1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally

The 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally was a marathon motor rally that started at Wembley Stadium in London on 19 April 1970 and finished in Mexico City on 27 May 1970, covering approximately 16,000 miles (25,750 km) through Europe and South America. It was won by Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm, driving a Ford Escort.

Organisation

The event was the brainchild of Wylton Dickson, possibly inspired by the earlier 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, and was to mark the fact that the 1966 FIFA World Cup had been held in London and that the upcoming 1970 FIFA World Cup was to be held in Mexico. Dickson approached the renowned British rally driver Paddy Hopkirk and together they went to the The Daily Mirror for sponsorship.

The event was organised by members of the RAC and the MSA.

Route and scoring

The course covered approximately convert|16000|mi|km|-2 through Europe, South America and Central America. Some of the principal towns and cities visited were, in order "World Cup Rally", Graham Robson, "The Car" magazine no. 25, 1985, Orbis Publishing Ltd.] :

* London, England
* Dover, England
* Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
* Mannheim, Germany
* Munich, Germany
* Vienna, Austria
* Budapest, Hungary
* Belgrade, then in Yugoslavia, now in Serbia
* Sofia, Bulgaria
* Trieste, Italy
* Venice, Italy
* Genoa, Italy
* Toulouse, France
* Pau, France
* Burgos, Spain
* Salamanca, Spain
* Lisbon, Portugal
* Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* Montevideo, Uruguay
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Bariloche, Argentina
* Santiago, Chile, Chile
* La Paz, Bolivia
* Lima, Peru
* Cali, Colombia
* Panama City, Panama
* San José, Costa Rica
* Mexico City, Mexico

The course included many special stages, some over convert|500|mi|km long. Time penalties were given for exceeding set times on the special stages, as well as for other infractions of the rules, and the cars' positions determined by the penalties awarded rather than lowest cumulative times.

Cars

Over one hundred cars started the event. The rules about what cars could be entered were not restrictive but due to the demanding nature of the course most competitors were conservative and used modified versions of standard models. That did not prevent there being a wide variety of cars, from Volkswagen Beetles to Rolls-Royces. There were works (officially sanctioned and prepared) entries from Ford, British Leyland and Moskvitch, and semi-works entries from Citroën.

The Ford team ran modified Escort Mk Is, fitted with an 1850 cc version of the crossflow Kent engine and uprated with various other parts from other Ford models. Each Ford car had two drivers. The British Leyland team entered two teams. The first team ran three Triumph 2.5PI Mark 2s, which were more powerful than the Fords but were significantly heavier; two cars carried a three man crew, Brian Culcheth preferring to stick with a conventional two man crew. The second Leyland team ran Austin Maxis, Austin 1800s (some badged Morris) and a lone Mini Clubman. Citroën used the venerable DS21.

Other cars run in the event included:

* BMW 2002ti
* Datsun 1600SSS
* Ford Lotus Cortina
* Ford Escort Mk I
* Hillman Hunter
* Jeep Wagoneer
* Mercedes-Benz 280SE
* Peugeot 404
* Porsche 911
* Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
* Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
* Trident Venturer
* VW-based beach buggy

Competitors

Many rally drivers of the day entered the event, including:

* Rauno Aaltonen
* Andrew Cowan (winner of the 1968 London-Sydney marathon)
* Brian Culcheth
* Tony Fall
* Paddy Hopkirk
* Timo Mäkinen
* Hannu Mikkola
* Rene Trautmann
* Guy Verrier
* Gaston Perkins
* Jose Migliore [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Migliore]

As well as professional rally drivers, the event attracted a number of well known people, including the footballer Jimmy Greaves, who finished a very creditable sixth, and HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who failed to finish.

Classification

Only 23 cars finished the event.

References

External links

* [http://www.siteset.co.uk/worldcup/features1.html The World Cup Rally 1970] , from the site of the organisers of subsequent "World Cup Rallies"
* [http://rcma.free.fr/escort/recit1.htm London-Mexico: The Complete Story] , transcription of an article in the French magazine "L'Auto Journal" (in French)