DO YOU KNOW THE ORIGINS AND EARLY YEARS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RALLY COMPETITION IN THE WORLD?
This 2-in-1 compilation brings together the first two volumes of Chad Miller's All About the WRC Rally by Rally collection, covering the origins of the competition through the mid-1990s.
In the early 1970s, the world was calling for rally. After FIA approval, the World Rally Championship was created in 1973. Its origins, as in almost everything, were not easy. The first volume deals with those first difficult years, where beasts such as the Lancia Stratos, the Fiat Abarth, the Audi Quattro... or legendary events such as Monte Carlo, the always frozen Sweden or the never-ending Safari... The first great names of the competition also appeared: Munari, Blomqvist, Röhrl, Mikkola...
In 1985, where the second volume of the series begins, the Lancia Rally 037 fought with the all-powerful Audi Quattro, and Peugeot appeared. However, it would not be any of these brands that would mark an era between the late 80s and early 90s. You will enjoy the rise and fall of one of the most brilliant vehicles of this competition, the Lancia Delta, and its exciting rivalry with the Toyota Celica, through legendary drivers such as Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol, Carlos Sainz or Miki Biasion. All this, without forgetting the omnipresence of Ford and the thrust of Mitsubishi and Subaru.
In this book you will find:
-The origin of the championship and the controversial first Monte Carlo rally.
-Jean-Claude Andruet, the first winner of an official world championship rally.
-The Scandinavian and Saab domination of the successive Swedish rallies.
-The particular and demanding Safari Rally year after year, Mehta and Datsun/Nissan territory.
-The first world champion constructor: Alpine-Renault
-The FIA Drivers' Cup and its transition to the World Drivers' Championship
-The rallies that decided constructors' championships throughout the struggles between Lancia, Fiat, Ford, Audi and Datsun.
-The rallies that gave the drivers' championship to heroes such as Waldegard, Röhrl, Mikkola and Blomqvist.
-Peugeot's first successes in the championship with the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 of Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen.
-The fateful 1985 Corsica rally in which Attilio Bettega lost his life.
-The rise of one of the most dominant cars in the competition, the Lancia Delta
-The fatal accident of Henri Toivonen in Corsica in 1986 and the debate on the safety of Group B cars that ended with the end of one of the most legendary categories.
-Miki Biasion's glory beyond his two world championships.
-The rivalry between the Lancia Delta and the Toyota Celica, represented through the successful Kankkunen and Carlos Sainz.
-The attempt of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth to join the fight for the title through François Delecour and Biasion.
-The timid advance and the punctual successes of the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 of Kenneth Eriksson and the Subaru Legacy RS of Colin McRae, giving origin to the later Japanese ague in the competition.
-Results and evolution of the championship after each rally between 1973 and 1994.
All this and much more in a journey through the early years of the World Rally Championship through each of its events. Ready to revisit each of its rallies?