Madness on Wheels: Rallying's Craziest Years


Madness on Wheels: Rallying's Craziest Years

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In the mid-1980s, rallying became more popular than Formula 1.

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Rules were changed,

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allowing manufacturers to create ever-more crazy and powerful cars.

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Known as Group B machines,

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they unleashed unseen power on the World Rally Championship.

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Too much power, too much speed.

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It was the fastest rallying there'll ever be.

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The 1980s would become known as rallying's golden years.

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Star drivers, given the extreme challenge of keeping

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these cars on the tarmac, gravel, and snow.

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However, rallying quickly became lethal,

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as the race for more power left safety behind.

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In a Group B car, it was so easy to make mistakes.

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And the car was completely destroyed.

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It was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

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An accident, or more, was bound to happen.

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The unregulated mayhem ended abruptly in 1986,

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after a series of tragedies.

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The Group B was something quite emotional,

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but I try always to cancel this period from my mind.

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This is the inside story of when rallying went out of control,

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the madness that happens

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when fans, ambition, politics and cars collide.

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Rallying started as a hobby for motor enthusiasts

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using their everyday car.

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The adventurous and eccentric

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competing in a series of road tests against the clock.

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It was Grand Prix's scruffy cousin.

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Women competed equally alongside men.

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In the 1960s, the sport was predominantly amateur.

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Grand Prix driver Tony Brooks

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even entering a taxi in the 1961 Monte Carlo Rally.

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It was all part of rallying's non-exclusive joie de vivre.

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By the 1980s,

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the World Rally Championship consisted of events in 12 countries,

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up to 5,000km long, split into day and night stages.

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Top car companies and professional teams competed.

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It was the ultimate test of speed and endurance

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for the car, driver and co-driver.

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All these rallies were different.

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You know, you had tarmac in Corsica,

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rough roads in Greece,

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African roads in Africa!

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It was a hell of a challenge, not only for the drivers and crews

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that were actually taking part but also for the engineers,

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because you've got to design a car

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which could perform well in all those conditions.

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But, I mean, it's madness to go rallying in the first place.

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All this was, was a, sort of, refined madness!

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Go on, keep going. Keep going.

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That's it.

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Always follow the arrows, don't I?

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This isn't a laughing matter, is it?

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Well, you got to laugh, or you'd cry, don't you?

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And I don't like crying.

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Motorsport's governing body is based in Paris's Place De La Concorde,

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a long way from the gravel and dirt tracks of rallying.

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Its leader in the 1980s was the unpredictable Jean-Marie Balestre.

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Balestre invited, for the first time,

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manufacturers, to help shake up rallying's rules.

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I think you're wrong, here, to assume that Mr Balestre

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had a very clear view of what the future was going to be.

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I don't think he had any idea about cars or anything like that.

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His business was publishing.

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Balestre's dream, if there was one, was that he was going to get

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a lot of manufacturers in and a lot of people were going to pay fees,

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or a lot of money, you know, to go rallying.

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The manufacturers wanted it easier to make more powerful rally cars,

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to leave behind the need to base them on a road vehicle.

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They wanted to showcase their extreme engineering,

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because it helped sell cars.

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Balestre agreed, and it would radically transform the sport.

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The new Group B rules allowed manufacturers

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to leave behind the standard public production models

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and design their rally cars starting from a clean sheet of paper.

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Exotic materials, clever aerodynamics, unlimited power

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could then be added to the cars that became known as evolutions.

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A new breed of monster car had arrived.

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FISA didn't necessarily understand

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what they were creating with Group B.

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You can't be surprised that the manufacturers exploit that,

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because that's what they're paid to do. That's what they want to do.

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And, I mean, engineers

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and team managers, you know,

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they all get a kick out of this.

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I mean, you've only got to look at the Group B cars

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to understand that there was quite a lot of innovative thinking,

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shall we say, during that period.

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For sure, you must, if you want to be competitive,

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the rules, you must use them

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very borderline...yes.

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Rally cars were becoming more visceral and more challenging.

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Drivers loved it.

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It felt like those fighter plane pilots who are launched off

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the aircraft carrier.

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Like a catapult, which is pushing you. And, of course, it's..."Oh!"

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What I like is,

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it's a challenge to try to feel

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the limit of the car, to feel

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the limit of yourself,

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and in rallying, it's the team, because you're not alone,

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you're with your co-driver.

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And then, to play with the limits of everything.

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It's this adrenaline that will give you the limit of the car

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and yourself.

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I don't do this sport to earn money.

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I do it just for fun. I want to know

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if I'm a dreamer or not.

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That was the reason I have done it.

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In front of the rally car,

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the race car, you must dream.

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And you are dreaming, with those cars.

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If I was able to play piano like a maestro, I mean,

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I would play with my eyes closed, and I would just,

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with the goose pimples on my skin. And driving is like that.

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It's like music. It takes you. But you need a good piano -

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and Group B was a fantastic piano.

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70, absolute right,

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150, unseen easy right,

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50, easy left, 50 grid, 100. Oh!

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Dear God!

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Despite the manufacturers' and drivers' enthusiasm for more speed,

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the omens were not good.

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Rallying had a recent history of fatal accidents in much slower cars.

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In the 1981 Finnish Rally,

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Franz Wittmann failed to see the stop sign,

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driving into official Raul Falin, who died later from his injuries.

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In the 1982 Rally of Brazil, amateur Thomas Fuchs'

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tiny Fiat disappeared off the road into a lake.

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He drowned, and was left in his car.

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In 1983, Reijo Nygren was killed at the Thousand Lakes Rally.

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These accidents showed that event

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and car safety were already often inadequate.

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Group B was taking speed

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and the consequences of an accident to another level.

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Clearly, to produce ever-more powerful cars was going to

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cause a lot of problems.

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That was...that was the nature

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of the sport at that time.

