Wales Rally GB































Wales Rally GB
Status active
Genre motorsporting event
Frequency annual
Location(s) Wales
Country United Kingdom
Inaugurated 1932




Manfred Stohl driving a Citroën Xsara WRC at the 2007 Rally GB.


The Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high-profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in North Wales. From its first running in 1932 until the 53rd event in 1997, it was known as the RAC Rally until adopting its current name in 2003 except in 2009 when it was Rally of Great Britain.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally and Coachwork Competition


    • 1.2 Pre- & post-World War II years


    • 1.3 Forest stages


    • 1.4 Spectator Special stages


    • 1.5 Group B


    • 1.6 Title Showdowns




  • 2 Nordic successes


  • 3 Title sponsors


  • 4 2005


  • 5 2008


  • 6 2013


  • 7 Results


    • 7.1 Multiple winners




  • 8 References


  • 9 External links





History



1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally and Coachwork Competition


The inaugural event was the 1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally, which was the first major rally of the modern era in Great Britain. Of the 367 crews entered, 341 competitors in unmodified cars started from nine different towns and cities (London, Bath, Norwich, Leamington, Buxton, Harrogate, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh.)


The Official Programme explained, "Different routes are followed from the nine starting points, each approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long, but all finishing at Torquay. On every route there are four controls in addition to the starting and finishing controls, and these are open for periods varying from seven to four hours. Competitors may report at these controls at any time during the hours of opening.......At the final control they must check in as near their fixed finishing time as possible, and any considerable deviation from this time results in loss of marks."


As well as completing the route to a time schedule the competitors were required to perform a special test involving slow running, acceleration and braking. Additionally a Concours d'Elegance was held at the finish in Torquay. There was no official winner, although Colonel A H Loughborough in a Lanchester 15/18 was recorded as having the fewest penalty points in the decisive test at the finish.[1]



Pre- & post-World War II years


The following year's RAC Rally followed a similar format, but with Hastings as the chosen finish. Over three hundred competitors entered, and this time Miss Kitty Brunel, driving an AC Ace, was the driver with the fewest penalties.


The rally was run annually until 1939, after which the outbreak of the Second World War forced its suspension. However, it resumed in 1951, and has been contested every year since with only two exceptions, 1957 (due to the Suez Crisis) and 1967 (due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease). This latter incident was on the eve of the event, so competitors staged a mock rally at the Bagshot proving ground as consolation for the press and television (ATV had been persuaded to provide major coverage with in-car cameras for the first time).



Forest stages


In 1960, organising secretary Jack Kemsley negotiated with the Forestry Commission to allow a two-mile (3 km) section of forest road in Argyll, Scotland to be used as a competitive section. It proved enormously successful, and the following year forest roads all over the country were opened up to the drivers. This, combined with the introduction of special timing clocks and seeding of entries, secured the rally's future, and cemented its reputation as one of the most gruelling and unpredictable fixtures on the calendar.[2] In 2016 an agreement was reached between the MSA and Natural Resources Wales to continue to use Welsh forest stages for three years.[3]



Spectator Special stages


In 1971, 'Spectator Stages' were introduced and, by 1975 had become an important part of the event, usually at stately homes and other public venues like Sutton Park. The first day was, by then, devoted to these stages. Drivers did not enjoy them, and referred to them disparagingly as "Mickey Mouse stages" because of the lack of challenge they offered,[4][5] but nonetheless they contributed to the results. For example, in 1998 championship leader Tommi Mäkinen crashed out of the rally on one of these stages, and very nearly lost that year's world championship. More recently, they have given way to the 'Super Special Stages', which are equally maligned by the drivers, but just as popular with spectators.



Group B





Michèle Mouton at the 1984 rally with an Audi Sport Quattro


The 1986 RAC Rally was the last European event for Group B vehicles. These highly tuned turbocharged cars were to be banned as they were deemed too powerful and dangerous, in light of the various accidents in which they were involved. In the end, the Peugeot 205 T16 Evo. 2s of Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen and Mikael Sundström took three of the top four places, with only Markku Alén's second position in the Lancia Delta S4 preventing a monopoly of the podium.


