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Post by chuffedstokie on Feb 27, 2021 5:01:36 GMT
Age 78 yesterday.
Volvo, Fords, Audi Quattro prolific winner. That name was synonymous with rallying throughout the 80's. Finland biggest export probably.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2021 6:35:25 GMT
Great driver and a very nice man. I was involved in world championship rallying during the 80's through to the mid 90's, and had dealings with Hannu Mikkola, Henri Toivonen, Pentti Airikkala (all now sadly deceased), Per Eklund, and Ari Vatanen, all great Scandinavian drivers.
I remember doing a tyre test with Mikkola (during his Audi days) at the Sweet Lamb venue in Wales (was/is regularly used as a stage in the British round of the world championship). We were in the car assessing which different tyre constructions and tread patterns/compounds were suitable for the conditions and he was driving flat out so we were being bumped and thrown around all over the place when he suddenly stopped in mid stage and said something wasn't right. We got out and I checked the tyres to find one had a slow puncture and was about a third lower in tyre pressure than the other three tyres.
He was a great driver, a real star of his era, and a very nice, warm, unassuming man.
R.I.P. to the "Flying Finn" !
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Post by theonlooker on Feb 27, 2021 8:12:24 GMT
Great driver and a very nice man. I was involved in world championship rallying during the 80's through to the mid 90's, and had dealings with Hannu Mikkola, Henri Toivonen, Pentti Airikkala (all now sadly deceased), Per Eklund, and Ari Vatanen, all great Scandinavian drivers. I remember doing a tyre test with Mikkola (during his Audi days) at the Sweet Lamb venue in Wales (was/is regularly used as a stage in the British round of the world championship). We were in the car assessing which different tyre constructions and tread patterns/compounds were suitable for the conditions and he was driving flat out so we were being bumped and thrown around all over the place when he suddenly stopped in mid stage and said something wasn't right. We got out and I checked the tyres to find one had a slow puncture and was about a third lower in tyre pressure than the other three tyres. He was a great driver, a real star of his era, and a very nice, warm, unassuming man. R.I.P. to the "Flying Finn" ! What a great story. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2021 9:13:35 GMT
Great driver and a very nice man. I was involved in world championship rallying during the 80's through to the mid 90's, and had dealings with Hannu Mikkola, Henri Toivonen, Pentti Airikkala (all now sadly deceased), Per Eklund, and Ari Vatanen, all great Scandinavian drivers. I remember doing a tyre test with Mikkola (during his Audi days) at the Sweet Lamb venue in Wales (was/is regularly used as a stage in the British round of the world championship). We were in the car assessing which different tyre constructions and tread patterns/compounds were suitable for the conditions and he was driving flat out so we were being bumped and thrown around all over the place when he suddenly stopped in mid stage and said something wasn't right. We got out and I checked the tyres to find one had a slow puncture and was about a third lower in tyre pressure than the other three tyres. He was a great driver, a real star of his era, and a very nice, warm, unassuming man. R.I.P. to the "Flying Finn" ! What a great story. I don't know if there are any rally fans on the Oatie, but this thread got me thinking about other great rally drivers of the past (nearly all Scandinavian), and how there seemed to be more "top" drivers around than today. To add to those already mentioned I could add Stig Blomqvist, Markku Alen, Bjorn Waldegard, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankunnuen, Walter Rohrl, Timo Makinen, not forgetting the only woman to have won a round (4 in fact)of the world championship, Michele Mouton. She finished 2nd in the 1982 championship. Later we saw the emergence of British drivers like Richard Burns and Colin McRae. In the 2000's we've seen the two great French drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier who between them have won every championship since 2004. |
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Post by telfordstoke on Feb 27, 2021 9:18:15 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live.
Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!!
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Post by bucknall67 on Feb 27, 2021 10:09:14 GMT
RIP.
