1.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
2.
Askim
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Askim is a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Askim, Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. Askim is the largest population centre in Indre Østfold with 15315 inhabitants and it lies next to the longest river in Norway, Glomma, which forms the border with Spydeberg to the north and west, and Skiptvet to the south. Askim also borders Trøgstad to the northeast and Eidsberg to the southeast, Askim produces large amounts of hydroelectricity at three dams. From upstream to downstream, Solbergfoss, Kykkelsrud, then Vamma, there was nickel mining at Kykkelsrud at the turn of the 20th century. These mines are one of the few places where kulenoritt is found. An industrial city for most of the 20th century, the employer, Viking. Glava is the main employer today, the municipality is named after the old Askim farm, since the first church was built here. The first element is askr which means ash tree and the last element is heimr which means home, homestead, the coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1 November 1963, the arms symbolize the three large waterfalls in the municipality, the Solbergfoss, Kykkelsrudfoss, and Vammafoss. The rivers and waterfalls are also partially harnessed for hydroelectric power, european route E18 used to go through the city centre, however, since the recent upgrade to four-lane highway in 2005, its route now runs outside the centre. Norges Statsbaners Eastern Østfold Line serves the municipality with stops at Langnes Station and Næringsparken, Askim has always been a strategic point in wars due to its relative easy crossing of the river. The last battle between Norway and Sweden was fought at the crossing over Glomma on 9 August 1814, there is a yearly historical reenactment, as well as a stone monument at Langnes to commemorate this event. During the Norwegian Campaign of World War II, a battle occurred at Fossum Bridge when the Norwegian Army defended the crossing against invading Germans in April 1940, the municipal council runs the government of Askim
3.
Henning Solberg
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Henning Solberg is a Norwegian rally and rallycross driver. Together with his female co-driver Ilka Minor, he competes in the World Rally Championship with cars of M-Sport. Solberg is the brother of the 2003 FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg. Henning Solberg was born in Askim, but grew up in Spydeberg, like his younger brother Petter, Henning started his career as a driver in bilcross and rallycross events, and switched completely to rallying in the mid-1990s. Between 1999 and 2003, he became the Norwegian Rally Champion for five years in a row, after several events as a privateer in the WRC, Solberg got a contract with Bozian Racing for the 2004 season. At his first event with the Peugeot 206 WRC, the 2004 Swedish Rally and this remained his best result and only points-finish of the season. For the 2005 season, Solberg was signed by the BP Ford World Rally Team and he competed in seven rounds alongside Fords main drivers Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta. His best result came at the Cyprus Rally, where he beat team-mates Gardemeister, with nine points, Solberg finished 14th in the drivers world championship. In 2006, Solberg partnered Manfred Stohl at the OMV Peugeot Norway W. R. T. and he achieved his first ever podium finish coming in third in the Rally of Turkey. With six other points-scoring positions to his name, he finished eighth in the drivers standings. Solberg also appeared in an edition of the BBC show Top Gear, the Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is 1365 meters long with 16 turns and an 8. 5% average grade and Solbergs route was equally challenging. With Top Gear presenter James May as his co-driver, Solberg made it 1,02,24 in the Evo while the bobsled beat Solberg with a time of 59,68, for 2007, Solberg was given a full-time drive with the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team. He later took his third podium finish at the 2007 Rally Japan. Solberg retained his place at the Stobart team for the 2008 season, in Sweden he was on course for a podium finish before a puncture and a crash on the second day put him out of the points. For México Solberg was nominated to score points for the Munchis team and he achieved a fifth-place finish despite suffering two punctures. In the series first-ever Jordan Rally, he recorded his best result of the season by finishing fourth, after five more points-scoring finishes were followed by five rallies with no points, Solberg finished eighth overall in the drivers standings. At the 2008 Mountain Rally Norway, the first round in the 2008 Norwegian Rally Championship, in 2009, Solberg had his career-best start to the season. He drove his Focus RS WRC08 to fourth place both in the season-opening Rally Ireland and the following Rally Norway
4.
FIA World Rallycross Championship
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The FIA World Rallycross Championship is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoters IMG Motorsport. The series currently consists of 12 two-day events driven on closed circuits with mixed surface, each event consists of,4 Qualifying heats. In each of the 4 series there are smaller races containing 3 to 5 cars, drivers earn intermediate points based on their positions. After the 4 qualifying series, the points are added up,6 cars race in each of both semi-finals, which are run over 6 laps. The top 3 drivers in each semi-final move into the final round, like the semi-finals, this race is contested by 6 cars over 6 laps. The winner of the final is deemed to be the event winner, however, the final winner has not necessarily claimed the most championship points from the whole event. World Championship points are scored as follows, A red background denotes drivers who did not advance from the round Records correct up to, key FIA European Rallycross Championship Dirt Rally, the first videogame to be an officially licensed FIA World Rallycross Championship game
5.
Volkswagen RX Sweden
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Volkswagen RX Sweden is a Swedish rallycross team run by Kristoffersson Motorsport. The team has competed in FIA World Rallycross Championship since 2014, Swedish racing driver Tommy Kristoffersson owns the team, in which his son Johan races. Along with Marklund Motorsport, Volkswagen Team Sweden was one of two teams officially supported by Volkswagen in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Kristoffersson joined the Swedish Touring Car Championship in 1998, with Tommy Kristoffersson ranking fourth and Mats Lindén fifth with an Audi A4 Quattro. Mattias Ekström won the 1999 title, whereas Kristoffersson finished 9th, in 2000, Fredrik Ekblom was runner-up and Kristoffersson was 8th. Roberto Colciago was the 2001 champion, while Kristoffersson resulted fourth, Colciago defended his title in 2002, Kristoffersson finished 6th and Marius Erlandsen finished 10th. Fredrik Ekblom won the third title for the team in 2003, Tobias Johansson ended 6th
6.
2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship
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The 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy was the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The season consisted of thirteen rounds and started on 25 April with the Portuguese round at Montalegre, the season ended on 29 November, at Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina. On 20 February 2015 it was announced that the series would support the round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season
7.
