Those were the days - Mikkola in a Quattro! |
There was a time not so long ago when the Lombard RAC Rally
was the biggest sporting event in the UK, and now it doesn’t even merit a
mention on the main BBC news bulletins. In fact on Sunday night the 10 o’clock News
told us a Korean woman had won a golf tournament, but didn’t tell us who won
Rally Wales GB.
Thirty years ago, 150 crews set off from York on a four day
event which had 68 Special Stages totalling some 436 miles of tests – and millions
flocked into the forests to watch. They were attracted by the likes of Mikkola
and Mouton in the revolutionary four wheel drive Quattros, Toivonen, Vatanen
and McRae in Asconas, Pond and Brookes in Chevettes, Blomqvist in a Lotus
Sunbeam and Alen in the Lancia Rally plus many more world stars.
They were joined by a horde of British and foreign privateers
able, and welcome, to compete on this World Championship counter. I say ‘compete’
but even then the gap between works teams and private teams was apparent, but
that didn’t stop the ambitious and the hopeful from driving those very same
tests over which heroes had sped just minutes before, and seeing how close (or
how far!) they were from their times.
This was an adventure on a grand scale. The route totalled
1800 miles visiting the English Midlands on the first day then into Wales – and
they even rallied in the dark! On the second day they visited North Yorkshire,
Eskdalemuir in the Scottish borders and then Cumbria, before rounding off the third
day of action in north east Yorkshire.
Roads were busy, forests thronged and atmosphere electric. Daily
newspapers sent reporters and photographers, while local TV and radio stations turned
out their own staff to follow the rally as it passed through their areas. And
yes, there was some mainstream TV coverage. Certainly more than there is now.
Fast forward 30 years and what did we get? A two day event
stretched to four which charged spectators a lot more for much, much less.
Rally stars? Sebastien Loeb is a lovely bloke but he’s about
as colourful and provocative as French cheese while Jari-Matti Latvala is like the
school swot, inoffensive and polite. At least Petter looks excited at the
prospects of driving a rally car and sounds excited at the end of a stage.
For sure, their talent is spellbinding and their speed through
the forests breathtaking, but two and three half works teams? This year 31 teams
contested 19 stages on the International event over 3 days, while the 48
Nationals were restricted to an even shorter
event with just 9 stages in the same 3 days.
So where was the press exposure this year? Flick through any
newspaper pages or watch any mainstream TV channel and there was virtually
nothing. It was all pay-for-TV and social media, not to mention the 130 quid
Gold Passes for spectators and even dearer hospitality packages.
And here’s the thing, what’s the betting Scotland ends up
with a National tennis Academy? Andy Murray voiced the need at the weekend and
no doubt Wee Eck and his cronies will jump on the bandwagon. They’ve already
built a Velodrome in Glasgow.
Good on them for getting that, but what has British and
Scottish rallying achieved for itself over the past 30 years? As other sports have improved their profile and
following, rallying has failed to capitalise on its past success. The McRae and
Burns years have been squandered with nothing to show for it.
And yet this sport still has a lot to offer. At an amateur
level the forthcoming McRae and Mull rallies provide the ideal excuse to get out
of the armchair and walk into a Perthshire forest or over a Mull moor to stand there
and revel in the exciting, sporting endeavours of enthusiastic amateurs having a good
time in cars.
You can’t really appreciate the sheer diversity and unpredictability
of the Scottish weather till you’ve experienced it. By the same token, you can’t
fully appreciate an open fire in a pub, till you’ve experienced the Scottish
weather!
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