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Post by maninasuitcase on Feb 27, 2021 10:32:49 GMT
RIP
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Post by dutchstokie on Feb 27, 2021 10:41:35 GMT
I don't know if there are any rally fans on the Oatie, but this thread got me thinking about other great rally drivers of the past (nearly all Scandinavian), and how there seemed to be more "top" drivers around than today. To add to those already mentioned I could add Stig Blomqvist, Markku Alen, Bjorn Waldegard, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankunnuen, Walter Rohrl, Timo Makinen, not forgetting the only woman to have won a round (4 in fact)of the world championship, Michele Mouton. She finished 2nd in the 1982 championship. Later we saw the emergence of British drivers like Richard Burns and Colin McRae. In the 2000's we've seen the two great French drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier who between them have won every championship since 2004. One here......love me rallying and Stock Car Racing. RIP Hannu Mikkola.......brilliant driver. |
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Post by Rednwhitenblue on Feb 28, 2021 10:22:45 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live. Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!! I was going to write something similar. Those names take you right back don't they, to a time when you were sat watching Grandstand waiting for the teleprinter (never took to the videprinter!) to tell you the Stoke score, and catching a bit of rallying in the meantime. |
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 28, 2021 10:25:38 GMT
I don't know if there are any rally fans on the Oatie, but this thread got me thinking about other great rally drivers of the past (nearly all Scandinavian), and how there seemed to be more "top" drivers around than today. To add to those already mentioned I could add Stig Blomqvist, Markku Alen, Bjorn Waldegard, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankunnuen, Walter Rohrl, Timo Makinen, not forgetting the only woman to have won a round (4 in fact)of the world championship, Michele Mouton. She finished 2nd in the 1982 championship. Later we saw the emergence of British drivers like Richard Burns and Colin McRae. In the 2000's we've seen the two great French drivers Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier who between them have won every championship since 2004. Henri Toivonen in the Lotus Talbot Sunbeam, really threw it around! |
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Post by yeokel on Feb 28, 2021 11:46:00 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live. Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!! I remember they used to hold a “special stage” of the RAC rally at Trentham Gardens for a few years in the late ‘70s. I went a couple of times and to a night stage there too. It was around the time of the Lancia Stratos. Rally drivers truly are some of the best. Same with moto cross bike racers. Off roaders really do learn how to “feel” their vehicle. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2021 20:49:15 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live. Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!! I had an absolutely great time Telford, I was (and still am) a big rally fan (and most motorsport actually) and I got paid for doing a job I loved ! Some great times, loads of foreign travel, dealings "behind the scenes" with the drivers and teams, but quite a few tetchy team debriefs if a wrong tyre choice had been made. I remember doing another tyre test with Pentti Airkkala when he was driving a Vauxhall Chevette and the only place he wanted to do it was in his own forest at his place (it was a country estate) near to Lohja in Finland, to the west of Helsinki. So me and the Vauxhall crew turned up and Pennti told us we would be staying in the "bike shed", which didn't exactly sound too good. It turned out it was a four bedroomed two storey wood chalet in his grounds which had a small room downstairs for his family's bikes. The test lasted four days during which time they also tried numerous different suspension settings, differentials etc, and we were usually finished for the day around 3.30 to 4.00 pm. The bike shed also had a sauna so we all piled in there, loads of beers, and then we all ran outside and jumped straight into the lake - which was bloody freezing even in July. After we'd dried off, and warmed up, we spent a couple of hours out on the lake fishing, with a few more beers, and then into town for a meal. I could go on (and on, and on !  ) about rallying, but after that I changed over to motorcyle racing and was involved in World Superbike, Grand Prix, British Superbikes, and road racing like the IOM TT, NW200 etc - if you thought rally drivers were crazy, then motorcycle racers were in a different league altogether. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2021 20:56:38 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live. Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!! I used to watch the Grandstand coverage from time to time but I remember they also used to show Rallycross (from places like Lydden) which was several laps of a circuit of part tarmac and part off road ? I seem to remember Trevor Hopkins and Martin Schanche were quite big names at the time. |
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 28, 2021 20:59:48 GMT
Rally used to be mint until the safer stuff came in. There’s loads of 80’s/90’s rally on YouTube. Incredible stuff!
