H&H-16

Handbrakes & Hairpins Issue 16

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In this week’s Issue: Behind The Scenes

Issue

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Fiesty Fiat 131 Abarth

Deon Retief: A Rally Icon

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Markko Martin Wins Bettega Rally!

Former WRC driver Markko Martin lifted the winner’s trophy at the recent 2007 Bettega Memorial Rally, driving a Subaru Impreza WRC2007. Martin, showing the form that shook the WRC scene alive in recent years, won 21 of the 24 stages!

This event, run in conjunction with the Bologna Motor Show, is now its 23rd running. It pays tribute to the memory of the late Attilio Bettega, a star of the world rally scene in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The rallysprint has been an intrinsic part of the Italian motor show, held around a short superspecial stage constructed in the grounds of the exhibition centre, and pitches competitors head-to-head in three lap elimination races.

Having competed sporadically for the last two years, Martin relished the chance to compete against world rally drivers Francois Duval, Jan Kopecky and Toni Gardemeister in the latest WRC Impreza, shod with the new Pirelli PZero control tyre.

Sunday morning brought snow and ice making the surface very slippery, but as the track dried in the afternoon the competition got closer. Following some small setup changes to adapt to the conditions, the 32 year old Estonian excelled to achieve a well-deserved place in the final.

Taking to the start line for the best-of-five shoot-out alongside Gardemeister in a Peugeot 307, the two delivered a thrilling spectacle that took the fight down to the wire. Scoring two wins apiece, the final lasted the full five races, the Estonian and the Finn fighting tooth and nail in a battle of commitment and precision.

Ultimately, Martin edged out Gardemeister to snatch the win on the last heat of the final by a mere two tenths of a second. Belgian Duval, also driving a Subaru Impreza on this occasion, joined them on the podium in third place. H&H

New Tyre Rules For WRC

The FIA have announced the rules regarding the use of tyres in the World Rally Championship for 2008. The rule changes coincide with the beginning of the FIA’s three-year sole-supplier contract with Pirelli.

Pirelli will produce three different types of tyre. The asphalt tyre (produced in 18-inch wheel size) will be called “P-Zero”, the gravel tyre (15-inch) will be called “Scorpion” and the winter tyre will be called “Sottozero”.

“Sottozero” tyres will be available in two variations. The snow pattern tyre (18-inch) is exclusively for next month’s Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo (January 24-27), while the ice pattern tyre (16-inch) will be used on the Uddeholm Swedish Rally.

The hand cutting of tyres to create different tread combinations is no longer permitted. However, hand cutting under strict design restrictions will be allowed on asphalt tyres to provide suitable tread patterns for wet conditions. Mousse anti-puncture inserts are completely banned from all tyres. To compensate for this, crews will be able to carry a maximum of two spare tyres on board.

For the gravel events, “Scorpion” tyres will be produced in both hard and soft compound, depending on the nature of the event.

For all the gravel rallies up to Turkey and then New Zealand later on, hard compound tyres must be used. For the rest of the events soft compound tyres are supplied.

For the asphalt events of Germany, Spain and Corsica, “P-Zero” tyres will be produced in both hard compound for dry conditions and soft compound for the wet.

Tyres will be delivered to competitors at events and all studding will be carried out by Pirelli.

Pirelli are also producing other tyres for the Junior World Rally Championship competitors. There will be 15-inch for the gravel rallies and 17-inch for the asphalt events. H&H

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49 Crews Entered For WRC Rally Monte Carlo

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For this year’s WRC 2008 season, the thrilling rallying action will be kicking off in Monte Carlo, the land of fast cars, even faster women, buckets loads of money, and the infamous Col de Turini. Starting on 24 January and running to 27 January, the WRC Rally Monte Carlo has all the promise of a truly great event.

According to www.wrc.com, 49 crews have already entered the WRC Rally Monte Carlo. Organisers have extended the event to four days of competition, allowing more time for testing and shakedowns. Of the top six teams entered, only Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team will be sitting out this rally. No comment has been forthcoming from this team as to their decision to miss the WRC Rally Monte Carlo.

Conrad Rautenbach has confirmed he will be contesting all 15 rounds of the WRC championship, piloting a privateer Citroen Xsara WRC machine. Good luck!

Other news to filter out of the giant WRC press machine is that the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will once more enter Khalid Al Qassimi in the WRC championship. It will be interesting to follow this crew’s progress through their second WRC season.

The 2008 WRC Rally Monte Carlo does not qualify as an event for the JWRC and the PWRC, so these machines will not be in action yet. H&H

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Behind The Scenes: What’s Inside A WRC Car’s Toolbox?

Image: RallyStuff.Net Over the rigours and challenges of a long rally stage, there are many obstacles that could bring a Subaru World Rally Team Impreza’s rally to an end. Whilst punctures are most common, damage to suspension, brakes, bodywork or even engine can result from heavy impacts or accidents.

As a result, each crew carries a surprisingly comprehensive selection of over 100 tools and spare components on board to cope with most situations. As a general rule, if it is realistic to rectify a problem at the side of the road the crew will have the tools and means to enable them to do so.