There were 83 finishers out of 150 starters in 1986, compared to year of worst attrition in 1981 when only 54 of the 151 starters reached the end. This was in stark contrast to the early years: in 1938, there were only 6 retirements from 237 starters.



Title Showdowns


For many years the rally has traditionally been the last round of the World Championship, and therefore has staged many famous down-to-the-wire showdowns.


In 1991 the world championship came down-to-the-wire in the British forests, with Lancia driver Juha Kankkunen edging out Toyota’s Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard suffered engine issues and went off the road in Kielder Forest and damaged his car.


One year later and Sainz and Kankkunen returned to the RAC along with Frenchman Didier Auriol to fight for the 1992 title. Auriol’s challenge would end with engine failure, and Kankkunen’s hopes were also dashed when he went off and damaged his steering on the final day of the rally in southern Scotland. Sainz eventually won the rally and with it claimed his second world title.


In 1995, it was estimated that around 2 million fans lined the forests to witness Scotsman Colin McRae win his second consecutive RAC Rally, and in the process beat teammate Carlos Sainz to take his first and only world title in front of thousands of fans at Chester Racecourse. McRae would have less fortune in future years; despite winning again in 1997, he was pipped to the title by Finn Tommi Mäkinen by just one point. The Scot would come up short again in 2001 when he crashed out of an early lead, gifting the championship to his English rival Richard Burns.


One of the most dramatic showdowns was 1998, when championship leader Tommi Mäkinen crashed out on one of the spectator stages after hitting a patch of oil, and seemingly handing the title to Toyota's Carlos Sainz. However, in a cruel twist of fate Sainz's engine let go just 300 meters from the end of the final stage, handing the title back to Mäkinen.


In 2003, a four-way title fight was narrowed down to just two when Burns was forced to withdraw from the event for medical reasons, which would tragically claim his life two years later, and Carlos Sainz crashed out. In the end, Norwegian Petter Solberg would win the rally ahead of Sébastien Loeb, and consequently pip the Frenchman to claim his only world rally title by just one point.



Nordic successes


Nordic drivers have enjoyed rich pickings in the RAC Rally. Home drivers won the first six runnings of the race from 1953, when an outright winner was first declared. However, in 1960 Erik Carlsson of Sweden drove his Saab 96 to a hat-trick of victories in 1960–62, and of the eight drivers to have won three or more titles since then, all but four – Colin McRae (1994, '95, '97), Richard Burns (1998–2000), Sébastien Loeb (2008–10) and Sébastien Ogier (2013-2016) – have been Swedes, Finns or Norwegians. The record for most victories is four, shared by Hannu Mikkola (1978–79, '81–82), Petter Solberg (2002–05) and Sébastien Ogier. (2013-2016)



Title sponsors


Until 1970, there was no overt sponsorship, but in that year advertising decals appeared on cars and the Daily Mirror newspaper sponsored the event. This deal lasted four years before finance company Lombard North Central took over in 1974. The event became known as the Lombard RAC Rally, and Lombard's name became synonymous with the event.


Following Lombard's withdrawal of sponsorship after nineteen years, the rally became known as the Network Q RAC Rally and later, the Network Q Rally of Great Britain. The rally has moved its operational base to Cardiff and competitive stage mileage is concentrated in Wales. With sponsorship from the Welsh Government, the event is now known as the Wales Rally GB.


However, with such an extensive history covering the whole country, there were demands for the "glory days" of the old RAC Rally. In this spirit, two events have recently been established, and cover the same classic stages which are no longer part of the WRC itinerary. The RAC Revival Rally uses modern, but less powerful cars, while the Roger Albert Clark Rally is a historic event using only pre-1972 machinery, and named after the first home winner of the race as a World Championship event.



2005




This is a memorial on the tree for Michael Park where he lost his life.


The 2005 rally was the twelfth event on the WRC schedule for 2005, held on September 16–18, 2005. It included the first indoor super special stage at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.