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We were pushing the envelope

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with those cars,

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there's no question about it.

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There was little time

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between the rule change

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and the first Group B rally at Monte Carlo in 1983.

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Cesare Fiorio and his Lancia team were one of only four manufacturers

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to have a car ready.

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Their new car, named the Lancia Rally,

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is a supercharged, tubular-framed, lightweight racer,

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designed for just one purpose. In these dry conditions

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and on the twisting, cambered roads of the Alps,

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it's utterly without equal.

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Making a car 600 pounds lighter had massively improved acceleration.

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It suited their driver, double world champion, Walter Rohrl.

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Before the start of last year,

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this rally, my tactic was the same

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like this year.

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Attack. And I have done it last year and I've been doing it this year.

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Last year's winner, Walter Rohrl, is as good as his word.

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The Lancia Rally may be new to him, but you wouldn't know.

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With little snow, the Lancia's prowess on tarmac led to an easy win

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for Rohrl and his co-driver, Christian Geistdorfer.

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A superbly-professional drive from the world champion.

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His second successive Monte Carlo Rally victory

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and the third of his career.

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Lancia for the world championship?

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Well, the Italian team is certainly looking very impressive.

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Winning Monte Carlo,

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it's the greatest thing

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you can achieve,

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because driving down

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in the morning light

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to Monte Carlo, from La Turbie, it's so emotional.

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Unbelievable.

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Lancia, though, had backed the wrong technology.

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A small German company was about to make two-wheel-drive obsolete.

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Manufacturers knew that fast rally cars winning on the track

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sold more cars in the showroom.

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The Audi Quattro became such a car.

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After test driving the Iltis, an army jeep on snow,

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Audi development engineer, Roland Gumpert,

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realised he had seen the future of rallying.

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It was obvious to Gumpert that four-wheel-drive would give

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twice the traction of two-wheel-drive,

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turbocharging enabling much more power from

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a relatively-small engine.

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They were putting their hands over their head

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and saying, "How you think to sell four-wheel-driven

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"stupid cars to the public?"!

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So, everybody at this time, has a problem,

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couldn't believe that it would be a success in the future.

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All the technical people, or leading technical people, in Mercedes said,

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"This thing will never work, so, don't worry about it.

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"We're doing the right thing. Forget about Audi."

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And we were laughing, saying, "These stupid guys,

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"they do not understand physics."

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It was a fantastic feeling.

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I remember the first time

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I went down to Ingolstadt,

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and get to drive in the car and I couldn't believe

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the difference between

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two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive.

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Because that's like day and night.

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When I started with Audi,

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they did a survey in France

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to know about what people think

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about Audi.

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7% of the French people

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were answering, "It's a washing machine."

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I tell you, after one year, nobody would say that in France, for sure.

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With the promise of 370-brake horsepower

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and four-wheel-drive technology, Audi wooed the best drivers.

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Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, Michele Mouton

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were a formidable team.

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And Audi claimed the drivers' world titles

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in the first two years of Group B.

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They blitzed the opposition. There was no way the rest could keep up.

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So, Audi against Lancia. The scene set for a terrific battle.

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Audi had outsmarted the opposition.

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The Audi Quattro revolutionised the sport,

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because they were winning everything.

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I mean, they were completely dominant of the sport.

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The team was really strong

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and they knew what to do.

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So, it was

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a very, very good time.

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We were very hard to beat.

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And winning the championship was a nice feeling.

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The Audi Quattro would become the iconic car of the 1980s,

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entirely due to its rallying success.

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With the commercial rivalry and the drama of the cars, came huge crowds.

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In 1984, over one million people would go to the RAC Rally.

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The people loved the sport.

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Every year, more people showed up to see the stages

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and, in those years, rallying was much more famous than Formula 1.

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The sport was growing into a dimension

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which was just unbelievable.

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We had hundreds of thousands of spectators on the stages.

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There's different attitudes to spectating in some places.

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Some of the Portuguese guys used to touch the cars,

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as the cars went by down the stages.

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So, drivers were faced with going down an avenue of fans

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with hands reaching out, trying to touch the cars.

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And that's not fair on the drivers.

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Driving rallies in Italy or Portugal or Spain,

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the spectators are on the road

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and you couldn't see, even,

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where is the road going on, and the car is coming,

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the driver through the crowd,

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and the crowd opening, and behind the car, closing again.

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If a guy got to touch a car, he was, kind of, a hero.

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He did some dangerous thing.

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There was a guy in San Remo, for example,

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when Rohrl went off a little bit, he broke his leg,

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and he was happy like hell to have his leg broken by Walter Rohrl.

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So, some of the fans are really, really keen about things.

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It was too dangerous, you know, these people, the spectators,

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they wasn't used that the Group B car was so fast.

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People didn't move backwards, putting the car sideways,

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and you could hear "bum, bum, bum", where you were hitting people.

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There is a point where you have to drive thinking like, you know,

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they are part of the game.

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You try to consider that they are like trees.

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You don't want to hit trees or anything. It's difficult.

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Very difficult.

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So, we could not stop this.

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And, for these people, even if you hurt someone,

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then that's their mistake.

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If you look in the FIA Yellow Book of the period,

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there isn't one single page on how to run a rally safely,

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but the problem is, you're so busy competing and organising your team

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and everything like that

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that that sort of thing rather goes past you.

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I think everyone knew

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that it was all getting too quick.

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I think the drivers were scared,

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I think the co-drivers were more scared,

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but there was a momentum with these things.

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I think it takes... It would have taken a very brave person to cancel

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a round of the World Rally Championship.

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It seemed crowds were already too big to deal with,

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but an incredible new car was about to make the sport even more popular.

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In a run-down suburb on the outskirts of Paris,

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Peugeot were out to save their floundering company

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with a secret project in development.

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Going against convention, they hired an experienced rally co-driver,

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Jean Todt, to oversee the task.