World Rally Championship
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The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The drivers world championship and manufacturers championship are separate championships. The series currently consists of 13 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow, each rally is split into 15–25 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads. The World Rally Car is the current car specification in the series and it evolved from Group A cars which replaced the banned Group B supercars. World Rally Cars are built on production 1, the production car, super 2000 and junior entrants race through the stages after the WRC drivers. The 1973 World Rally Championship was the season of the WRC. The first drivers championship was not awarded until 1979, although 1977 and 1978 seasons included an FIA Cup for Drivers, won by Italys Sandro Munari. Swedens Björn Waldegård became the first official champion, edging out Finlands Hannu Mikkola by one point. Fiat took the title with the Fiat 131 Abarth in 1977,1978 and 1980, Ford with its Escort RS1800 in 1979. Waldegård was followed by German Walter Röhrl and Finn Ari Vatanen as drivers world champions, the 1980s saw the rear-wheel-drive Group 2 and the more popular Group 4 cars be replaced by more powerful four-wheel-drive Group B cars. FISA legalized all-wheel-drive in 1979, but most manufacturers believed it was too complex to be successful, however, after Audi started entering Mikkola and the new four-wheel-drive Quattro in rallies for testing purposes with immediate success, other manufacturers started their all-wheel-drive projects. Group B regulations were introduced in the 1982, and with only a few restrictions allowed almost unlimited power, Audi took the constructors title in 1982 and 1984 and drivers title in 1983 and 1984. Audis French female driver Michèle Mouton came close to winning the title in 1982,1985 title seemed set to go to Vatanen and his Peugeot 205 T16 but a bad accident at the Rally Argentina left him to watch compatriot and team-mate Timo Salonen take the title instead. Italian Attilio Bettega had even a severe crash with his Lancia 037 at the Tour de Corse. However, the season took a dramatic turn. At the Rally Portugal, three spectators were killed and over 30 injured after Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200, at the Tour de Corse, championship favourite Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in a fireball accident after plunging down a cliff. Only hours after the crash, Jean-Marie Balestre and the FISA decided to freeze the development of the Group B cars, more controversy followed when Peugeots Juha Kankkunen won the title after FIA annulled the results of the San Remo Rally, taking the title from fellow Finn Markku Alén. As the planned Group S was also cancelled, Group A regulations became the standard in the WRC until 1997, a separate Group A championship had been organized as part of the WRC already in 1986, with Swedens Kenneth Eriksson taking the title with a Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V
8.
1998 World Rally Championship
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The 1998 World Rally Championship was the 26th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, tommi Mäkinen won his third consecutive drivers world championship driving for Mitsubishi, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. The manufacturers title was won by Mitsubishi, ahead of Toyota and this year also marked the Ford Escorts last full-season works outing before being replaced by the Ford Focus WRC in 1999. FIA World Rally Championship 1998 at rallybase. nl
9.
2012 World Rally Championship
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The 2012 World Rally Championship was the 40th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season run over thirteen rallies, beginning with the Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo on 17 January, sébastien Loeb won the drivers championship for the ninth time in his career, ahead of Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala. The 2012 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Singapore on 26 September 2011, the rally also featured the longest stage of the championship, the 66 km El Durzano–Ambul stage. The extended rally route has been promoted as a prototype of a format proposed by FIA President Jean Todt, the Jordan Rally was removed from the calendar. Rally Abu Dhabi was expected to be promoted in its place, the Wales Rally GB was brought forward from its traditional November date to September, making Rally of Spain the season finale. The route of the Rally Finland was revised from the 2011 event, the Rally dItalia was moved back from May to October. The Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo returned to the calendar after a three-year absence, the Rally New Zealand replaced Rally Australia, in keeping with their event-sharing arrangement. Notes, ^1 – The Mini WRC Team lost Minis support as a team after the Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini WRC Team became known as the Prodrive WRC Team from the Rally de Portugal, chris Atkinson returned to the WRC to contest the Rally of Mexico with the Monster World Rally Team. Atkinsons last appearance at the WRC level was a drive with the Citroën Junior Team at the 2009 Rally Ireland. Ken Block will contest a reduced WRC program, appearing at Rally Mexico, Rally New Zealand, the Citroën World Rally Team will expand to a three-car operation, entering a third Citroën DS3 WRC for 2011 Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah was originally scheduled to contest every event with the exception of the Rallye Monte Carlo owing to a clash with the 2012 Dakar Rally. However, Al-Attiyah was selected to represent his native Qatar at the London Olympics in skeet shooting and was forced to miss the Rally of New Zealand, françois Delecour returned to the WRC to compete in the 80ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo. Delecour drove a Ford Fiesta RS WRC in the rally, his first event at the WRC level since the 2002 Rally of Great Britain, the Rallye Monte Carlo is Delecours only planned appearance in the 2012 season. 2011 championship runner-up Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen moved from the Ford World Rally Team to Citroën, Jari-Matti Latvala was injured in an accident during a training exercise two weeks before Rally Argentina, forcing him out of the event. He was replaced by Dani Sordo for the event, Lotus Cars planned to enter a Lotus Exige R-GT at all tarmac events on the 2012 calendar, pending the homologation of the car. Mini WRC Team will only enter one works driver in selected events of 2012, Dani Sordo will enter in every event, with the second car driven by local competitors. The team has stated that Kris Meeke will not compete in every rally, the team was renamed Prodrive WRC Team before the Rally de Portugal
10.
Ford World Rally Team
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The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Companys full factory World Rally Championship team, the new team took their first victory in the 1997 Acropolis Rally. Ford had a long and successful history in rallying, winning the World Rally Championship in 1979 with the Ford Escort RS1800 and drivers Hannu Mikkola, Björn Waldegård and Ari Vatanen. Ford did not officially enter any cars for these seasons after winning the 1979 World Rally Championship season, they instead concentrated on development of the stillborn Ford Escort RS 1700T. However, Ari Vatanen did win the 1981 drivers championship in a Rothmans liveried Ford Escort RS, this was run by David Sutton Cars, and not an official works Ford World Rally team. Lessons learned from the RS 1700T programme were being used in the development of Fords new rally weapon, the RS200, having spent time away from the sport developing the Ghia styled RS200, Ford made a return to the World Rallying stage at the second round in Sweden. Fords new RS200 featured four-wheel drive, a turbocharged Cosworth BDT engine generating 450 bhp, Ford employed the services of Swedish drivers Stig Blomqvist and Kalle Grundel, but they would each only be entered on four rallies, in a season overshadowed with tragedy. The Sierra RS Cosworth proved to be far more successful in comparison, it would not win during 1987, the car debuted on the Safari Rally, again driven by Stig Blomqvist, but would retire following a fire, its next outing would be on the island of Corsica. Blomqvist would again retire with turbo failure, but his teammates Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol would fare much better, Ford would finish the season with 2nd and 3rd places for Blomqvist and Jimmy McRae, again against more capable rival machinery. The services of Stig Blomqvist, Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol were retained from 1987, each driver being entered on the rallies in Portugal, Finland, Blomqvist would also be entered for Round 2 in Rally Sweden, whilst Sainz and Auriol were entered in Corsica. A three car team of Blomqvist, Sainz and Mark Lovell were entered for the season closing Lombard RAC Rally. Blomqvist kicked off Fords season with 2nd place on his round in a Rallysport Sweden prepared Sierra XR4x4, the best result for the 4WD Ford. The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth would return for Round 3 in Portugal, and Blomqvist would use it to finish in 5th place, but only after Sainz and Auriol had both retired from the event. Sainz would collect points for 5th in Corsica and then 6th in Finland, another rally where Auriol would finish on the podium, Ford would finish the season 2nd behind Lancia in the Manufacturers Championship, with a total of 79 points. Three cars were entered in Corsica, a Q8 liveried car for Gianfranco Cunico, a yellow Sound 2000 sponsored car for Mark Lovell, Lovell would retire after suffering from a misfire, Baroni would retire after an accident, and Cunico would go on to finish 7th overall. The Italian driver would suffer the mis-fortune of retiring after an accident on his second Ford outing in Great Britain, Ford would finish 13th in the Manufacturers standings after scoring just six points for the season. Results over the past few seasons had proved one thing, in order to return to winning ways Ford would need a powerful, turbocharged car with 4WD capabilities. The 3-door Sierra RS Cosworth was no longer being sold by Ford, so they instead utilised the new Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 4-door saloon model and he was now joined by Pentti Airikkala and Malcolm Wilson who had been team mates at the Rothmans Rally Team 10 years previously
11.