On stage fifteen, Peugeot driver Markko Märtin crashed heavily into a tree, and while he was unharmed his co-driver Michael Park sustained fatal injuries. It was the first death in the WRC in over a decade. The final two stages were cancelled and Sébastien Loeb, who would have won the event and the championship, voluntarily incurred a two-minute time penalty in order not to win under such circumstances, leaving Petter Solberg to be declared the victor.


A memorial for Park was unveiled in Märtin's homeland of Estonia and the damaged tree on the Margam Park stage of the rally where he died bears a plaque in memorial of him.



2008


The Wales Rally GB was the final round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship and took place on 4–7 December 2008.
World champion Sébastien Loeb crowned his season with victory in the rally.[6]


Cardiff was both the start and finish point for the rally, while the service area returned to central Swansea. For the first time since 2000 the rally featured stages in Mid-Wales and there were special evening stages inside the Millennium Stadium.



2013


The Wales Rally GB was once again the final round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship and took place on 14–17 of November.
2013 World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier took his first Wales Rally GB victory alongside Julien Ingrassia in the VW Polo R WRC.[7]
Previous winner Jari-Matti Latvala finished 2nd, also in a VW Polo WRC whilst young Belgian Thierry Neuville finished off the podium.
Local Welshman Elfyn Evans won the WRC2 category, French driver Quentin Gilbert won class 5 in the Citroen DS3 R3 and teenager Chris Ingram took the class 6 victory.


Conwy Castle was the start and Llandudno the finish point for the rally, while the service area was based in Deeside for the first time. New stages in North Wales were used such as Gwydyr and Chirk Castle.



Results






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Year
Event
Finish
Winner(s)
Vehicle
1932
RAC Rally

Torquay

United Kingdom Col. Loughborough

Lanchester
1933
RAC Rally

Hastings

United Kingdom Miss Kitty Brunell

AC Ace
1934
RAC Rally

Bournemouth

United Kingdom F R G Spikins

Singer Le Mans
1935
RAC Rally

Eastbourne

Results unknown
1936
RAC Rally
Torquay

United Kingdom C E A Westcott

Austin 7
1937
RAC Rally
Hastings

United Kingdom Jack Harrop

Jaguar SS100
1938
RAC Rally

Blackpool

United Kingdom Jack Harrop

Jaguar SS100
1939
RAC Rally

Brighton

United Kingdom Abiegeg Fane

BMW 328
1940–50


Not held
1951
1st RAC Rally
Bournemouth

United Kingdom Ian Appleyard
United Kingdom Mrs. Pat Appleyard

Jaguar XK120
1952
2nd RAC Rally

Scarborough

United Kingdom Godfrey Imhof
United Kingdom Mrs. Barbara Frayling

Allard-Cadillac J2
1953
3rd RAC Rally
Hastings

United Kingdom Ian Appleyard
United Kingdom Mrs. Pat Appleyard

Jaguar XK120
1954
4th RAC Rally
Blackpool

United Kingdom John Wallwork
United Kingdom Harold Brooks

Triumph TR2
1955
5th RAC Rally
Hastings

United Kingdom Jimmy Ray
United Kingdom Brian Horrocks

Standard Ten
1956
6th RAC Rally
Blackpool

United Kingdom Lyndon Sims
United Kingdom Rupert Jones
United Kingdom Tony Ambrose