While the exact tool kit varies according to driver preference, in each Impreza WRC2007 there is a specialised wheel jack, a wheel brace, electric impact wrench and a selection of sockets and spanners of the most common sizes.

The cars are also packed with equipment ranging from engine sensors, allen keys, nuts and bolts, hose clips and blanking plugs to fresh engine oil, a spare alternator belt and backup communications equipment. To adjust the car’s setup, there are tools to adjust dampers, differential pre-load and tyre pressures. Each has its own dedicated place where it can be easily reached.

Images: RallyStuff.Net

Unlike your average car jack, often mounted in the boot, the specially designed version used by the team allows the car to be raised and lowered much more quickly via a pump-handle action, and is mounted in the Impreza’s cabin for easy access. From jack up to repacking, a complete wheel change can be completed in less than a minute.

Crucially, the jack is capable of raising the car almost twice the height reached by a standard road car jack so that, when competing on gravel rallies, the increased suspension travel can be accounted for and the car lifted sufficiently to raise the wheel clear of the ground.

The electric impact wrench, strapped to the floor of the co-driver’s footwell, can remove wheel nuts and other bolts with less effort and more quickly than by using a hand tool. This saves time and also means the crew are less exhausted by the end, enabling them to be more focussed on completing the stage.

If the crews run into trouble on a stage, every second counts. Braving all conditions, crews may find themselves working at the side of the road in temperatures ranging from minus 25 degrees Celsius in Sweden to above forty on rallies such as Sardinia or, in 2008, Jordan. But it is not enough to simply have the tools, and the team’s drivers and co-drivers are all trained to know exactly how to use them. - Credit: www.swrt.com. H&H

Image: RallyStuff.Net

Images: RallyStuff.Net

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This Week’s Favourite WRC Rally Car: Fiat Abarth 131

Fiat has a long and illustrious history in rallying, nationally and internationally. The quintessential Fiat rally car, for me, is the Fiat 131 Abarth...

This was a highly successful rallying weapon for the Italian motor manufacturer, as this model stormed off with no less than three World Rally Championship titles (in 1977, 1978 and 1980). Some of the greatest ever rally drivers piloted these vehicles, namely Markku Alen, Timo Salonen and Walter Rohrl. The official factory-backed team was sponsored by Italian airline Alitalia, and bore their distinctive red, white and green livery.

Simplistic in its layout, the Fiat 131 Abarth belied its humble coverings and mechanicals by dominating rallying, outperforming their rivals the Ford Escort Mk IIs. According to reports I have read the Fiat 131 Abarth’s construction did include carbon fibre parts, but even this weight-saving exercise did not make it lighter than the Ford Escort Mk II. In fact, the Escort was not only lighter, but also more powerful. So how did the Fiat 131 Abarth manage to win 18 WRC rallies and claim three WRC championship titles? I have no answer to that, but I assume that through dedication and fine-tuning the Italian engineers and mechanics were able to prepare an immaculate rally car for their talented drivers.

In terms of specifications, the Fiat 131 Abarth would today be found wanting. The motor pushed out 230 BHP at 7 500rpm and 230Nm of torque from 5 750rpm. This translated into brisk acceleration, and great straight-line speeds. This Fiat, however, seemed to be more stable and predictable in corners than its competitors, thus allowing drivers to stick to the accelerator pedal for that instant longer.

Did you know that Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino and was founded in 1899. The little company produced fantastic vehicles, and continues to do so today. This, and the famous Italian competitiveness, spurred the company to become

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Image: www.motgorclassic.at - Wolgang Simlinger involved in motorsport.

It was not until 1970 that Fiat decided to enter the cut-throat world of rallying to take on the mighty Lancias who were highly successful at the time. It was highly odd for Fiat to do this, as the company owned Lancia... Fiat were dead set on beating Lancia, and this was no friendly in-house competition. Fiat pulled out all the figurative stops in their bid to be named best.

Fiat’s first rally car was the Fiat 124, a direct competitor to Lancia’s Fulvia. The Fiat 124 rally car was a rear-wheel drive car based on the hardtop convertible model, while the Lancia Fulvia was a front-wheel drive coupe. Lancia did not take this lying down, and brought out the specialised rally car, the Lancia Stratos. Fiat made attempts at their own version, but proved unsuccessful. Fiat changed their attack to the Ford Escort RS with the mighty Fiat 131 Mirafiori.

During the time of the 131 Mirafiori (1976 - 1981), it achieved 18 WRC rally victories, while the Ford Escort RS and Lancia Stratos notched up 17 WRC wins each.

At the end of the Fiat 131 rally project did the powers that be at the company adopt new opinions regarding in-house competition.

Fiat’s Abarth programme moved to Lancia hands, and Lancia received the full backing from the mother company from their on in their motorsport endeavours. H&H

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Past WRC Master: Hannu Mikkola

Hanno Olavi Mikkola was born on 24 May 1942 in Joensuu in Finland in humble surroundings, and went on to become a WRC legend...

Mikkola’s rallying career spanned 31 years, starting off rallying with a Volvo PV 544 in 1963, but he was most successful during the 1970s and 1980s. The 1970s saw Mikkola rise to top form in the many international events he was able to enter, usually in a Ford Escort, and in 1979 he made a serious challenge for the World Rally Champion crown, but finished runner-up.