Subaru World Rally Team
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The Subaru World Rally Team was Subarus World Rally Championship team. It used a blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003, Subaru used the team to showcase its symmetrical all wheel drive technology. It has credited the increased sales of its vehicles, especially the Subaru Impreza, with its success in the World Rally Championship and its 2008 season drivers were Petter Solberg with co-driver Phil Mills, and Chris Atkinson with co-driver Stéphane Prévot. David Richards was the teams Principal, and a founder and chairman of Prodrive, Paul Howarth was the teams operations director and team manager. He replaced David Lapworth in 2006, Richard Taylor is the teams managing director. The team was historically a strong one, competing in the WRC longer than any other manufacturer team in their current form. It has won the championship three times in 1995,1996, and 1997, and the drivers championship three times, in 1995,2001, and 2003. The teams performance since the 2005 season, when Petter Solberg secured second position in the championship, has been far lower than expected. The teams 2006 season, one that has described as disappointing by Richard Taylor, was the subject of a Discovery Channel series called Engineering the World Rally which aired in 2007. The 2007 season was better, and called the second season from hell by Phil Mills. The team withdrew from WRC competition at the end of the 2008 season due to economic downturn. Although Subaru had participated in the World Rally Championship at various times since 1980, it was not until September 1989, Subaru Tecnica International president Ryuichiro Kuze forged a partnership with the British firm Prodrive to prepare and enter the recently introduced Legacy RS in the World Rally Championship. Subarus initial forays into the World Rally Championship were with Subaru Rally Team Japan, run by Noriyuki Koseki, the founder of Subaru Tecnica International. The first Subaru car entered a world rally at the 1980 Safari Rally and since that, Drivers in the early years included Ari Vatanen, Per Eklund, Shekhar Mehta, Mike Kirkland, Possum Bourne, and Harald Demuth. The best result and only podium was achieved by Bourne at the 1987 Rally New Zealand by finishing third, with the start of the Prodrive effort, the teams competed in parallel, before being folded into each other. Subaru entered its first Prodrive developed car, the Group A Subaru Legacy RS in the 1990 season, alen remained with the team through the 1991 season. His successes included 4th place in the 1990 Rally Finland, also known as the 1000 Lakes Rally, and in 1991, for the 1992 season, Subaru only entered seven of the fourteen WRC events, preferring to demonstrate the cars ability on gravel rallies
12.
Petter Solberg World Rally Team
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The Petter Solberg World Rally Team was a team that competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009 to 2011, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg. The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport. Solberg had been left without a drive going into the 2009 season, so joined forces with Ken Rees, formerly team co-ordinator at Subaru, to establish his own rally team. He acquired an eight-year-old Citroën Xsara and began competing from the round of the season, Rally Norway. He began using a Citroën C4 WRC for the two rounds of 2009. Solberg continued to use the C4 WRC during the 2010 season, the team entered a second car on the 2010 Rallye de France for touring car driver Yvan Muller, in a Xsara WRC.2010 proved to be a very successful season. Solberg finished twelve of the thirteen rounds and amassed eight podiums and this resulted in third place in the final standings, beating factory Citroën drivers Sébastien Ogier and Dani Sordo as well as works Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen. For the 2011 season the team used a brand-new Citroën DS3 WRC, Solberg managed to finish fifth at the opening round in Sweden after he had his driving licence suspended for speeding on the road section. As this meant he was unable to drive the final stage, Solberg finished third in Italy and Australia and another podium was looking likely in France, but Solberg was excluded from the results as his DS3 WRC was found to be underweight. Solberg retired from his final WRC event with his own team in Wales and finished fifth in the standings for the drivers championship. The team also entered drivers in the SWRC, Brynildsen and Breen finished eighth and tenth in the SWRC respectively, with Brynildsen gaining the teams best finish, coming home second in France. Solberg competed in his event in a Citroën by winning the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint. The team closed down after Solberg announced he will drive for the Ford World Rally Team in 2012
13.
Rally Sweden
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The Rally Sweden, formerly the Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, the main service park is located in the town of Hagfors, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon. In 1973 the rally was introduced to the World Rally Championship and started to get international attention, like Rally Finland, this rally is known to be very difficult for non-Nordic drivers. Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished second four times and third two times, the rally has been cancelled twice, in 1974 due to the oil crisis and in 1990 because of the mild weather. The rally was not held in 2009 due to the WRCs round rotation system. Weather continues to be a concern, as rising global temperatures reduce the likelihood of appropriately snowy conditions every year, the 2005 event was one of the warmest ever, turning many stages into mud and destroying the special studded snow tires used by the teams. As a mark of respect for Colin McRae, the Rally Sweden organisers set up an award for the longest jump over a crest on the Vargåsen stage of the rally, official site Swedish Rally Roll of Honour at Rallybase
14.
Wales Rally GB
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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, the inaugural event was the 1932 Royal Automobile Club Rally, which was the first major rally of the modern era in Great Britain. On every route there are four controls in addition to the starting and finishing controls, 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 dElegance 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. The following years RAC Rally followed a 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 contested every year since with only two exceptions,1957 and 1967. This latter incident was on the eve of the event, so staged a mock rally at the Bagshot proving ground as consolation for the press. In 1960, organising secretary Jack Kemsley negotiated with the Forestry Commission to allow a section of forest road in Argyll. It proved enormously successful, and the following year forest roads all over the country were opened up to the drivers, in 2016 an agreement was reached between the MSA and Natural Resources Wales to continue to use Welsh forest stages for three years. In 1971, Spectator Stages were introduced and, by 1975 had become an important part of the event, usually at stately homes, the first day was, by then, devoted to these stages. Drivers did not enjoy them, and referred to disparagingly as Mickey Mouse stages because of the lack of challenge they offered. More recently, they have given way to the Super Special Stages, which are equally maligned by the drivers, 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 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 Alens 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 and this was in stark contrast to the early years, in 1938, there were only 6 retirements from 237 starters. Scandinavian 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
15.
