Rally of Great Britain. The rally has moved its operational base to Cardiff and competitive stage mileage is concentrated in Wales. With sponsorship from the Welsh Development Agency, the event is now known as Wales Rally GB.

However, with such an extensive history covering the whole country, there were demands for the "glory days" of the old RAC Rally. In this spirit, two events have recently been established, and cover the same classic stages which are no longer part of the WRC itinerary. The "RAC Revival Rally" uses modern, but less powerful cars, while the "Roger Albert Clark Rally" is a historic event using only pre-1972 machinery, and named after the first home winner of the race as a World Championship event.

2005

The 2005 rally was the twelfth event on the WRC schedule for 2005, held on September 16–18, 2005. It included the first indoor super special stage at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

On stage fifteen, Peugeot driver Markko Märtin crashed heavily into a tree, and while he was unharmed his co-driver Michael Park sustained fatal injuries. It was the first death in the WRC in over a decade. The final two stages were cancelled and Sébastien Loeb, who would have won the event and World Championship, voluntarily incurred a two minute time penalty in order not to win under such circumstances, leaving Petter Solberg to be declared the victor.

A memorial was unveiled for him in Estonia (Markko's home country), and the damaged tree on the Margham Park stage of the rally where he died bears a plaque in memorial of him.

2008

Wales Rally GB is the final round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship. Now in its 76th year, the rally is one of the UK’s leading sporting events, boasting an unrivalled history and legacy. The event attracts the world’s elite rally drivers who will descend on Wales for this legendary sporting encounter from 4-7 December 2008.

This year Wales Rally GB has been awarded CarbonNeutral® event status, confirming that the event’s carbon footprint is net zero. As part of its work towards shaping a more sustainable future for motorsport, the event has become the first round to offset its emissions, including all travel for its spectators.

New for 2008 are a number of exciting changes to the route which will take drivers and spectators further north, allowing quicker access from the Midlands. For the first time since 2000, the rally will return to stages in Mid-Wales and this shake-up of proceedings will increase the challenge for drivers, making the event even more thrilling for spectators.

The city of Cardiff will once again host the prestigious Ceremonial Start on the evening of Thursday 4th and the Finish on the afternoon of Sunday 7th. The Service Park will return to Swansea’s marina-side SA1 location, which is close to the town centre allowing spectators to get up close to all the action with the cars and teams.

The spectacular Saturday evening special stage inside the Millennium Stadium returns to Wales Rally GB’s schedule for the fourth consecutive year. International rally stars will complete a stage of the event inside the world-class stadium, creating the ultimate spectator experience.

Results

References

External links

* [http://www.walesrallygb.com/ Wales Rally GB official site]
* [http://www.wrc.com?WT.mc_id=wiki World Rally Championship official site - watch Wales Rally GB online]
* [http://www.rallybrc.co.uk/ British Rally Championship official site]
* [http://www.endurorally.com/index.html Endurance Rally Association, organisers of the RAC Revival Rally]
* [http://www.rogeralbertclarkrally.com/ Roger Albert Clark Rally, official site]