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He was always a very strong personality.

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He knew the sport inside out

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and he knew what was required to make a very successful team.

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It's all about human management,

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running a team.

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Technical side is there, engineers take care of it.

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The rest is human management.

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How to bring the best out of human beings.

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And people must have a feeling that they have a boss who cares,

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and Jean, he cared for people,

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and that's why our team was so successful.

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Hiring Jean Todt was to prove a masterstroke,

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as he would oversee the design of the Peugeot 205 T16,

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choosing to put the engine in the middle of the car

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for lightness and balance.

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The thing which was very scaring

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is that all the Audi people

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were saying a four-wheel-drive car mid-engine can never work.

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Putting the engine behind the driver was common in racing cars,

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but nobody had built a transverse, mid-engined,

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four-wheel-drive rally car before.

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The fear was that it would be unstable when it left the ground.

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In 1984, after extensive testing,

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they travelled to the Corsican Rally, with high hopes.

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Their number one driver

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was former world champion and flying Finn, Ari Vatanen.

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I remember when I tested in Corsica,

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and I stopped after a few accelerations

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and looked at Terry Harryman,

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and I said, "Look at this car! It's fast."

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It just felt so good, it rendered me confident in that car.

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It just felt like a glove on my hand. Not only confidence,

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it put a smile on my face when I was driving.

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Vatanen's optimism was borne out.

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After the first few stages, Peugeot were in front.

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Rally history was rewritten

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and the pressure was now on Lancia, Audi and the other teams.

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When you do something, you are always under pressure to deliver.

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Of course.

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You know, it's so many people promise, speak,

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but what is very important,

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and it has always been my philosophy in life, is to deliver.

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If you commit to something, you have to deliver.

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That was the turnaround in the history of Peugeot.

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It was the combination of new car and motorsport programme

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and so, we not just were winning rallies and fighting for victories,

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but this programme played, absolutely, a fundamental role

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in saving livelihoods of ordinary workers at the Peugeot factory.

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The Corsican Rally of 1984 was to sow the seeds for

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a fantastic sequence of victories, ultimately saving the company.

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In 1984, the Peugeot 205 was named Car Of The Year.

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Five races, three victories, this is the 205's score.

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In the World Championship there's not a shadow of doubt,

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the new challenger's name is Peugeot.

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ANNOUNCER: Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman,

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who've won, this year, by 41 seconds.

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As the Monte Carlo Rally opened

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the 1985 season, Audi had little hope of beating Peugeot.

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The once-struggling French manufacturer

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was rubbing salt into the wounds of their German and Italian rivals.

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Do you think you can be faster?

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With my car, you've seen I am eight minutes slower.

0:21:200:21:25

What's your prognostic? Ari will win and I hope I will be second.

0:21:250:21:31

Rohrl's prediction was right. Vatanen was untouchable.

0:21:310:21:34

But it came at a high price,

0:21:350:21:37

as he ran over some spectators on his way to victory.

0:21:370:21:41

This did not stop Peugeot's marketing execs from lining

0:21:410:21:45

the roads of the rally's final stage to celebrate.

0:21:450:21:48

Timo Salonen, Peugeot's recent addition, came third.

0:21:510:21:56

Peugeot followed Monte Carlo up with another win for Vatanen in Sweden.

0:22:140:22:19

I was trying a little bit too hard,

0:22:190:22:21

I got a little bit too enthusiastic.

0:22:210:22:23

I was trying to decide the whole rally on one stage,

0:22:230:22:26

so I had to pay for it, but, luckily, we got away.

0:22:260:22:29

I only lost some 40 seconds,

0:22:290:22:31

but, in any case, you know,

0:22:310:22:33

that put us back, but we are leading by one minute and 19 seconds, now.

0:22:330:22:37

You made no fault,

0:22:370:22:38

but you can't pass Ari.

0:22:380:22:40

It's a little bit difficult.

0:22:400:22:43

Why? He is too quick.

0:22:430:22:45

What can you do against Ari now? Nothing, I think.

0:22:450:22:49

Thank you.

0:22:510:22:52

Audi even thought about quitting,

0:22:520:22:54

only to plough on with a new evolution of the Quattro.

0:22:540:22:57

By May, 1985, Lancia hadn't won for a year.

0:23:010:23:06

So difficult, you know.

0:23:080:23:11

Everybody go like hell.

0:23:110:23:13

One time, in Finland,

0:23:130:23:15

we were after one week driving,

0:23:150:23:18

we finished second,

0:23:180:23:20

with, I think, seven seconds.

0:23:200:23:22

So, it was like the first place.

0:23:230:23:25

Can you imagine, after one week, seven seconds being the second?

0:23:250:23:30

But, no matter, it's second place, and not counting.

0:23:300:23:35

So, you have the pressure to win.

0:23:350:23:38

And, the whole team was just, "Win is counting."

0:23:380:23:44

So, the victories counting. Nothing else.

0:23:440:23:46

The 1985 season rolled on,

0:23:510:23:53

leading to the high-speed, high-pressure Corsican tarmac rally.

0:23:530:23:57

This was one of the most exciting

0:23:570:23:59

and most dangerous in the season, with sheer cliffs,

0:23:590:24:02

back-to back-corners,

0:24:020:24:04

and little, if any, protection, when things go wrong.

0:24:040:24:06

Former champions Lancia were now relegated to being the also-rans,

0:24:080:24:12

straggling behind Audi and the domineering Peugeots.

0:24:120:24:16

Local hero Attilio Bettega

0:24:160:24:19

had not been on the podium for over eight months

0:24:190:24:22

and was feeling the strain.

0:24:220:24:25

His Lancia 037 was designed for tarmac

0:24:250:24:29

and if he was to steal a victory,

0:24:290:24:31

this would be one of his only chances.

