RALLYLEGEND
WHEN HISTORY REPEATS
Oh, the nostalgia of bygone days. You could tell a rally driver by the fearless glint in his eye, his hairstyle, and the age-old gestures. As the mid ’70s dawned, rallying began to embark on its golden age; spanning the globe, tinged with a romantic glamour, and cars that matched the moviestar styling the sport had started to gather. The ’70s and ’80s era of the sport became folklore: the cars, the personalities, the romance — and unforgettably, the danger — made rallying bigger than Formula 1.
Following the Alpine era, the Lancia Stratos, and cars like it, which began life as a simple stylistic exercise on the theme of a primeval wedge, turned into a fully fledged beast dominating the sport. This was when the term ‘specially developed’ was introduced to rallying. The wedge with a Ferrari engine was no prima donna, either, winning at the hands of Markku Alén and Björn Waldegård in almost every rally except the Safari. It paved the way for the ’80s era and the insane killer Bs. Anyone fortunate enough to remember the classic era will fondly recall experiences of standing stage-side in the dark waiting for the howl of BDA Escorts and Fiat 131s. The short yet blinding glimpse of spotlights, followed by the red tail lights disappearing into the distance, is an era that is now long forgotten in the modern world. Luckily for fans, there is one event that once again brings the classic excitement, glamour, and romance of the sport back.
Rallylegend celebrates the bygone era that made the sport infamous. The cars that took rallying to the brink are now unleashed on the tarmac ribbons of San Marino, Italy, every year in a celebration of everything rally. The poster children of rallying converge for five days each year for three days of tarmac rally action. Lancia, Peugeot, Audi, Opel, Fiat, Ferrari, and Ford are among the legends that are brought out to play. The old medieval cobbled roads of San Marino are almost identical in every way to the stages that superstars such as Ari Vatanen, Walter Röhrl, and Alén threaded these cars down in anger. Fans can once again witness the icons’
rally cars belching flames as their 450kw engines and turbochargers whistle incessantly. Inside the cockpit, a ballet of brutality is played out on their pedals while the co-drivers fire notes off like a semi-automatic machine gun.
For fans, being able to get up close and personal with their heroes that were outlawed long ago is a special experience in itself. Year in and year out, names such as Markku Alén, Miki Biasion, and Juha Kankkunen, that haven’t seen spotted on time sheets for a long time, reappear. For these greats, it is a truly special experience to be reacquainted with their cars without the pressure of putting their life on the line. Markku remembers vividly what it was like driving in 1986.
“It was a long time ago, but I still remember,” he says. “All the time, you were wondering when would be your next accident, and death was always in the back of our minds as we started each stage.”
Rallylegend treats both drivers and fans to three stages per day, with two held in the daylight, and one in the inky darkness of the Italian night — just the way real rallying used to be, if you ask anyone of the old-school era. However, unlike that era, those driving in Rallylegend seem to forget totally about the stopwatch. It isn’t about how fast you complete your special stages; it is about showboating, and driving the whole strip of tarmac with a big grin on your face. The schedules are more relaxed, allowing the fans to mix with the machines, and really give the entire event a more sedate, relaxed feel — until the cars spool up on the start line, anyway.
Modern rallying is a very different beast to how it was in the ’80s, with drivers facing a whole different range of challenges. Peering into the crude cockpit of the Lancia S4, where the crew sat on seats bolted to the top of fuel tanks, and a thin sheet of aluminium separated the crew from the hot engine bolted behind their back, makes you appreciate what drivers of that era went through. A modern tarmac rally usually consists of 350km of special stages, unlike the 1985 Corsica event where crews tackled 1047km in anger. The ’80s is an era that will forever be remembered in a romantic sense as man and machine at the ragged edge of almost superhuman ability. For others, it is the aura of death and danger that lingers in their memory. Either way, the Group B era will forever hold a special place in the hearts of rally fans.
While the time when development moved faster than red tape, safety was secondary, and blind faith was what piloted the cars down each special stage, has well and truly passed, Rallylegend has brought back the best, and worst, of rallying for all the best reasons. The legends who drove, and were driven, come together to celebrate and toast the darkest yet brightest and most incredible days that the sport of rallying has ever seen.