I think they stopped some of the more powerful Class 2 stuff when somebody died in a race
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 28, 2021 21:02:06 GMT
Group B I meant, take a look at these mad bastards, not to mention the spectators!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2021 21:10:39 GMT
Group B I meant, take a look at these mad bastards, not to mention the spectators! It just got too powerful, too fast, and downright dangerous for the drivers and the spectators. |
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Post by AlliG on Feb 28, 2021 21:38:50 GMT
I used to watch the rally driving on , if I recall correctly, BBC on Grandstand and it's own show on a Sunday afternoon in the 80s and found it fascinating and hugely enjoyable. Many of those names resonate , but - and maybe it's living in London at the time- I never had opportunity to see an event live. Fascinating that you were involved Deeside, this EE board is never less than enlightening!! I remember they used to hold a “special stage” of the RAC rally at Trentham Gardens for a few years in the late ‘70s. I went a couple of times and to a night stage there too. It was around the time of the Lancia Stratos. Rally drivers truly are some of the best. Same with moto cross bike racers. Off roaders really do learn how to “feel” their vehicle. I marshalled at Trentham Gardens and Alton Towers a couple of times in the late 1970s. It was great getting to watch some of the great drivers pretty close up, and we used to get a free Century Oils rally jacket as well.  In the very early 1990s my future wife was part of the Red Cross team for the Weston Park stages, so I used to be be able to get to some great vantage points. There was one spot which overlooked the main road through the park, where the route took a 4 x 90 degree bend detour around a small wooded area. The safety guys made the spectators stand about 20-30 yards away, across a field and behind a fence with a ditch in front. The Group B cars hardly seemed to slow down or even twitch as they went round. Later the "historic" rally cars tried the same. About 3 of them ended up in the ditch in front of where we were standing. It really hammered home that the Group B cars were on a different planet to those used even 10-15 years before. |
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Post by Okie Stokie. on Mar 1, 2021 0:07:12 GMT
R.I.P.
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Post by callas12 on Mar 1, 2021 0:18:58 GMT
In the early to mid 80's I used to stand on the roundabout at the bottom of Junction 14 in Stafford to watch the Lombard RAC Rally event pass through.
The Rally cars used to head onto the M6 from the A34 sliproad after the Trentham Gardens stage. They then used to head south & exit at Junction 13 before travelling along the A449 into Penkridge where they had a pit stop at the site of Penkridge Market if anyone knows it, just on the right as you travel into Penkridge. & then from there they would travel down to the Weston Park Stage.
Used to a be cold November Sunday afternoon but where I used to stand on the pavement just off the A34 - M6 Slip road you could catch all the cars in their glory & get a good close up view of the drivers and co-drivers as they slowed for the Junction before powering up the access road on to the motorway.
Despite it being between stages they still had deadlines to meet & they were certainly pushing the motors even on the 'A' Roads.
Would then head home after a few hours and then watch Rally Report on the BBC with William Woollard later that evening to see what happened at the Trentham & Weston Park stages in particular. Sure Sutton Park in Bham used to be used as a Special Stage venue too. A quick check of YouTube and old Rally Report editions can be found on there. Used to love the opening music tune aswell,(Jewelled - by Propaganda) was as reminiscent to Rallying as MOTD music is to football.
Juha Kankkunen & Carlos Saint in the Toyota Celica were favourites of mine back in the day. As was Russell Brookes in the Opel Manta. Hadn't realised he died in October 2019.
Great days & great memories of my childhood. For some strange reason the Rally stopped using the Midlands venues for special stages & after a number of years concentrating on the Northern areas such as Kielder Forest they have solely rallied in Wales in most recent years.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Mar 1, 2021 15:03:56 GMT
Group B I meant, take a look at these mad bastards, not to mention the spectators! It just got too powerful, too fast, and downright dangerous for the drivers and the spectators. I was at Trentham Gardens the year last year Group B was allowed and stood at the watersplash. It was the year that the Metro 6R4 and Ford RS200 debuted, it's a shame we never got to see how well they would have done once they were sorted and dialled in. My main memory was how loud the Group B cars were, yet when the Group N cars came through, if it were not for the marshal's whistles, it would be easy to not realise they were there. |
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Post by dirtclod on Mar 1, 2021 18:47:20 GMT
Racing fan here in the states, mainly dirt-track (Sprint Cars, Late Models etc.) Was involved in Sprint racing back in the 90's. Also like FIA racing and Aussie Super 8's. Have always been captivated by rally drivers, especially back when they allowed spectators to stand right there on the course - imagine the pressure on the drivers! Throwing a car like that goes beyond precise, you really have to know your car. Superbikes - makes me nervous, but I can't tear my eyes away - those riders ARE on a whole other level.