0:24:310:24:33

There's a very high-quality entry for the event, with representation

0:24:330:24:38

from Lancia, Peugeot, Renault, Audi, Opel and Rothmans Porsche.

0:24:380:24:44

Waving the competitors away,

0:24:440:24:46

the rather-controversial president of FISA,

0:24:460:24:48

Jean-Marie Balestre.

0:24:480:24:50

At number four, Attilio Bettega,

0:24:520:24:54

with the second of the two works Lancias.

0:24:540:24:58

The Italian, who went well in the early stages of the safari,

0:24:580:25:01

gets away from the ramp.

0:25:010:25:03

Bettega was a very serious driver

0:25:060:25:08

coming from the mountain.

0:25:080:25:09

You know, people from the mountain

0:25:090:25:12

are very serious and very motivated.

0:25:120:25:15

They don't talk too much, but he drove very, very good.

0:25:150:25:18

Very good driver.

0:25:180:25:20

Standing in Bettega's way was Audi's Walter Rohrl.

0:25:220:25:26

He was also feeling the strain of a losing streak

0:25:260:25:29

and had been on the island practising for six weeks.

0:25:290:25:33

If I say I was good or I was the best, then it was on tarmac.

0:25:330:25:38

You say, of course, I have to win Corsica, because Corsica was,

0:25:380:25:42

at this time, it was the most famous

0:25:420:25:45

and the best tarmac rally in the world.

0:25:450:25:48

But I never won it, because always, I had some technical problems.

0:25:480:25:52

I was sure we can win it.

0:25:520:25:54

The Audi went quite well in the early stages of the Portuguese Rally

0:25:550:25:58

which was held on tarmac stages, as well,

0:25:580:26:00

so things should be fairly good for the German driver.

0:26:000:26:04

However, Rohrl's car had terminal brake failure on the first stage,

0:26:050:26:09

only a few kilometres into the 1,600km event.

0:26:090:26:15

And, that was,

0:26:160:26:18

that was really hard for me.

0:26:180:26:20

I remember, I was completely destroyed.

0:26:200:26:22

I had me under control. Even if my father or my mother has died,

0:26:230:26:28

I was not crying.

0:26:280:26:30

But in this time, I was absolutely...

0:26:300:26:34

I was completely destroyed.

0:26:340:26:36

Ideal conditions on this first leg

0:26:380:26:40

and the first stage threw up a few surprises.

0:26:400:26:43

Competition is often cruel, but as Rohrl got on his aeroplane home,

0:26:430:26:48

his failure became a golden opportunity for others

0:26:480:26:51

down the ranks to take advantage and make their name.

0:26:510:26:53

Could Attilio Bettega be one of those to upset the form book?

0:26:560:26:59

Pushing hard, he was lying in second, after the first stage.

0:27:010:27:05

Three stages later, it would end in tragedy.

0:27:070:27:10

Bettega went off the road.

0:27:130:27:16

He was too much over the limit and...

0:27:200:27:22

...this sport is still too dangerous to play around

0:27:220:27:29

with high-risk things.

0:27:290:27:31

It was a bumpy place, where everybody was lifting.

0:27:330:27:37

And he was the only one who was putting the foot down

0:27:370:27:39

and trying to do it flat out.

0:27:390:27:42

Bettega was an accident that, I think,

0:27:430:27:46

had nothing to do with Group Bs or whatever.

0:27:460:27:50

It was a normal rally accident, which turned bad

0:27:500:27:55

because he hit a tree in the front.

0:27:550:27:57

With Bettega's death, Group B had claimed its first victim.

0:27:590:28:03

The 037, if you have an accident,

0:28:050:28:09

the front was nothing, it was just five tubes like this.

0:28:090:28:13

There are all the drivers who are a category lower,

0:28:170:28:21

and they have to risk much more to achieve what those boys,

0:28:210:28:26

who were world-class drivers, are doing in a very simple way,

0:28:260:28:30

just naturally.

0:28:300:28:33

Bettega was this kind of second-category drivers.

0:28:330:28:36

Good, very good, in some events,

0:28:360:28:40

but he was not at the class of a Rohrl, Alen, a Mikkola.

0:28:400:28:45

Up to this time, he was the fastest driver in Italy

0:28:490:28:53

and then Biasion was coming and he put a lot of pressure on him.

0:28:530:28:57

That was the reason he was killed. He was so under pressure.

0:28:570:29:01

In rally driving, in race driving,

0:29:050:29:07

you have only one person who is interesting for you,

0:29:070:29:11

that's your team-mate.

0:29:110:29:13

The rest has better cars. That's the reason they go faster than you.

0:29:130:29:17

But if your team-mate is faster than you, what do you tell?

0:29:170:29:22

What do you do? You go to Corsica, you know, where you're rallying,

0:29:220:29:25

you know what's going on.

0:29:250:29:27

I think in any sport,

0:29:270:29:28

it doesn't matter what you're doing,

0:29:280:29:30

the participant knows what he's taking on.

0:29:300:29:33

There were no thoughts of grieving or stopping.

0:29:330:29:36

The rally had to continue.

0:29:360:29:39

With Lancia withdrawn and five other cars broken down,

0:29:390:29:43

Ari Vatanen could snatch victory.

0:29:430:29:45

An earlier puncture, however, forced him to drive beyond his limits.

0:29:450:29:50

In second place on the road, but seventh overall, is Ari Vatanen,

0:29:500:29:55

and he's going as quick as ever.

0:29:550:29:58

Vatanen is flying.

0:30:040:30:06

Although, anything can happen when Vatanen is going quick.

0:30:060:30:09

I forgot,

0:30:340:30:35

I just got myself so enthusiastic,

0:30:350:30:39

I went to the floor.

0:30:390:30:44

I just... But I enjoyed it.

0:30:440:30:47

And, also, those setbacks,

0:30:470:30:49

when you drive every corner as if it was your last corner.

0:30:490:30:53

Then, yes, you win less, but you gain a lot.

