When it comes to motorsport, there are plenty of incredible disciplines within the sport. Formula 1 is of course the pinnacle, with the fastest cars and some of the best drivers. There is IndyCar, offering a diverse racing series with hugely talented drivers. MotoGP is full of two-wheel heroes, the WEC and IMSA offers the best sportscar racing and there are plenty of other series such as Formula E and NASCAR. But one other discipline that really stands out is rallying.
Mostly referring to the World Rally Championship, rallying is one of the most fearsome disciplines of motorsport there is. The way the drivers throw the cars around these courses, with spectators so close and trees and rocks nearby is exhilarating. The car control is incredible, as is this ability to understand the pace notes of the co-driver, and for how well the co-drivers can read the pace notes. We have a few clips that show just how incredible rally drivers are, and we will talk about some other of the best to ever get behind the wheel of a world rally car.
Ari Vatanen Roars Around The Isle Of Man
Ari Vatanen was one of the greatest rally drivers of his generation. The Finnish star made his debute in rallying in 1970, and then he debuted in the WRC itself in 1974 at the 1000 Lakes Rally. Vatanen would go on to take 10 WRC wins in his career and one world title in 1981, driving a Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort RS1800. He remains the only driver so far to have won the WRC as a privateer driver, and not driving for an official factory team.
Vatanen would race in the British Championship in 1982 and 1983, and the above footage shows Vatanen driving in the 1983 Manx International in his Opel Manta 400, with co-driver Terry Harryman. This is the first stage of the rally, and Vatanen shows insane car control on what looks like a greasy and damp road surface. The most incredible moment in the video comes after Vatanen clips an inside wall, nearly spinning the car around, but he holds on, to a cry of “dear god!” from co-driver Harryman. The Opel suffered a bit of a puncture and the steering goes very heavy, yet Vatanen gets the car to the end of the stage while grappling with his damaged machine.
Some Truly Incredible Moments In The History Of Rallying
This next video shows off some truly astonishing moments in the history of rallying. It starts with a clip of Colin McRae aboard his Subaru Impreza, with the sides of the rally stage filled with spectators who are pretty much on the course. This was a common sight in the 1980s and 1990s, and a terrifying one. The video features a few moments of drivers avoiding spectators by the narrowest of margins.
One of the most terrifying moments in the video comes when one of the drivers hits a deer at night which pretty much puts their car out of action. Some of the most incredible rally onboards come from the Group B era, when the likes of the Audi Quattro, Lancia 037 and Peugeot 205 T16 were being thrown around courses by drivers like Michele Mouton, Walter Rohrl, Vatanen and Timo Salonen. While rallying is now much safer, that does not mean that rally cars of today are not fast and exciting. Because they really are exactly that.
Craig Breen Shows Us What Modern Rally Cars Can Do
From 2017-2021, rally cars became aero-laden monsters and pretty much brought in a new era of Group B. The WRC YouTube channel posted some incredible footage of Craig Breen during a shakedown at the 2019 Rally Finland, aboard his Hyundai, and it shows the speed and power of modern rally cars. In 2022, the WRC entered the hybrid era of rallying and while some aero has gone these new cars are still very, very fast and some of the onboards seen this year from the likes of Elfyn Evans in his Toyota are just pure adrenaline.
Rallying Is Incredible In All Its Forms
Another truly incredible clip comes from Lockk9 TT Racing on YouTube, showing driver Jack Newman and co-driver Andrew Browne aboard their Ford Escort Mark 2. This 348 hp machine is just fired through a Special Stage at the 2022 Chimay Escort Rally Special, and hearing this classic Ford work hard is something in itself that is very special. It shows that no matter the car, rallying is an art form, and it takes bundles of skill to weave a car like this through tight villages, with walls, houses and fields all around. The roads we see this Escort on are so narrow, and the commitment is simply unrivalled.
Sources: FIA World Rally Championship, Lockk9 TT Racing, jedrek555 and Duke Video YouTube Channels