Rallying
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Rallying is a form of motorsport that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. Rallies may be won by pure speed within the stages or alternatively by driving to a predetermined ideal journey time within the stages, the term rally, as a branch of motorsport, probably dates from the first Monte Carlo Rally of January 1911. Until the late 1920s, few if any other used the term. The first of these races was the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race of June 1895, won by Paul Koechlin in a Peugeot. Levassors time for the 1,178 km course, running virtually without a break, was 48 hours and 48 minutes, an average speed of 24 km/h. Speeds had now far outstripped the safe limits of dusty highways thronged with spectators and open to traffic, people and animals, there were numerous crashes, many injuries. The French government stopped the race and banned this style of event, from then on, racing in Europe would be on closed circuits, initially on long loops of public highway and then, in 1907, on the first purpose-built track, Englands Brooklands. Racing was going its own separate way, Italy had been running road competitions since 1895, when a reliability trial was run from Turin to Asti and back. The countrys first true motor race was held in 1897 along the shore of Lake Maggiore, from Arona to Stresa, the first Alpine event was held in 1898, the Austrian Touring Clubs three-day Automobile Run through South Tyrol, which included the infamous Stelvio Pass. Seventy vehicles took part, the majority of them trade entries and they had to complete thirteen stages of route varying in length from 43 to 123 miles at average speeds of up to the legal limit of 12 mph, and tackle six hillclimb or speed tests. On rest days and at lunch halts, the cars were shown to the public in exhibition halls, the Motor Cycling Club allowed cars to enter its trials and runs from 1904. In 1924, the exercise was repeated as the Small Car Trials, in Germany, the Herkomer Trophy was first held in 1905, and again in 1906. This challenging five-day event attracted over 100 entrants to tackle its 1,000 km road section, a hillclimb and a speed trial, but sadly it was marred by poor organisation and confusing regulations. One participant had been Prince Henry of Austria, who was inspired to do better, another trial was held in 1910. These were very successful, attracting top drivers and works cars from major teams – several manufacturers added Prince Henry models to their ranges. The first Alpine Trial was held in 1909, in Austria, by 1914, the competitive elements were slight, but getting to Monaco in winter was a challenge in itself. A second event was held in 1912, two ultra long distance challenges took place at this time. The New York–Paris of the year, which went via Japan and Siberia, was won by George Schuster
16.
Rallycross
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For the PlayStation videogame based on this autosport, see Rally Cross. g. Their 45 mm turbo restrictor plates and it is mainly popular in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain. An inexpensive, entry level type of rallycross is the Swedish folkrace or its Norwegian counterpart, the folkrace is most popular in Finland where it was founded back in late 60s. In Europe, rallycross can also refer to racing 1,8 scale off-road radio-controlled buggies, the sport started as a TV show, produced by Robert Reed of ABC television for ITVs World of Sport programme, at Lydden Circuit in Great Britain on Saturday,4 February 1967. However, the birth of rallycross is often wrongly connected with the cancellation of the 1967 RAC Rally, due to Foot and Mouth disease, in November 1967. RAC rally stage number one by then, Camberley, was on Ministry of Defence land, subsequently only British drivers competed in the maiden international rallycross event one week later, which was eventually won by Andrew Cowan and his Hillman Imp. Thames Estuary Automobile Clubs premier event, the original Clubmans rallycross, was held the day after, in 1969 Lydden Circuit and Croft Circuit were joined by another RX venue, Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. However, while both Lydden and Croft nowadays are still in use for rallycross Cadwell Park later dropped this type of car racing from its schedule. Rob Herzet, a Dutch counterpart to Robert Reed, discovered rallycross during a visit to Great Britain in 1968, by that time there were nearly ten million Britons watching some of the events on television. Back home in the Netherlands, Herzet contacted the race and rally driver as well as motoring journalist Gerard van Lennep to discuss his find, both agreed that this form of sprint racing could be also appropriate for the Netherlands. Van Lennep soon started his investigations and found a military testing ground near the town of Venlo, close to the Dutch-German border. Actually there had been two venues available, the one at Venlo in Limburg and one at Elst in Gelderland, on Saturday 17 May 1969 a group of invited rally and racing drivers went to the spot for a test day. Everybody was really satisfied and enthusiastic and only three weeks later, on Saturday 7 June the first ever event on the European continent was held. The track consisted of a section of runway, loose sections through heathland. Overall victory went eventually to Hans Kok and his valuable NSU1200 TT, on 1 November the Dutch Rallycross Association was founded and, during 1970, organised another five events at Venlo. For 1971 the Nederlandse Rallycross Vereniging moved the sport to its new home at Valkenswaard near Eindhoven. Rallycross came to Australia in 1969 with a one off meeting at Leppington in New South Wales, events were held at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne until the mid 1970s and at the Catalina Park circuit in Katoomba in New South Wales from 1972 until the early 1980s. Circuits at Towac near Orange in New South Wales as well as Tailem Bend and Whyalla in South Australia were also used, peter Brock was especially successful driving for the Holden Dealer Team in a supercharged Holden Torana GTR
17.
2008 World Rally Championship
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The 2008 World Rally Championship was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on 24 January, frenchman Sébastien Loeb successfully retained the Drivers World Championship, his and co-driver Daniel Elenas record-breaking fifth consecutive title, all of them attained driving Citroëns. In addition, Citroën secured their fourth Manufacturers title, and their first since 2005, from 2006 and 2007 victors, the running order for the first day is governed by championship position, with the championship leader running first on the road. For every other day of a rally, the order is decided by the end of day classification. The term leg has been replaced by day in order to more understandable. Extra 10-minute service prior to the podium has been added, intended to allow the service park to remain an attraction until the end of the event. With the switch to Pirelli tyres, tyre mousse has been banned, also the teams arent allowed to modify tyres by themselves anymore. At the first event of the season, the tires were the soft slick DS tire, the WX snow tire without studs. The same snow tyres were used in Sweden as well, tire walls have been strengthened in order to endure long, rough gravel stages often full of sharp rocks. The tread on Scorpions is asymmetric and directional, as it has more efficient during the tests. The 2008 season includes 15 rallies, which is one less than the 2007 season, Rally Norway, Rally Portugal and Rally Ireland were dropped from the calendar for 2008. Rally of Turkey returned to the schedule, and Jordan Rally is part of the calendar for the first time. Rally Australia was planned to make a return after being absent in 2007, the events also part of the Production World Rally Championship are Sweden, Argentina, Greece, Turkey, Finland, New Zealand, Japan and Britain. The seven rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule are Mexico, Jordan, Italy, Finland, Germany, Spain, no change of the first driver is authorised, except in a case of force majeure. This has been done for safety reasons, however this is likely to be a disappointment for race fans. Points table,2008 calendar at WRC. com
18.