0:30:530:30:58

Miraculously, Ari Vatanen and his co-driver escaped serious injury.

0:30:580:31:03

But, if it's not dangerous, they're not going to do it.

0:31:060:31:08

They don't want to play with tiddlywinks.

0:31:080:31:10

They want to be challenged.

0:31:100:31:11

They want to do things that are dangerous.

0:31:110:31:13

They want to go faster than others. That's what motorsport's about.

0:31:130:31:16

And if you took today's rally drivers or today's Formula 1 drivers

0:31:160:31:20

and took away the risk, they wouldn't get a kick out of it.

0:31:200:31:23

Everybody starts to laugh at you,

0:31:230:31:26

"You are crazy, you are going so fast," but I was always,

0:31:260:31:32

always behind, I said, "You must be careful.

0:31:320:31:35

"Don't overturn it." And I always realised, also, the dangers.

0:31:350:31:41

Walter's a real gentleman

0:31:410:31:44

and his driving style also was very clean, like a professor.

0:31:440:31:49

Opposite to mine, I suppose.

0:31:490:31:51

Don't tell him tomorrow. Ari was just starting to fly.

0:31:530:32:00

I play music with my eyes closed, but heart open.

0:32:090:32:13

It's up to you to decide what's the definition of that.

0:32:150:32:18

Is it a crazy or what else?

0:32:180:32:20

Driving is, in a way, an extension of your personality.

0:32:250:32:29

He was quite dangerous, too.

0:32:340:32:37

I think if people are not able to be afraid for something,

0:32:370:32:43

then it's dangerous.

0:32:430:32:45

OK, people tell, "This is a hero". But most heroes are died.

0:32:450:32:51

Ari Vatanen's luck ran out in Argentina.

0:32:550:32:58

A crashed turned serious when his seat snapped.

0:32:580:33:02

I remember those bends, the ones I did not make.

0:33:040:33:09

And there are many,

0:33:090:33:12

but maybe it's that dip on the road on that long straight in Argentina

0:33:120:33:15

where I nearly died.

0:33:150:33:16

And my life very, very nearly ended there.

0:33:180:33:21

I hit the dip and the car went end-over-end

0:33:220:33:26

and my seat broke down, entirely. And that's why I wasn't harnessed

0:33:260:33:31

any more by seatbelts,

0:33:310:33:33

I got all these multiple injuries. And if it wasn't for the helicopter

0:33:330:33:38

which came to look for me, I wouldn't be here today.

0:33:380:33:43

I mean, I was not in this world any more.

0:33:430:33:45

All I had kept, apparently, saying - "No more rallies. No more rallies."

0:33:450:33:50

Ari Vatanen almost died. His knees were crushed flat.

0:33:520:33:55

He had eight broken ribs,

0:33:550:33:57

a broken leg, a broken back and a punctured lung.

0:33:570:34:01

He would spend the next 18 months in a deep depression

0:34:010:34:04

and he would never race a competitive Group B rally again.

0:34:040:34:08

That's all part of life.

0:34:120:34:14

I can't see my life without those bends and without those dips.

0:34:140:34:18

Life is full of setbacks, it's full of tragedy.

0:34:180:34:24

I mean, the banana skin is waiting for you around the corner, anyway,

0:34:240:34:28

and you don't know where it is.

0:34:280:34:30

With Bettega dead and Vatanen seriously ill,

0:34:340:34:38

a cloud began to form over Group B.

0:34:380:34:40

Peugeot's second driver, Salonen,

0:34:420:34:44

went on to secure the 1985 championship -

0:34:440:34:48

his conservative and controlled approach

0:34:480:34:51

countering the fiery nature of his 205 T16.

0:34:510:34:54

What are you going to do tomorrow? Same speed.

0:34:540:34:57

I try to maybe a little bit faster, if Stig start pushing.

0:34:570:35:01

1986 would be a critical year. Other manufacturers

0:35:090:35:13

were desperately trying to exploit FISA's relaxed rules,

0:35:130:35:17

hoping to use rallying's new-found fame to sell more cars.

0:35:170:35:21

Austin Rover launched its ?10 million Metro 6R4,

0:35:210:35:25

a shopping car on steroids.

0:35:250:35:27

Ford weighed in with its ugly duckling, the RS200.

0:35:290:35:32

Porsche, its ever-delayed 939.

0:35:320:35:35

Audi, their new E2 and S1, set to take power

0:35:350:35:38

through the magical 500-brake horsepower ceiling.

0:35:380:35:43

No-one, though, was prepared for the unveiling in Italy

0:35:440:35:47

of Lancia's brutal, mid-engined, supercharged, turbocharged,

0:35:470:35:51

four-wheel-drive Delta S4.

0:35:510:35:54

It would render all their efforts a waste of time.

0:35:550:35:59

It was almost like a caricature of a Delta.

0:36:000:36:04

You could see Delta bits on it.

0:36:040:36:06

You could see the likeness,

0:36:060:36:07

but under the skin the car was quite, quite different.

0:36:070:36:11

You know, it was like a Formula 1 car for the forest.

0:36:110:36:14

It was so exotic.

0:36:140:36:15

I suppose the Delta S4 was the ultimate Group B rally car.

0:36:150:36:20

It had turbocharger, supercharger, four-wheel-drive,

0:36:200:36:23

all the tricks they could find and a few more they couldn't find.

0:36:230:36:27

And the aerodynamics were outrageous.

0:36:270:36:30

The designers chose to cram all the technology

0:36:300:36:33

in the back of the car

0:36:330:36:35

and to place the driver and co-driver on top of the fuel tanks.

0:36:350:36:39

Couple this machine with one of rallying's hot young talents,

0:36:390:36:43

Henri Toivonen,

0:36:430:36:45

and Lancia were once again primed to win the 1986 championship.