He was a sven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and also won the RAC Rally in Great Britain no less than four times. Mikkola was joined by Swedish co-driver Arne Hertz in 1977 and the pair were very quickly considered a force to be reckoned with in the rallying fraternity. The Mikkola/Hertz partnership lasted thirteen years, through to the end of the 1990 season, where Mikkola was then partnered by Johnny Johansson for the 1991 season.

Mikkola was yet again runner-up in 1980 with Ford, but then switched to the new Audi team for 1981 (which proved to be a smart move!) to drive the revolutionary four-wheel drive Audi Quattro. The Audi/Mikkola partnership proved successful from the outset.

Mikkloa led the 1981 WRC Rally Monte Carlo, Audi’s first ever event, until an accident forced him to retire from the rally. He won the next event, the WRC Rally Sweden, convincingly but the Audi had problems with reliability and he was unable to repeat his win on the WRC Rally RAC Great Britain. That year Mikkola “only” managed third overall in the WRC Drivers’ Championship! He won the 1000 Lakes Rally and the RAC Rallies the following year, but did not improve on third position in the championship, finishing behind Opel’s Walter Rohrl and team-mate Michele Mouton.

1983 was to be Mikkola’s year. He notched up four wins and three second places, and he lifted the WRC Drivers’ crown. A second place in the championship followed in 1984, behind his team-mate Stig Blomqvsit, but in 1985 he dropped to 22nd in the final standings after the Audi team was overwhelmed by the new Group B competition from Peugeot and Lancia. Mikkola remained with Audi until 1987, winning the Safari Rally in a Group A Audi 200 that year before switiching to Mazda for the 1986 season.

Rallying is the most thrilling form of motorsport today, attracting an international audience of tens of millions each event. With boundless levels of talent, the drivers and navigators mesmerise these spectators with their gravity-defying antics.

But, what got them started in sport? What makes them tick? Drivers and navigators: please send me these answers to evanrothman@gmail.com!

He remained with Mazda until entering into semi-retirement in 1991, although he continued to make sporadic appearances on international rallies until retiring completely from motorsport in 1993. Mikkola has made brief appearances since then, including re-uniting with his co-driver Gunnar Palm for the 25th anniversary run of the 1970 London-to-Mexico World Cup Rally (Mikkola won the original 1970 event and the 1995 re-run) and competing in the London-Sydney Marathon 2000 Rally, re-united with his 1968 1000 Lakes Rally winning Ford Escort RS1600 and co-driven by his eldest son, Juha.

Mikkola was immortalised by the opening line of Half Man Half Biscuit’s 1985 song Architecture and Morality, Ted and Alice: “The wonderful dexterity of Hannu Mikkola / Makes me want to shake hands with the whole of Finland�.

Hannu Mikkola was involved in the only international stage rally to end in a dead heat. On the 1978 Burmah International, Mikkola and Russell Brookes finished equal on total stage times, but Mikkola won the event by virtue of having been faster than Brookes on the opening stage. H&H Nationality: Finnish Active years: 1973 - 1993 Teams: Ford, Toyota, Audi, Mazda World rallies: 123 Championships: 1 (1983) Wins: 18 Podium finishes: 44 Stage wins: 629 Points: 655 First world rally: 1973 Monte Carlo Rally First win: 1974 1000 Lakes Rally Last win: 1987 Safari Rally Last world rally: 1993 1000 Lakes Rally

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Deon Retief: A Rally Icon

Images supplied by Pierre Retief.

Pierre Retief is a renowned motorsport photographer. Being involved in various spheres of motorsport for many years, it came as surprise to learn that Pierre had followed in his parents’ steps. His father, Deon, was instrumental in the success of Datsun-Nissan motorsport initiatives in the 1970s.

Deon Retief was appointed as Technical Head of the Special Vehicle Department at Datsun-Nissan in 1971, and prepared all their rally cars and “spesiale verrigting modele“. Deon first became involved with Datsun-Nissan cars in 1966 when he prepared Ewold van Bergen’s rally cars. Following Ewold each event, and maintaining the car throughout each rally, Deon became the first ever service crew for Datsun-Nissan! And this is probably the first service crew in South African rallying history.

In 1970 Ewold and Minota were crowned the South African National Rally Champions, and Deon regarded this as the highlight of his career.

Not only was he excellent at preparing cars, but Deon also participated in “Speedway” in 1945/6 as well as “grassbaan wedrenne” in Zululand from 1947 to 1952. He and his wife soon began entering club and national rallies in various cars over the years, namely a Zephyr and a Triumph TR3. They took part in the final L.M. Rally in 1957, and the very first Total Rally in 1958. - Credit: “Op Pad”, March/April 1975. H&H

There are many cars on our roads used to dominate the regional, national and international rallying today, and with vehicles as above, and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Series and Subaru Impreza WRX STI generations, road cars are inspired by their rallying participation. Fancy a road car as a rallying machine? Send me your thoughts, as well as your letters, stories and opinions to evanrothman@gmail.com.