Remote control
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In electronics, a remote control is a component of an electronic device used to operate the device wirelessly from a distance. For example, in electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such as a television set, DVD player, or other home appliance. A remote control is primarily a feature for the user. Early television remote controls used ultrasonic tones, Remote controls for these devices are usually small wireless handheld objects with an array of buttons for adjusting various settings such as television channel, track number, and volume. For many devices, the remote control contains all the controls while the controlled device itself has only a handful of essential primary controls. Remote control has continually evolved and advanced in the 2000s to include Bluetooth connectivity, motion sensor-enabled capabilities, in 1898 Nikola Tesla filed his patent, U. S. Tesla called his boat a teleautomaton. In 1903, Leonardo Torres Quevedo presented the Telekino at the Paris Academy of Science, accompanied by a brief, in the same time he obtained a patent in France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States. The Telekino consisted of a robot that executed commands transmitted by electromagnetic waves, with the Telekino, Torres-Quevedo laid down modern wireless remote-control operation principles and was a pioneer in the field of remote control. In 1906, in the presence of the king and before a crowd, Torres successfully demonstrated the invention in the port of Bilbao. Later, he would try to apply the Telekino to projectiles and torpedoes, by the late 1930s, several radio manufacturers offered remote controls for some of their higher-end models. Using pulse-count modulation, this also was the first digital wireless remote control, the first remote intended to control a television was developed by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950. The remote, called Lazy Bones, was connected to the television by a wire, a wireless remote control, the Flashmatic, was developed in 1955 by Eugene Polley. It worked by shining a beam of light onto a photoelectric cell, the Flashmatic also had to be pointed very precisely at the receiver in order to work. In 1956, Robert Adler developed Zenith Space Command, a wireless remote and it was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the control, it clicked and struck a bar. Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this sound, the receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, the impetus for a more complex type of television remote control came in 1973, with the development of the Ceefax teletext service by the BBC. Most commercial remote controls at that time had a number of functions
19.
Tamiya Corporation
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The company was founded by Yoshio Tamiya in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1946. The metal molds were produced from plans which had the concept of being easy to understand and build, even the box art was consistent with this throughout the company. In the same vein as everybody being able to build the models, they made the parts accurate, Tamiya Inc. has also been awarded on a regular basis each year, the prestigious Modell des Jahres award, hosted by the German magazine ModellFan. The company was founded in 1946 as Tamiya Shoji & Co. by Yoshio Tamiya in Oshika, Shizuoka City and it was a sawmill and lumber supply company. With the high availability of wood, the Mokuzaigyou Companys wood products division was also producing wooden models of ships and airplanes, in 1953, they decided to stop the sale of architectural lumber and focused solely on model making. In the mid-1950s, foreign-made plastic models were beginning to be imported and wooden model sales were decreasing and their first model was the Yamato. However, Tamiyas predecessors had sold Yamato models at 350 yen, by competing, Tamiya was at risk of getting into the red by setting their price the same. Using metal molds no longer needed for plastic toys, they released a racecar mini-kit, to their good fortune, it became a hit. They decided that the plastic model was to be the Panther tank. They commissioned Shigeru Komatsuzaki to do the box art, the Panther was motorized, moved well, and had a clear instruction manual which made it easy to assemble. Because of this, it gained a good reputation, at first, Tamiya produced metal molds, but had delays and unclear pricing, which led to trouble. Then they scouted metal-mold craftsmen and in 1964 started their Metal Molds division, starting in 1966, they transferred a number of craftsmen to the Mold Manufacturing Factory. They slowly gained the know-how and came to make molds for Tamiya, today, CAD has also been introduced into the process. Tamiya was known by their high accuracy of their molds. This level of detail and thoroughness with which they produced their models earned them a reputation even overseas, at first it was decorated with English. In 1960 with the release of the car, the design was changed to its current form. Even now, the left, red stands for creativity and passion. Tamiya News has been published by Tamiya Model and is an informational, in 1967, when it was started, it was published bimonthly with an occasional special supplement
20.
Folkrace
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Folk racing or Folkrace is a popular, inexpensive, and entry-level form of Nordic rallycross that originally comes from Finland, where it is called Jokamiesluokka or Jokkis, in Swedish Folkrace. In Norway and Denmark, it is known as Bilcross and Folkeræs, the races are run on special gravel or tarmac tracks,2,400 metres in length. The tracks are designed to limit the top speed to 80 km/h, the competitions are divided into different classes depending on age and gender. Participants can be as young as 15 years of age, the race is divided into different heats with usually 6 cars. The driver winning a race is awarded seven points, second five points, third four points and so on. When all the heats have been driven, the score is calculated and the top six drivers get to race in the A final. The winner of the A final wins the event, to maintain its inexpensive nature, there is a rule on car costs. The races are run in cars, but participants are generally free to choose as long as they meet certain minimum safety regulations. Anyone can place a fixed price bid on any car, the fixed price is €1400 or 6500 SEK. Refusing to sell is grounds for having ones competition license revoked, personal equipment such as the seat and safety harness are not included in the sale. This type of system eliminates the motivation for sinking extensive amounts of work, folk racing is not the same as demolition derby, though
21.
Hillclimbing
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Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is the worlds oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, a very different kind of hillclimbing is done with offroad motorcycles going straight up extremely steep hills. The winner is the one which could climb the highest, or in the more than one made it to the top. This kind of motorsport, which requires skill as well as bravery, has a tradition in the USA and has been popular in France. The Austrian event in Rachau focused on entertainment, and inspired many similar events. Hillclimbs in continental Europe are usually held on courses which are several long, taking advantage of the available hills. The most prestigious competition is the FIA European Hill Climb Championship, an historic course is at Semmering. For this reason, cars and drivers do not generally cross between the British and continental European championships, Hillclimbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport, the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association. Notable champions from this period include Pierre Maublanc, Daniel Rouveyran, Hervé Bayard, the best-known Course de Côte are Mont Ventoux and Mont-Dore. Caracciola won the over two-litre racing car class, numerous events are organised annually by the Island Car Club. Participants are divided according to their type of vehicle into various categories ranging from single seaters to saloon cars, Hillclimbing is popular in Romania among drivers with limited financial resources. It has a tradition in the country. The first major event was the Feleac course, in Cluj, from 1930, it was a round in the European Hill Climb Championship. The record of the Feleac was set by famous German racer Hans Stuck in 1938, Stuck stormed through the 7 km gravel course in 2 min 56 sec. Despite several attempts in the 1970s, Stucks record was never beaten, in recent decades, the course was widened in order to be suitable for intense traffic and therefore is considered inappropriate for auto racing. Today, hillclimbing in Romania is referred to as Viteză în Coastă or Campionatul Naţional de Viteză pe Traseu Montan, in 2006, the Romanian National Hillclimbing Championship had 7 events, each containing two rounds held on Friday and Sunday respectively, with Saturday being a rest day. The seven events were Câmpulung Muscel, Braşov, Reşiţa, Bálványos, Abrud, Reşiţa, there are several traditional hillclimbing race events in Portugal, and its national championship growing in popularity since 2010
22.