0:36:450:36:51

I knew him since he was seven years old.

0:36:510:36:53

And he was a little boy coming to see his father, Paoli,

0:36:530:36:58

that was driving, already, for me.

0:36:580:36:59

So his story and his relationship

0:36:590:37:02

with our team was quite strong.

0:37:020:37:06

We have the drivers, we have the know-how

0:37:060:37:09

of how to organise the team.

0:37:090:37:12

And we must do it better than the others. And that's what we did.

0:37:120:37:16

Everybody was trying to outdo each other, whether it was in terms of

0:37:160:37:20

facilities, number of personnel,

0:37:200:37:23

number of service vehicles, tyre choice, the drivers, you know,

0:37:230:37:26

everything was just ratcheted up event by event.

0:37:260:37:30

I think when you know that you are not as strong as your competition,

0:37:300:37:36

you must be more clever, to beat them.

0:37:360:37:39

Members of the board expected from me to win.

0:37:410:37:45

They're looking at rallying as a means of selling their products,

0:37:450:37:48

so that the pressure

0:37:480:37:50

is coming from that side, to say, "OK, we're investing

0:37:500:37:53

"all these millions in your rally team.

0:37:530:37:55

"You must deliver us victories."

0:37:550:37:57

When you are engaged with a factory team,

0:37:570:37:59

you have to... the responsibility to try to win.

0:37:590:38:02

I always felt that I had two personality in myself.

0:38:040:38:09

You know, the one who was in rallying - very egoistic -

0:38:090:38:12

and then, out of the car, I was like another person, you know.

0:38:120:38:16

Helmet and gloves change a lot on a rally driver.

0:38:160:38:20

When I was winning the championship, I think, we stayed

0:38:210:38:24

about 290 days at hotel.

0:38:240:38:27

He was never at home, actually.

0:38:270:38:29

You know, I can remember drivers coming to the end of the stage

0:38:310:38:34

and they're absolutely physically drained.

0:38:340:38:36

Of course, it was a big, big challenge.

0:38:420:38:45

Yeah, because you get this, kind of, adrenaline,

0:38:450:38:47

which makes you so enthusiastic

0:38:470:38:49

about what you're doing.

0:38:490:38:51

And it's just over-revving yourself, going into the red,

0:38:510:38:56

then suddenly, you haven't got the reaction any more,

0:38:560:38:59

because you're too tired.

0:38:590:39:00

Group B was pushing drivers to the edge.

0:39:010:39:05

Henri Toivonen, works Lancia. Off!

0:39:050:39:08

Deep in the ditch.

0:39:080:39:10

Try reverse.

0:39:100:39:12

No good.

0:39:120:39:13

The start of the 1986 season

0:39:180:39:21

showed just how much rallying had grown in the last four years.

0:39:210:39:24

On the starting line, teams flexed their wallets,

0:39:260:39:29

Peugeot trumping everyone, by bringing four works cars.

0:39:290:39:33

Michelin arrived with 13,000 tyres - team helicopters

0:39:330:39:36

flying them around the 4,000-km Alpine course

0:39:360:39:39

for mid-stage pit stops.

0:39:390:39:42

Jean Todt declared his Peugeot evolution

0:39:420:39:46

"As good as it needs to be,"

0:39:460:39:48

only to have to eat his words, as Henri Toivonen

0:39:480:39:50

in his Lancia Delta S4, stormed ahead.

0:39:500:39:55

This, despite Toivonen crashing into a spectator's car in between stages.

0:39:550:39:59

The Italians that had poured over the border were in raptures.

0:40:030:40:08

Unfortunately, as the Champagne flowed,

0:40:090:40:12

news came through that yet again a spectator had been hospitalised,

0:40:120:40:16

this time with a smashed leg.

0:40:160:40:18

Questions were asked if rallying was being mismanaged.

0:40:180:40:21

Cars had nearly doubled in power in the space of three years,

0:40:210:40:25

yet FISA had not changed the crowd management

0:40:250:40:27

or structure of the rallies.

0:40:270:40:29

They were now more intense than ever.

0:40:290:40:33

You know, the Group B's cars were very difficult to drive,

0:40:330:40:37

even for the superstars.

0:40:370:40:39

I was in '73, Monte Carlo,

0:40:390:40:41

with 130 horsebrakes,

0:40:410:40:43

and '86, with 530 horsebrakes.

0:40:430:40:47

It was the same ditch, the same rock,

0:40:470:40:49

it was just me and my head to keep me alive.

0:40:490:40:52

Were the rule-makers out of their depth?

0:40:540:40:58

Rallying's darkest day was just around the corner.

0:40:580:41:00

Drivers already went to the Portuguese Rally with trepidation.

0:41:030:41:08

Since the '70s, it had become the most overcrowded of the season.

0:41:080:41:12

Crowd control was an established problem.

0:41:120:41:15

This year, over 300,000 fans piled into the woods.

0:41:150:41:19

Group B was reaching fever pitch.

0:41:190:41:22

And the usual question - Portugal, the spectators.

0:41:220:41:25

That's the only thing which scared me here,

0:41:250:41:29

it is something which I'm really afraid,

0:41:290:41:31

if something happens and it's a disaster.

0:41:310:41:34

Yeah, I'm sure that's going to be a big problem,

0:41:340:41:37

but apparently the Portuguese police

0:41:370:41:38

have guaranteed that they will be under a lot more control on Sintra,

0:41:380:41:41

places like that, which is a critical area.

0:41:410:41:43

Hoping to see the new Group B supercars and join in the fun

0:41:430:41:48

were local rally fans Helio Tomar and Nuno Sardinha.

0:41:480:41:52

Nuno and Helio chose to stand on the popular

0:42:230:42:25

and notorious water bend,

0:42:250:42:28

a bend that rallying would never forget.

0:42:280:42:30

As well as the top names,

0:42:340:42:36

Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos was also competing.

