Showing posts with label Colin McRae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colin McRae. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2015
Former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola to race Audi quattro in the McRae Rally Challenge.
Former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola together with a number of rare and exotic Audi quattro rally cars are heading to Knockhill next month (16-17 May) - Group B machines that changed the sport in the 1980s for ever.
The “Flying Finn” and long standing co-driver Arne Hertz will be in attendance with the four-wheel-drive “supercars” that are part of demonstrations and displays at the McRae Rally Challenge, a special two-day rally event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Colin McRae’s World Rally Championship win.
Mikkola, who celebrates his 73rd birthday next month, was active in rallying between 1973-93 and two years after joining Audi, won the 1983 Driver’s World title achieving four wins and three second places in the revolutionary Audi quattro with Hertz.
Hannu commented: “It’s always nice to get back behind the wheel of an Audi quattro rally car and never fails to bring back special memories for me. Scotland has always been a favourite place of mine to rally in the UK, and I have been fortunate enough to do really well there too. It’s also great to support this event and celebrate a fantastic achievement in British motorsports and remember what Colin accomplished in the sport.”
Mikkola won the 1981 and ‘82 RAC Rallies, that swept through Scotland, and also claimed victory, with Phil Short, on the 1982 Scottish International Rally in an Audi A2 quattro. He missed out on the “world” crown to fellow Audi driver Stig Blomqvist that year – the Swede also claiming the British Open Championship title in 1983.
Various derivatives of the Audi quattro were also victorious in Scotland in the hands of Blomqvist (1983), Malcolm Wilson (1985) and David Llewellin (1987).
The original Audi quattro rallycar debuted in 1980 while the Audi Sport quattro S1 E2 that Mikkola drives at the Colin McRae Anniversary event was rallied in 1985. Between 1981-85, quattros won 23 WRC events and netted two WRC Manufacturers’ titles (1982/84).
Northern Irishman Kris Meeke wins his first World Championship round
- Northern Irishman Kris Meeke wins his first World Championship round
- First British WRC winner since Colin McRae in 2002
- Welshman Elyfn Evans claims maiden podium finish
Kris Meeke yesterday became the first British driver to win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship for more than a decade. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland made his big breakthrough in Argentina with an historic victory on round four of this year’s WRC. He is the first British winner since Colin McRae’s final victory back on the 2002 Safari Rally.
The Dungannon man, co-driven by Irishman Paul Nagle, led from virtually the start and after four days of intense and gruelling competition, he finished 18.1 seconds ahead of his Citroën team-mate Mads Østberg.
Adding further to British delight, Elfyn Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt finished third in their M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta RS. It was the promising young Welshman’s first-ever WRC podium and delivered the first double podium for British drivers since New Zealand in 2001.
Victory also means Meeke becomes just the fourth British driver to win a WRC round – he joins rally legends Roger Clark, McRae and Richard Burns in a very elite club. Clark, McRae and Burns also all savoured success in their home event – a feat the Ulsterman now will be aiming to emulate when the WRC comes to these shores for Wales Rally GB (12-15 November).
“What can I say? It’s been a long road… and the man who did most is not here,” said an emotional Meeke dedicating his landmark success to the late McRae who was the Northern Irishman’s mentor earlier in his career.
Confidence-boosting performances from both Meeke and Evans is another major boost to the sport in this country and will generate even more interest in the UK’s concluding round of this year’s WRC.
“This is a great day for British rallying and we send our congratulations to both camps,” confirmed Ben Taylor, managing director of Wales Rally GB. "The whole sport has been excited to have two drivers in the WRC again and now to see Kris on the top step and Elfyn alongside him reinforces that UK rallying is moving in the right direction.
I'm sure they will both have the podium in their sights when the WRC comes to Wales in November which is an incredibly exciting prospect for everyone connected with our event.”
Home fans don't have long to wait for full details of the competitive route for 2015 Wales Rally GB, which will be revealed in the coming weeks, together with news of a revised ticketing policy.
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