I personally don't get into the NASCAR scene, my friends and I call it NAPCAR - they're making it more like a "reality" TV soap opera every year.
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Post by callas12 on Mar 1, 2021 19:05:21 GMT
Group B I meant, take a look at these mad bastards, not to mention the spectators! Great vid. Health & Safety be all over that in this day & age wouldn't they!! How did more people not get killed or seriously injured back then, some of them fans & photographers are literally inches away from a rally car spinning round bends towards them on the drift at full chat! |
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Post by questionable on Mar 1, 2021 19:11:31 GMT
Great driver and a very nice man. I was involved in world championship rallying during the 80's through to the mid 90's, and had dealings with Hannu Mikkola, Henri Toivonen, Pentti Airikkala (all now sadly deceased), Per Eklund, and Ari Vatanen, all great Scandinavian drivers. I remember doing a tyre test with Mikkola (during his Audi days) at the Sweet Lamb venue in Wales (was/is regularly used as a stage in the British round of the world championship). We were in the car assessing which different tyre constructions and tread patterns/compounds were suitable for the conditions and he was driving flat out so we were being bumped and thrown around all over the place when he suddenly stopped in mid stage and said something wasn't right. We got out and I checked the tyres to find one had a slow puncture and was about a third lower in tyre pressure than the other three tyres. He was a great driver, a real star of his era, and a very nice, warm, unassuming man. R.I.P. to the "Flying Finn" ! Awesome story and lucky you 👍 My wife’s cousin was an expert rally driver and I’ve sat alongside him a few times, talk about fast but another level what you did, scary how fast they must be and their reactions must be out of this world stuff |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2021 20:17:14 GMT
Great driver and a very nice man. I was involved in world championship rallying during the 80's through to the mid 90's, and had dealings with Hannu Mikkola, Henri Toivonen, Pentti Airikkala (all now sadly deceased), Per Eklund, and Ari Vatanen, all great Scandinavian drivers. I remember doing a tyre test with Mikkola (during his Audi days) at the Sweet Lamb venue in Wales (was/is regularly used as a stage in the British round of the world championship). We were in the car assessing which different tyre constructions and tread patterns/compounds were suitable for the conditions and he was driving flat out so we were being bumped and thrown around all over the place when he suddenly stopped in mid stage and said something wasn't right. We got out and I checked the tyres to find one had a slow puncture and was about a third lower in tyre pressure than the other three tyres. He was a great driver, a real star of his era, and a very nice, warm, unassuming man. R.I.P. to the "Flying Finn" ! Awesome story and lucky you 👍 My wife’s cousin was an expert rally driver and I’ve sat alongside him a few times, talk about fast but another level what you did, scary how fast they must be and their reactions must be out of this world stuff The first couple of times I sat in a car were a bit scary, but I soon came to realise that these guys really knew what they were doing and knew how to control and handle a car to the absolute limit, so it quickly became a different sort of experience. Yes, it was still very fast and exhilarating, but it also became easier to actually do what we were there for, so tyre and suspension tests became more analytical and just a job really. There always felt a big difference when we had been testing in forests or on gravel and then next time it was on tarmac or even on snow with studded tyres. |
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) about rallying, but after that I changed over to motorcyle racing and was involved in World Superbike, Grand Prix, British Superbikes, and road racing like the IOM TT, NW200 etc - if you thought rally drivers were crazy, then motorcycle racers were in a different league altogether.