0:42:360:42:42

In 1983 he had become a local hero, after pushing his broken

0:42:420:42:45

Ford Escort over the finishing line.

0:42:450:42:47

In 1986, his flamboyant team manager and co-driver, Miguel D'Oliviera,

0:42:510:42:57

secured the latest high-powered RS200 from Ford.

0:42:570:43:00

I was hoping to do well. I had a good driver.

0:43:030:43:06

I was a fairly good co-driver.

0:43:060:43:09

You always wanted to have

0:43:090:43:11

the best possible weapon to compete.

0:43:110:43:14

And it was a chance.

0:43:140:43:15

It was a big chance.

0:43:150:43:17

I was hoping to mix with the big boys.

0:43:190:43:23

When Joaquim came into the curve,

0:44:020:44:05

one guy stepped one step into the tarmac,

0:44:050:44:09

so he had to make a correction...

0:44:090:44:13

..and he lost it.

0:44:140:44:15

Joaquim Santos' car had ploughed into the crowd at 135kph.

0:44:220:44:27

A mother and her child were instantly killed,

0:44:290:44:31

while 32 others were injured.

0:44:310:44:34

Helio Tomar and his friend Paoli were rushed to hospital.

0:44:360:44:40

Paoli later died.

0:44:410:44:42

Joaquim Santos, uninjured, did not move.

0:45:130:45:17

He stayed in his car, his head bowed on the steering wheel.

0:45:170:45:20

He was completely in shock.

0:45:220:45:26

Completely in shock.

0:45:260:45:28

He came out of the car, he stayed in the middle of the road

0:45:280:45:33

with his eyes glazed...

0:45:330:45:35

..and..."What happened? Why?"

0:45:370:45:42

The day's racing was cancelled

0:45:460:45:49

and down on the nearby Atlantic coast,

0:45:490:45:52

the top drivers met, to discuss what to do.

0:45:520:45:55

They decided to strike.

0:45:550:45:57

First, as a mark of respect for the families

0:45:590:46:03

of the dead people and for those injured.

0:46:030:46:06

Two, there is a very special situation here in Portugal.

0:46:060:46:10

We feel that this impossible for us

0:46:100:46:12

to guarantee the safety of the spectators.

0:46:120:46:16

Third, the accident on stage one was caused by the driver

0:46:160:46:20

having to try to avoid spectators that were in the road.

0:46:200:46:24

It was not due to the type of car or the speed of it.

0:46:250:46:30

The amateur drivers continued to race, as recriminations began.

0:46:310:46:37

That was, for sure, the biggest mistake,

0:46:370:46:39

that he has not enough experience.

0:46:390:46:41

He was first time in a car like this. And, then, things happen.

0:46:410:46:46

It goes so easy that one situation the car is struggling with him

0:46:470:46:51

and not he with the car.

0:46:510:46:52

It was not my fault,

0:46:520:46:55

I strongly believe that it was not my driver's fault.

0:46:550:47:01

It happened.

0:47:010:47:02

The fault, if there is a fault, is of the organisation.

0:47:020:47:08

People should not be on the road.

0:47:080:47:11

There was danger involved, but I took it, I accepted that risk.

0:47:520:47:57

And, of course, I never thought that

0:47:590:48:03

such a carnage would happen

0:48:030:48:07

with me in the car.

0:48:070:48:08

With my car. With my driver.

0:48:080:48:11

The fall-out from the Portugal incident would become

0:48:270:48:29

a 20-year dispute for compensation.

0:48:290:48:32

However, in the immediate aftermath,

0:48:320:48:35

political wheels began to turn in Paris.

0:48:350:48:37

In defiance of the works teams that had withdrawn from the event,

0:48:390:48:43

FISA boss, Balestre, wrote a letter to the organisers,

0:48:430:48:46

praising them for allowing the rally to continue with amateur teams.

0:48:460:48:51

This was seen as a direct attack on the drivers

0:48:530:48:57

who had gone on strike, an attempt by the FISA leader

0:48:570:49:00

to show he was the boss.

0:49:000:49:02

FISA took no action against the Portuguese organisers

0:49:040:49:07

for failing to control the crowds.

0:49:070:49:09

The writing was now on the wall for Group B machines.

0:49:120:49:15

Rallying had blood on its hands.

0:49:150:49:19

Audi decided not to rally again,

0:49:220:49:25

but the rest of the teams moved on to the Safari Rally in Kenya.

0:49:250:49:30

Problems continued, as Markku Alen, one of Lancia's drivers,

0:49:310:49:36

accidentally ran over a child.

0:49:360:49:38

While the team helicopter took the child to hospital,

0:49:380:49:42

the mechanics sorted out the car, so Alen could continue.

0:49:420:49:46

Nothing could now stop a World Championship rally.

0:49:470:49:50

Toyota won.

0:49:520:49:53

For Lancia, the Corsica Rally week began

0:50:000:50:03

with them laying flowers at the memorial,

0:50:030:50:06

marking the spot where Attilio Bettega died the previous year.

0:50:060:50:10

Corsica was France's rally, so naturally, the FISA president,

0:50:100:50:14

Balestre, a Frenchman, was there to celebrate.

0:50:140:50:18

Except his party was being spoiled.

0:50:180:50:21

The top Finnish drivers were rebelling,

0:50:210:50:23

demanding shorter stages and fewer, rougher sections.

0:50:230:50:26

At a press conference, Balestre became angry,

0:50:280:50:31

attacking the manufacturers for creating such high-performance cars

0:50:310:50:35

and failing to control their drivers.

0:50:350:50:37

Despite the unresolved tension between the drivers and FISA,

0:50:390:50:43

the rally went ahead unchanged.

0:50:430:50:45

This was Henri Toivonen's chance to show

0:50:450:50:48

that the handling of his new S4

0:50:480:50:50

was more than a match for this all-tarmac event.