Aston Martin DB2
1957


Not held
1958
7th RAC Rally
Hastings

United Kingdom Peter Harper
United Kingdom Dr Bill Deane

Sunbeam Rapier
1959
8th RAC Rally

London

United Kingdom Gerald Burgess
United Kingdom Sam Croft-Pearson

Ford Zephyr Six
1960
9th RAC Rally

Brands Hatch

Sweden Erik Carlsson
United Kingdom Stuart Turner

Saab 96
1961
10th RAC Rally
Brighton

Sweden Erik Carlsson
United Kingdom John Brown

Saab 96
1962
11th RAC Rally
Bournemouth

Sweden Erik Carlsson
United Kingdom David Stone

Saab 96
1963
12th RAC Rally
Bournemouth

Sweden Tom Trana
Sweden Sune Lundström

Volvo PV544
1964
13th RAC Rally
London

Sweden Tom Trana
Sweden Gunnar Thermanius

Volvo PV544
1965
14th RAC Rally
London

Finland Rauno Aaltonen
United Kingdom Tony Ambrose

BMC Mini Cooper S 1275
1966
15th RAC Rally
London

Sweden Bengt Söderström
Sweden Gunnar Palm

Lotus Cortina
1967
16th RAC Rally

Cancelled due to outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease
1968
17th RAC Rally
London

Finland Simo Lampinen
United Kingdom John Davenport

Saab 96 V4
1969
18th RAC Rally
London

Sweden Harry Källström
Sweden Gunnar Häggbom

Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF
1970
19th Daily Mirror RAC Rally
London

Sweden Harry Källström
Sweden Gunnar Häggbom

Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF
1971
20th Daily Mirror RAC Rally

Harrogate

Sweden Stig Blomqvist
Sweden Arne Hertz

Saab 96 V4
1972
21st Daily Mirror RAC Rally

York

United Kingdom Roger Clark
United Kingdom Tony Mason

Ford Escort RS1600
1973

22nd Daily Mirror RAC Rally
York

Finland Timo Mäkinen
United Kingdom Henry Liddon

Ford Escort RS1600
1974
23rd Lombard RAC Rally
York

Finland Timo Mäkinen
United Kingdom Henry Liddon

Ford Escort RS1600
1975
24th Lombard RAC Rally
York

Finland Timo Mäkinen
United Kingdom Henry Liddon

Ford Escort RS1800
1976
25th Lombard RAC Rally

Bath

United Kingdom Roger Clark
Zaire Stuart Pegg

Ford Escort RS1800
1977
26th Lombard RAC Rally
York

Sweden Björn Waldegård
Sweden Hans Thorszelius

Ford Escort RS1800
1978
27th Lombard RAC Rally

Birmingham

Finland Hannu Mikkola
Sweden Arne Hertz

Ford Escort RS1800
1979
28th Lombard RAC Rally

Chester

Finland Hannu Mikkola
Sweden Arne Hertz

Ford Escort RS1800
1980
29th Lombard RAC Rally
Bath

Finland Henri Toivonen
United Kingdom Paul White

Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
1981
30th Lombard RAC Rally
Chester

Finland Hannu Mikkola
Sweden Arne Hertz

Audi Quattro
1982
31st Lombard RAC Rally
York

Finland Hannu Mikkola
Sweden Arne Hertz

Audi Quattro
1983
32nd Lombard RAC Rally
Bath

Sweden Stig Blomqvist
Sweden Björn Cederberg

Audi Quattro A2
1984
33rd Lombard RAC Rally
Chester

Finland Ari Vatanen
United Kingdom Terry Harryman

Peugeot 205 Turbo 16
1985
34th Lombard RAC Rally

Nottingham

Finland Henri Toivonen
United Kingdom Neil Wilson

Lancia Delta S4
1986
35th Lombard RAC Rally
Bath

Finland Timo Salonen
Finland Seppo Harjanne

Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2
1987
36th Lombard RAC Rally
Chester

Finland Juha Kankkunen
Finland Juha Piironen

Lancia Delta HF 4WD
1988
37th Lombard RAC Rally
Harrogate

Finland Markku Alen
Finland Ilkka Kivimäki

Lancia Delta Integrale
1989
38th Lombard RAC Rally
Nottingham

Finland Pentti Airikkala
Republic of Ireland Ronan McNamee

Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
1990
46th Lombard RAC Rally
Harrogate

Spain Carlos Sainz
Spain Luis Moya

Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1991
47th Lombard RAC Rally
Harrogate

Finland Juha Kankkunen
Finland Juha Piironen

Lancia Delta Integrale 16V
1992
48th Lombard RAC Rally
Chester

Spain Carlos Sainz
Spain Luis Moya

Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
1993
49th Network Q RAC Rally
Birmingham