Volvo 200 Series
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The Volvo 200 series was a range of executive cars produced by Volvo Cars from 1974 to 1993, with more than 2.8 million units sold worldwide. Like the Volvo 140, it was designed by Jan Wilsgaard and it overlapped production of the Volvo 700 series introduced in 1982. As the 240 remained popular, only the 260 was displaced by the 700 series — which Volvo marketed alongside the 240 for another decade, the 700 series was replaced a year before the 240 was discontinued. Production ended on 14 May 1993 after nearly 20 years, the Volvo 240 and 260 series was introduced in the autumn of 1974, and was initially available as six variations of the 240 Series and two variations of the 260 Series. The 240 Series was available in sedan or station wagon, however the 260 Series was available as a coupé, four-door sedan, or station wagon. The 200 looked much like the earlier 140 and 164 Series, however, the 200 incorporated many of the features and design elements tried in the Volvo VESC ESV in 1972, which was a prototype experiment in car safety. The overall safety of the driver and passengers in the event of a crash was greatly improved with large front. Another main change was to the engines, which were now of an overhead-cam design, the 260 series also received a V6 engine in lieu of the 164s inline-six. The 200 Series had MacPherson strut type front suspension, which increased room around the engine bay, white parking lamps Aspheric sideview mirrors from the 1980 model year Diesel engine available from 1979 to 1993. For 1980, the 240 GT and GLE were dropped from most markets, in Canada, various market-specific parts such as block heaters were also added at the Volvo Halifax Assembly. For 1981, the 260 Estate was dropped but the new GLT and GLT Turbo models joined the lineup, the Diesel engine was discontinued in 1984, but was still sold in the 1985 model year with a 1984 VIN and 1985 specs. The Turbo model was discontinued in early 1985, quad indicates two headlamps per side, all others one headlamp per side 244 DLS, Export model to the former German Democratic Republic with 264 hood and grille from 264DL. The cars were sold to residents of East Berlin. 264 TE, A limousine version of the 264, many now reside in Germany as they were exported to the former German Democratic Republic for use by the government, as a result, the population nicknamed Wandlitz, the preferred home town of politicians, Volvograd. 245 T, An un-proportionately styled extended wheelbase station wagon designed to have rows of seats for use as taxi or rural school bus. These cars had the wheelbase as the 264 Top Executive. 262C/Coupé by Bertone, This had custom body work and interior from Bertone, the exterior coachbuilding of these two-door saloons consisted of a chopped roof and a more raked windscreen. The 1980 &1981 models were badged Coupé instead of 262C and these cars were further characterised by additional Bertone badges on the front wings
23.
John Haugland
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John Haugland is a Norwegian former rally driver. He competed in 27 world rally championship events, more often not at the wheel of a Škoda. He had four Top 10 finishes in his career, Haugland debuted in his first rally in 1965, and had over 100 class wins primarily in the 1970s and 1980s. He worked for the Norwegian Škoda importer as a teenager and they helped him in his rally career and his first race as an official Škoda driver came in 1968. Haugland raced a few times for other, bigger teams, but preferred the camaraderie, Haugland also owned a Škoda dealership outside of Oslo. Haugland is educated as a car technician and has gained much experience and he currently works for a number of rally teams developing their cars as well as running a rally school for young drivers. Drivers who have attended his rally school include Petter Solberg, Richard Burns, Alister McRae, Martin Rowe, Mark Higgins, Guy Wilks and Luke Pinder
24.
Ford Motor Company
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The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16,1903, the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller, and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV, in the past, it has also produced tractors and automotive components. Ford owns an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom, and it also has a number of joint-ventures, one in China, one in Taiwan, one in Thailand, one in Turkey, and one in Russia. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family, Fords former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010, in 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it was close to bankruptcy, Ford is the second-largest U. S. -based automaker and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe, Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants, the company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company and it has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Carl Benz, between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year, in 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totalled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. The creation of a laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unfettered basic research
25.
Malcolm Wilson (rally driver)
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Malcolm Irving Wilson, OBE is a British former rally driver and current owner of team and constructor M-Sport. He is the father of current World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson and he has also been married to Elaine Wilson since 1982. He has over 20 years experience of rallying at world championship level and he drove for three factory teams in the world championship, including MG, in whose Group B Metro 6R4, he shared driving duties with fellow Briton, Tony Pond. He spent several years as Fords chief test driver, developing new cars, including the short lived RS1700T. As a driver, he won two British national titles in the late 1970s and achieved an ambition by winning the British Rally Championship in 1994. After his driving career, he went on to manage and run the Ford World Rally Team with his M-Sport operation, based at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth in Cumbria, England. Under his guidance, M-Sport has become one of the worlds leading rallying private teams, with a string of international titles, the company now employs over 170 people. Their work culminated in 2006 when Wilson led Ford to the World Rally Championship Constructors title for the first time in 25 years, in September 2008, Wilson took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. He entered the event in a VK Vodka Kick sponsored Ford Escort RS1800 with co-driver Peter Martin and he was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007. Wilson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Birthday Honours, M-Sport M-Sport official website Malcolm Wilson Rally homepage Rallybase stats page WRC Archive stats page
26.
Safari Rally
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The Safari Rally is a rally race held in East Africa. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, in 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. It was one of the most prestigious and celebrated rallies of its time, the event adopted the special stage format in 1996. From that edition until 2002, it featured over 1000 km of timed stages, with well over 60 km long. This meant that the total time was above 12 hours in 1996. The event was part of the World Rally Championship calendar for many years until being excluded after 2002 due to the lack of finance, the Kenyan government is trying to get the rallys WRC status restored. Since 2003 the event has been part of the African Rally Championship organised by the FIA and it is currently known as the KCB Safari Rally after its sponsor, Kenya Commercial Bank. Local driver Shekhar Mehta was the most successful in the event with five outright victories, the event has since been held biennially
27.
Colin McRae
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Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a British rally driver from Scotland, born in Lanark. McRaes outstanding performance with the Subaru World Rally Team enabled the team to win the World Rally Championship Constructors title three times in succession in 1995,1996 and 1997 and he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to motorsport in 1996. McRae died in 2007 when he crashed his helicopter near his home, the accident also killed his son and two family friends. In November 2008 he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. McRae was married to Alison, and had two children, Hollie and Johnny, McRae moved to the principality of Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with David Coulthard. However, as his family grew up, he spent more time back at his home in Lanarkshire—accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland. The couple bought the 17th century Jerviswood House, Colin McRae began his competitive career in motorsport riding trial bikes at an early age, despite being more interested in four wheeled machines rather than two wheel bikes. At the age of sixteen, through the Coltness Car Club, McRae discovered autotesting, he traded his bike for a Mini Cooper. A year later, he began to negotiate with another member to use his Hillman Avenger for the Kames Stages. McRae finished the event fourteenth, first in his class although he had run most of the event in a higher position. In 1986, driving a Talbot Sunbeam, McRae entered the Scottish Rally Championship and soon made a name for himself with his speed and his driving style drew many comparisons to Finnish ex-World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, whom McRae had always idolised. In 1988 he performed a giant-killing act when he took the Scottish Rally Championship series crown in a humble Vauxhall Nova, craving more power, his next car was a Ford Sierra XR 4x4. His first WRC event was the 1987 Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, later that year, he finished 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in a rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. By 1990 McRae was driving a Sierra Cosworth 4x4 and achieved sixth place in that years RAC Rally,1991 saw McRae turn professional as he was signed by Prodrive boss David Richards to his Subaru team in the British Rally Championship for an annual wage of approximately £10,000. McRae was British Rally Champion in both 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to the Subaru factory team at World Rally Championship level. 1992 also saw Colin McRae make his début in the British Touring Car Championship, in the second of the two races of the event, McRae collided with Matt Neal. Race officials found McRae to have caused a collision and subsequently disqualified him. On his promotion for 1993, McRae initially drove the Prodrive-built Group A Subaru Legacy alongside Finns Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, McRae then won his first WRC rally in the car at that years Rally New Zealand
28.
