CASTLE COMBE RALLYDAY WOWS THE FANS
Stars and the cars gathered for another unforgettable event in Wiltshire.
If your hen’s missing any teeth they were probably at Castle Combe on Saturday – that’s where much of the world’s other rare stuff was. Take Ford’s stillborn RS1700T Group B car, for example. Only four of them in the world and 50 per cent of them were at Rallyday.
After last year’s rain came stunning sunshine and a day which transported thousands of fans to their favourite eras of the sport in a mesmerising display of cars and drivers.
A former world champion, a World Rally Championship returnee and, quite possibly, another Mcrae superstar all made their Rallyday debut on Saturday, in the shape of Didier Auriol, Craig Breen and Max Mcrae. All three starred. All three booked return tickets on their way out of Wiltshire.
Like his former Lancia team-mate Miki Biasion last year, Auriol went down a storm. Unfortunately, he didn’t spend as long as he’d hoped thrilling the crowds in some of the fabulous Rally Replay-tended Lancias.
Emerging from a Martini-liveried 1992 Delta HF Integrale earlier than expected, Auriol looked concerned.
“The pipe,” he said pointing under the bonnet. “The pipe from the power steering pump has broken. It’s not possible to continue.”
Ushered towards an equally stunning Repsol car from a year later, he headed back out, only to be thwarted by a misfire.
Auriol shrugged and smiled, taking time out for yet another selfie.
“It would have been nice to drive, it’s always nice to come back to these cars again, but this means we have more time with the people and that’s a good thing,” he said.
“Miki told me this was a really friendly event when he came here last year and he’s right. It’s really fantastic. I want to come back.”
The track time is a big part of Rallyday. The chance to see a bit of absolutely everything. Mark Clayton’s bonkers 1600cc Mini – complete with a sequential gearbox – was simply superb and certainly caught Alister Mcrae’s attention as he passed him under braking for one of the chicanes.
Mcrae said: “I saw this Mini coming in the mirror and thought ‘ooo, that’s brave’. He flew past us and went through the chicane cocking wheel, it was brilliant!”
Michael Lester’s Ferrari 308 GTB always raises an eyebrow and a smile, with
Guy Wigley’s Vauxhall Astra kit car representing Formula Two perfectly.
Also coming from the GM stable was
Dave Kedward’s Calibra 4x4.
We’re back to hen’s teeth with this car. In fact, this was rarer than anything else at Rallyday, with only two of these cars coming out of Russelsheim. Stig Blomqvist drove this car, which was the first rally car Xtrac ever fitted with active transmission, on the 1993 Swedish Rally. Rallyday also welcomed the iconic Leyton House colours back as Dean Thomas drove the ex-robin Herd Darrian T90 he’s spent the last five months lovingly bolting back together. That time was, most definitely, not wasted.
As much as this event is about watching cars on track, it’s very much about another sort of stage – the one driven by brilliant Welsh duo Becs Williams and Howard Davies as well as former Safari Rally winner Ryan Champion.
Once again, this trio delivered outstanding aural accompaniment to the day.
Williams’s interview with Breen was a particular half-hour highlight, affording him to share his deep appreciation of the Metro 6R4.
Breen had a huge crowd in the palm of his hand as he talked in depth about the car’s foibles.
“Why did they run the power steering off the front diff ?,” he quizzed. “That meant the assistance you got for the steering was directly related to the work the front cliff was doing-so sometimes you got no power steering. "The 6R4 is an excellent piece of agricultural engineering-with a whole load of parts which shouldn't work in a rally car, but they do. It's a special car, one I've always loved, rightfrom when my dad would start his car up at night. "In all of my travels everywhere I've been in the world, I've yet to hear a noise that comes dose to a 6R4." The 35-year celebration of the Metro 6R4's competitive debut was a big deal on Saturday. One father and son stood and stared at Breen's machine. "That's the reason I've driven 200 miles," said the father. "I grew up watching these cars and I've always loved them. It's a dream to be this dose to these cars," he added, pointing in the direction of Breen and the awesome Computervision car Tony Pond drove to third place on the 1985RAC Rally which sat alongside.