Finland Juha Kankkunen
United Kingdom Nicky Grist

Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
1994
50th Network Q RAC Rally
Chester

United Kingdom Colin McRae
United Kingdom Derek Ringer

Subaru Impreza 555
1995
51st Network Q RAC Rally
Chester

United Kingdom Colin McRae
United Kingdom Derek Ringer

Subaru Impreza 555
1996
52nd Network Q RAC Rally ^2_Litre only
Chester

Germany Armin Schwarz
France Denis Giraudet

Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
1997
53rd Network Q RAC Rally

Cheltenham

United Kingdom Colin McRae
United Kingdom Nicky Grist

Subaru Impreza WRC 97
1998
54th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
Cheltenham

United Kingdom Richard Burns
United Kingdom Robert Reid

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evolution V
1999
55th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
Cheltenham

United Kingdom Richard Burns
United Kingdom Robert Reid

Subaru Impreza WRC 99

2000
56th Network Q Rally of Great Britain

Cardiff

United Kingdom Richard Burns
United Kingdom Robert Reid

Subaru Impreza WRC 2000

2001
57th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Finland Marcus Grönholm
Finland Timo Rautiainen

Peugeot 206 WRC

2002
58th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Norway Petter Solberg
United Kingdom Phil Mills

Subaru Impreza WRC 2002

2003
59th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Norway Petter Solberg
United Kingdom Phil Mills

Subaru Impreza WRC 2003

2004

60th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Norway Petter Solberg
United Kingdom Phil Mills

Subaru Impreza WRC 2004

2005

61st Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Norway Petter Solberg
United Kingdom Phil Mills

Subaru Impreza WRC 2005

2006

62nd Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Finland Marcus Grönholm
Finland Timo Rautiainen

Ford Focus RS WRC 06

2007

63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Finland Mikko Hirvonen
Finland Jarmo Lehtinen

Ford Focus RS WRC 07

2008

64th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena

Citroën C4 WRC

2009

65th Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena

Citroën C4 WRC

2010

66th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

France Sébastien Loeb
Monaco Daniel Elena

Citroën C4 WRC

2011

67th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Finland Jari-Matti Latvala
Finland Miikka Anttila

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

2012

68th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Cardiff

Finland Jari-Matti Latvala
Finland Miikka Anttila

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

2013

69th Wales Rally of Great Britain

Llandudno

France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2014

70th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Llandudno

France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2015

71st Wales Rally of Great Britain
Llandudno

France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2016

72nd Wales Rally of Great Britain
Llandudno

France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2017

73rd Wales Rally of Great Britain
Llandudno

United Kingdom Elfyn Evans
United Kingdom Daniel Barritt

Ford Fiesta WRC

2018

74th Wales Rally of Great Britain
Llandudno

France Sébastien Ogier
France Julien Ingrassia

Ford Fiesta WRC


Multiple winners










Note: In 1996, due to the World Rally Championship's event rotation system used from 1994–96, the rally counted only for the FIA 2-Litre World Championship for Manufacturers



References





  1. ^ "History of the RAC Rally" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine., UKMotorsport.com, September 23, 1997


  2. ^ "Jack Kemsley And The Forests" Archived 2008-04-06 at the Wayback Machine., Ross Finlay, CarKeys.co.uk, December 9, 2001


  3. ^ "Forest rallying deal reached with Natural Resources Wales". BBC News. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  4. ^ Francois Duval, "Unofficial Leaderboard after Stage 16 (final stage), Rally of Kent (Formula Rally)" Archived 2005-01-22 at the Wayback Machine., RallyNews.net


  5. ^ "Michael Park, Motors Blog:WRC". Scivi.air-nifty.com. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2012-04-24.


  6. ^ [1][dead link]


  7. ^ [2]




External links







  • Wales Rally GB official site

  • World Rally Championship official site – watch Wales Rally GB online

  • British Rally Championship official site

  • Endurance Rally Association, organisers of the RAC Revival Rally

  • Roger Albert Clark Rally, official site

  • WRC Wales Rally GB 2013 Results










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