0:50:500:50:54

ITALIAN COMMENTARY

0:50:540:51:00

Toivonen, who had a reputation for crashing out,

0:51:040:51:07

was pushing more than ever.

0:51:070:51:10

At the end of day one, Toivonen and Cresto

0:51:130:51:15

were leading Bruno Saby by almost two minutes.

0:51:150:51:18

By stage five on the second day,

0:51:210:51:24

he was a minute quicker than anyone else.

0:51:240:51:26

But there was a problem.

0:51:300:51:32

Toivonen had been complaining of flu-like symptoms.

0:51:320:51:36

Toivonen was not well.

0:51:360:51:38

The stage times Henri was putting in that day were incredible.

0:51:390:51:42

He was in a completely different league,

0:51:420:51:45

and, therefore, you do wonder

0:51:450:51:46

whether he was thinking straight,

0:51:460:51:48

you wonder whether Sergio Cresto was strong enough with him that day.

0:51:480:51:51

Henri was crazy, I mean,

0:51:510:51:53

he was really more a Latin mentality than a Finnish,

0:51:530:51:57

a Nordic, mentality.

0:51:570:51:59

He was the only driver,

0:52:020:52:05

in my whole career, who was able to go as fast as me.

0:52:050:52:08

But only on one stage.

0:52:080:52:10

The next one, BING!

0:52:100:52:12

Four minutes left.

0:52:120:52:13

He was the only one. And I always said,

0:52:130:52:16

"I'm not sure that he stays on life."

0:52:160:52:19

On stage 17, he broke the record by an astonishing three minutes.

0:52:190:52:25

Then, tragedy struck.

0:52:430:52:45

We were all waiting for the end of the stage,

0:53:040:53:07

and to see Henri coming and, of course, he didn't come,

0:53:070:53:09

and we heard by radio there that an accident happened

0:53:090:53:15

and we knew it was Henri, so we had been waiting and waiting

0:53:150:53:19

to know, if, you know, if everything was out, the race was stopped.

0:53:190:53:24

And, of course, then, we knew afterwards what happened.

0:53:240:53:28

With their wrecked car engulfed in flames,

0:53:330:53:36

Toivonen and Cresto were burnt alive.

0:53:360:53:41

It's a long left corner, which was tightening at the end.

0:53:410:53:45

And I think, at the end, maybe,

0:53:450:53:47

he didn't tight enough and he went out.

0:53:470:53:52

And he was between the tree and the cliff, and of course,

0:53:520:53:57

they couldn't go out and the car got fire.

0:53:570:54:02

I think, for me, it has been the biggest shock

0:54:080:54:12

of the whole of my career, the loss of Henri.

0:54:120:54:18

I always think that Henri has been the greatest rally driver

0:54:250:54:30

I have ever met.

0:54:300:54:31

Yeah.

0:54:340:54:36

Amazingly, the rally continued, though there was little doubt

0:54:520:54:55

the remaining teams were numbed by the bad news.

0:54:550:54:58

Peugeot's Bruno Saby won the rally,

0:55:010:55:04

but there was little enthusiasm for a Champagne celebration.

0:55:040:55:07

Nobody was there for 20 or 30 minutes after he crashed.

0:55:180:55:22

And I think he was ill, he had the flu, he had something,

0:55:220:55:26

he was taking a treatment for it,

0:55:260:55:28

and I think that, ultimately,

0:55:280:55:31

he lost concentration on the road.

0:55:310:55:33

The crew in the Delta S4 sat on the petrol tanks.

0:55:360:55:39

They had a petrol tank each.

0:55:390:55:40

Neither the roll cage nor the fire extinguisher saved Henri Toivonen.

0:55:400:55:44

The car was already alight when it hit the trees.

0:55:450:55:49

The Delta S4 was incredibly quick. It was the ultimate

0:55:520:55:56

Group B rally car.

0:55:560:55:57

But the... It wasn't as safe as it needed to be, obviously.

0:55:590:56:04

I have always put the safety

0:56:040:56:10

of the driver in one of the first,

0:56:100:56:13

the first place of every project we did.

0:56:130:56:17

Always knowing that motor racing is,

0:56:170:56:20

will be, always, a dangerous sport.

0:56:200:56:24

Of course, if it was a Grand Prix,

0:56:290:56:30

the fire would have been extinguished in ten seconds.

0:56:300:56:33

The same fire in the middle of a rally, you have, finito, eh?

0:56:330:56:40

For me, it was a bit of a shock, really, when he disappeared.

0:56:470:56:51

As conjecture on the causes of Toivonen's accident continued,

0:56:530:56:57

Balestre did a complete U-turn -

0:56:570:56:59

announcing a ban.

0:56:590:57:02

Group B was dead.

0:57:020:57:05

The deregulated competition that made Group B rallying

0:57:050:57:08

so strangely addictive had caused its inevitable demise.

0:57:080:57:14

It was probably the best part of my life. It was just so intense.

0:57:140:57:20

Group B, it was the only time.

0:57:200:57:22

It will never come back. I think.

0:57:220:57:25

It was, it was a highlight in my career. It was fantastic. I like it.

0:57:250:57:31

For me, it was, of course, fantastic period of where you had

0:57:310:57:37

the big competition, but also a fantastic life.

0:57:370:57:41

It was in your focus for so many years,

0:57:410:57:44

and you were putting everything behind the sport to be successful

0:57:440:57:48

and you will never forget what you have done.

0:57:480:57:51

You enjoyed it so much.

0:57:510:57:54

It was a great time. Absolutely gorgeous.

0:57:540:57:56

It's like... It's like a pearl in my life.

0:58:010:58:05

The 2016 Mercury Prize recognises

0:58:470:58:49

the 12 most exceptional UK albums of the last year.

0:58:490:58:53

and a man in a cardboard outfit babbling onstage.

0:58:560:58:57

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