Rally Finland
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Rally Finland is a rally competition held in Jyväskylä in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The rally is driven on wide and smooth gravel roads, featuring blind crests and it is the fastest event in the World Rally Championship and has been dubbed the Grand Prix of Rallying and the Grand Prix on Gravel. Rally Finland is among the largest annually organised public events in the Nordic countries, Rally Finland was first held under the name Jyväskylän Suurajot in 1951. With increasing international attention, it part of the European Rally Championship programme in 1959. After the start of the World Rally Championship in 1973, the event became the Finnish round in the series, Rally Finland is now among the most popular and prestigious rallies in the championship. The difficulty of this rally for non-Nordic drivers made notable competitors such as Walter Rohrl, previously, the entries had been decided in the Hanko Run in Southern Finland. The regulations in this race were not close to those of the Monte Carlo Rally, in July 1951, Pentti Barcks proposal for an annual competition in Jyväskylä was accepted. The first-ever rally began on 1 September 1951 as Jyväskylän Suurajot,26 entrants tackled the 1,700 kilometre route that stretched to Rovaniemi in Lapland, through Kokkola and Oulu, and back to the rally headquarters in Jyväskylä. The 1952 event included Helsinki as a starting point and the field expanded to 48 entries. Eino Elo was the driver to finish the route and the acceleration. In 1953, Oulu was added as a starting point. The 1954 running of the saw the introduction of the international name The Rally of the Thousand Lakes. There were now eleven starting cities, one of which was Sundsvall in neighbouring Sweden, in 1955, the event became increasingly closer to the format of a modern rally competition, the number of special stages was increased to eleven, marking the highest amount in any European rally. Elo and Peugeot became the first two-time winners of the event, the 1956 rally featured 19 stages totaling 1,800 kilometres. In 1957, the rally had a number of entries from foreign countries. The event also started the Finland-Sweden international in rallying, comparable to the traditional Finland-Sweden athletics international, Swedens Erik Carlsson drove his Saab 93 to victory as the first non-Finn. In the 19581000 Lakes, documented by a 20th Century Fox film crew, brothers Osmo and Eino Kalpala took a record third win in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI, which marked the first victory for an Italian car. In 1959, the 1000 Lakes Rally was included in the European Rally Championship calendar and it was also one of the four rallies that counted towards the first-ever Finnish Rally Championship
29.
M-Sport
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M-Sport is an auto racing team based at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1979 by the former WRC driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as Malcolm Wilson Motorsport, formed in 1979 under the name Malcolm Wilson Motorsport, the company was originally next door to Wilsons house near Cockermouth. In 1994, the team won titles in Italy, Portugal, the Middle East. At the end of 1996, Ford Motorsport selected the company to spearhead the Ford teams entry for the 1997 World Rally Championship season with the new derivative of the Ford Escort WRC, the start of the 1997 WRC season also saw the name change to M-Sport. Victories in Greece and Indonesia saw faith in the team rewarded. By the middle of 1998, Ford chose M-Sport to design, the new car appeared in 1999 with a new driver — Colin McRae — and immediately sprang to the attention of the world press by recording fastest stage times on its first event, the Monte Carlo Rally. However, the two cars entered were excluded from the event due to the use of a modified water pump. By the third event — the Safari Rally in Kenya — the team had scored its first WRC victory, a month later, an on-form Colin McRae made it two in a row at the Rally of Portugal. With a move to new premises at Dovenby Hall, M-Sport expanded rapidly, in 2006, the Wilson-led Ford team took the manufacturers World Rally championship title, it was the first time Ford had achieved this feat in 25 years of competing. For the 2008 season, the company employed the talents of Mikko Hirvonen. The 2009 season saw Mikko Hirvonen and Citroens Sébastien Loeb fight a closely fought throughout the year which ended with Loeb the victor by just one point. Beside the official Ford cars, the also ran two cars on behalf of the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team. Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg were the two competing in 2010. On occasions, a car was run with a guest driver. Argentinian team Munchis Ford World Rally Team also entrusts the preparation, the driver running for the team in the 2010 WRC season was Federico Villagra. For the 2010 season, M-Sport ran a Ford Focus RS WRC08 for Ken Block on behalf of the Monster World Rally Team, at the beginning of 2009 Ford with M-Sport started work on a S2000 rally version of the new Ford Fiesta. The new car, designed by Christian Loriaux, was launched on 18 November 2009 at M-Sports headquarters, the car will made its public debut as a course car at the IRC Rally Scotland driven by Matthew Wilson. Ford did not run an entry in the 2010 IRC
30.
Richard Burns
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Richard Alexander Burns was a British rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. Born in Reading, Berkshire, he also helped Mitsubishi to the manufacturers title in 1998. His co-driver in his career was Robert Reid. Burns was known by his smooth, methodical driving style, which was unusual for such a driver of his generation. He was the patron for the Under 17 Car Club, of which he was an ex-Member and he started driving in a field near his house at the age of eight, in his fathers old Triumph 2000. At eleven Burns joined the Under 17 Car Club, where he became driver of the year in 1984 and he badgered his father into letting him join the Craven Motor Club in his home town Reading where his talent was spotted by rally enthusiast David Williams. In 1988 he entered his first rallies in his own Talbot Sunbeam, the car was too basic to make much impression and in 1989 he had to borrow other competitors cars to progress. In 1990 he joined the Peugeot Challenge after David Williams bought Burns a Peugeot 205 GTI and he got his first taste of a World Rally Championship event in Great Britain as a prize for winning the Peugeot Challenge that year. In 1991 Burns met Robert Reid, the man who was to become his co-driver for the next 12 years, for 1992 Williams bought Burns a Group N Subaru Legacy and with the support of Prodrive won the National Championship. This year also saw Burns help out Colin McRae with his notes as Prodrive saw him as a promising driver for the future. In 1993 he joined the Subaru Rally Team for the British Rally Championship alongside Alister McRae and he won four rounds, the Vauxhall Sport, Pirelli, Scottish, and Manx International, and became the youngest ever British Champion. He finished seventh on that years snowy RAC Rally and his best result was third on the 1995 RAC Rally, behind team mates Carlos Sainz and winner and world champion Colin McRae. Even so, the fending off of such competition as works-backed Subaru heavyweights Kenneth Eriksson. In 1997 he was driving a car as his team-mate Tommi Makinen had, Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI. His results are improving, from 8 rallies he had participated he finished five 4th place, Burns worked his way to a career high of second place in the drivers standings, adding to his win tally. He also led Subaru to second in the series behind the Formula One departing Toyota Team Europe. On that years Rally Argentina, he was upstaged for victory by virtue of a team order mix-up by veteran team-mate Kankkunen. Even so, a comeback from the lower reaches of the top thirty to win on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain kept the Burns name well entrenched within public consciousness
31.
