European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Car Corner the Toyota Celicagt-4 on its Way to Victory in the Mon to Carlo rally. _ a a a j w % to it f n v a a a its x of s it it it 0 it 1991 world championship rally schedule Portugal a a a a. March 5-1 1 last Attu a satan March 27-april 2 Corsica French round april 27-May 2 Greece acropolis june 1.-6 new zealand june 28-july 3 Argentina july 22-28 Finland 1,000 lakes. Aug. 20-26 Australia. Sept. 19-23 san Reloj Italy. Oct. 13-18 Catalonia Spain oct. 23-27 a Ivory coast nov. 9-13 Rac. Rally England a nov. 24-29 a world championship rallying japanese cars move to the front by Randy Barnett Auto columnist High powered rally cars Are closely related to Normal production automobiles a far More so than any other Type of automotive racing machinery. In International rallying these cars Are driven to their limits on Normal roads As Well As on roads laced with Snow ice mud and Sand. The rally locations include such diverse areas As the French Alps the rutted roads of. Kenya and the Andes Mountain trails of Argentina. The championship Sites take in 14 different nations. With rally route distances ranging from 900 to 2,800 Miles it s easy to see that the cars Are truly put to the test. And within these routes dozens of special High. Speed sections Are designated where the Drivers hurl their cars Flat out in efforts to score Best times. Compared to its production car counterpart the rally car s engine puts out More horsepower the suspension is beefed up and the Interior is spartan among other differences. But the Lancia Delta car for instance is still a Lancia Delta and the same goes for the Toyota Celic Aford Sierra co Worth and All the s group a rally cars have plenty in common with their Street going counterparts. Ltd where appearance is concerned Lascar Stock cars resemble their counterparts but All similarities end there the Lascar stickers like the formula one and indy car racers Are strictly special racing machines that can run Only on smoothly surfaced High Speed circuits. These cars Haye Little in common with the Normal production automobile. Ditto for sports prototype racing cars. The saying goes that Quot racing improves the Breed a and there s no doubt about that where technological a a advances Are concerned. One need Only look at Honda s engine role in formula one racing As a current example. Knowledge gained from the Mclaren Honda formula one project finds its Way to the Honda production line and Honda makes a Point of stressing this in its advertisements. But if racing improves the Breed from the research standpoint it s rallying that perfects it directly in the Field and on the Road. Major participation in rallying is one of the reasons japanese cars have steadily advanced a not Only in world championship rally Competition but in world Market sales As Well. Because of the incredible distances involved in rallying the reliability Factor is absolutely vital. And since reliability is stressed in automotive advertising an International rally Victory is Worth big sales around the Globe. A the japanese began competing in the 1960s, when their cars first moved onto the International marketplace. The first world championship Victory by a japanese car was recorded in 1970 in the East african safari the longest and most difficult rally event. The car that won the 1970 safari was a Dat Sun 1600 ass Nissan today driven Fly Germany s Edgar Hermann. The safari has been a Bonanza of sorts for japanese firms Ever since with Nissan scoring a total of seven victories Toyota winning four and Mitsubishi one. That s 12 wins since the first one 20 years ago. Until now no japanese firm has won the world championship for makes but Toyota came close last year and is going All but for the honors this season. It. Appears that japanese firms Are on the verge of dominating world class two events far this season Toyota won in Monte Carlo and Mitsubishi in Sweden. The results in Sweden Tvete especially imprps5ivehor to with Mitsubishi winning and placing fifth Toyota placing second and 10th Subaru third and Mazda fourth sixth and seventh. Eighth and ninth places went to the italian Lancia cars. Lancia the defending Champion did not look Good in either the Monte Carlo or swedish rallies and the age of the Lancia Delta integrate rally cars is beginning to show. At the moment Ford of Europe s Sierra co Worth team appears to be the Only one capable of deflecting Toyota s aim for the world title although Lancia could recover from its Early season setbacks. Ford and Lancia by the Way Are the Only major non japanese entrants in the 1991 rally series. Ford s 295-horsepower Sierra co Worth four wheel drive rally car should have won at Monte Carlo but it lost but when the suspension failed practically within sight of the finish line. 1. J still Toyota rules As the favorite at the moment and in Spain s Carlos Sainz it also has the Best Driver. The spaniard is the defending . The europeans once ruled rallying but times change and it has become quite obvious that the japanese Are set to take Over. While glancing through record books from the past 20 years one comes across victories scored by Fiat Audi porsche opel Ford escort Saab Mercedes Bow Lancia Renault and Peugeot. And of this group Only Lancia and Ford remain in action As noted earlier. American made cars unfortunately Are missing from the entry and Victory lists entirely and that s really a shame. Had american makers decided to compete they would have Learned something and they also would have won some world prestige. The japanese jumped into International rallying at tin first . And Lei Ink w fire they ire now Ltd r. A a. A a Fth Rumary 2/i,_ 799/ stripes Mazarine 7 7