Juha Kankkunen
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Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002 and he won 23 world rallies and four drivers world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Sébastien Loeb has since collected more world titles, but no driver has so far been able to repeat Kankkunens feat of becoming a champion with three different manufacturers. Kankkunen was signed by Toyota in 1983 and he took his first WRC win in his year in the team. His performances got him a deal with the defending champions Peugeot for 1986, as Peugeot withdrew from the championship following the ban of Group B, Kankkunen moved to Lancia and became the first driver to successfully defend his title. After a two-year stint back at Toyota, he returned to Lancia, in 1993, Kankkunen re-joined Toyota and won his fourth title. After moving to Subaru for 1999, he took his first win in five years. Before retiring after the 2002 season, he competed part-time for Hyundai, Kankkunens achievements outside the WRC include winning the Dakar Rally in 1988 and the Race of Champions in 1988 and 1991. Following his retirement from rallying, he has worked in the fields of business. In 2007, Kankkunen set the speed record on ice in a Bentley Continental GT. In 2011, he set a record of 330.695 km/h in a convertible Bentley Continental Supersports. Kankkunen grew up on his familys farm in Laukaa in Central Finland and his father had rallying and ice racing as a hobby, and taught Juha how to drive on an ice racing track. Kankkunen began to drive when he was seven years old, and he debuted in rallying in 1978 and competed in his first World Rally Championship event at the 19791000 Lakes Rally in Finland, finishing 14th in a Ford Escort RS2000. Due to good results for Toyota Finland in local events, Kankkunen was signed by the Toyota Team Europe, the following year, Kankkunen competed in four WRC events with Fred Gallagher as his new regular co-driver, retiring in three and finishing fifth in his home event. In 1985, he started his season with a victory at the Safari Rally. Kankkunens performances with the Celica earned him his chance to come to the fore with the manufacturers and drivers champions Peugeot. The team signed him for the 1986 season to replace Ari Vatanen who was recovering from his nearly fatal accident during the previous season. Despite the 205 T16s passing the pre-rally scrutiny, the stewards had decreed on re-examination that the cars underbody fins were in fact illegal side skirts, going into the season-ending Olympus Rally in the United States, Lancias Markku Alén led Kankkunen by one point
32.
Podium
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A podium is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι, in architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many public speakers. Common parlance has shown a use of podium in American English to describe a lectern. In sports, a type of podium is used to honor the top three competitors in such as the Olympics. In the Olympics a three-level podium is used, traditionally, the highest level in the center holds the gold medalist. To their right is a lower platform for the silver medalist. At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, however, the Silver, in many sports, results in the top three of a competition are often referred to as podiums or podium finishes. In some individual sports, podiums is a statistic, referring to the number of top three results an athlete has achieved over the course of a season or career. The word may also be used, chiefly in the United States, as a verb, to podium, meaning to attain a podium place. Podia were first used at the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario and subsequently during the 1932 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the winner stands in the middle, with the second placed driver to his right and the third place driver to his left. Also present are the selected by the race organisers who will present the trophies. In many forms of motorsport, the three top-placed drivers in a stand on a podium for the trophy ceremony. The recordings are versions of the national anthems, ensuring the podium ceremony does not exceeded its allocated time. Should a driver experience problems with his car on a lap in Formula One. The drivers will generally refrain from spraying if a fatality or major accident occurs during the event. Also, in countries where alcohol sponsorship or drinking is prohibited, alcoholic beverages may be replaced by other drinks, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the highest level of stock car racing in the United States, does not use a podium in post-game events or statistics. Instead, the team celebrates in victory lane, and top-five
33.
Acropolis Rally
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The Acropolis Rally of Greece is a rally competition, part of the European Rally Championship schedule. The rally is held on very dusty, rough and rocky mountain roads around Athens during the Greek hot summer period, the rally is known for being extremely tough on the competing cars and drivers. The highlight of the rally was the Super Special Stage in the Athens Olympic Stadium, in 2005, it was announced the Rally of the Year. The Acropolis Rally has been held for 51 years by the Greek Motorsports Organization Automobile and Touring Club of Greece, making it one of the longest-standing in world rallying. Many famous rallying individuals have won this event including Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, among others. Due to the nature of the rally, with a mix of rough, twisty mountain stages and coupled with blistering heat and choking dust, cars that are used in this race have to be built with extra sturdiness in order to cope with the fast but rock-strewn stages. Drivers and co-drivers also have to contend with the pounding terrain, in 2005 a new stage was introduced, a superspecial stage held within the Olympic Stadium of Athens. In 2006 there were 2 superspecials, again in the same stadium, the rally headquarters and the service park also moved from Lamia to the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. In the 2007 event, the moved to the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre. In 2008 the super special stage was twice at the Tatoi military airport. Since 2009 the rally headquarters and the park were moved to the Greek city of Loutraki near the famous Corinth Canal. In 2016, the headquarters were moved back to the classic mountain stages above Lamia. Since 1973, the first WRC season, Official site Previous Acropolis Rallies History of the Acropolis Rally Acropolis Rally of Greece at wrc. com Official organizers site Historic Acropolis Rally Acropolis Rally Results
34.
Tour de Corse
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The Tour de Corse - Rallye de France is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, the name Tour de Corse refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island, nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on roads, and it is known as the Ten Thousand Turns Rally because of the twisty mountain roads. Several drivers have been killed during the event, including fatalities at 3 consecutive events, attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037 Rally, died during the fourth special stage of the 1985 rally, Zérubia-Santa Giulia. In 1986, exactly a year later, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their Lancia Delta S4 during the 18th stage of the event, and in 1987 co-driver French Corsican Jean-Michel Argenti, who was assisting Jean Marchini, was killed after Marchini crashed. The first running of the rally was won by the Belgian female driver Gilberte Thirion in a Renault Dauphine, two drivers have won the event a record six times, Bernard Darniche and Didier Auriol. The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén, in 1996, due to the World Rally Championships event rotation system used from 1994–96, the rally counted only for the FIA 2-Litre World Championship for Manufacturers. The 2009 event was part of the France Cup. *, denotes years when Tour de Corse was not part of the World Rally Championship Official site WRC. com - Official site of the World Rally Championship
Norwegian
58th Network Q Rally of Great Britain
31st Cyprus Rally
16th Telstra Rally Australia
47ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France
34th Propecia Rally New Zealand
51st Acropolis Rally
1st Rally Japan
1º Supermag Rally d'Italia Sardinia
54th Uddeholm Swedish Rally
19º Corona Rally México
