Henri Toivonen

[Daniel]

Just starting up a thread to stop the Rally GB thread going off topic.

I made a statement that I felt Toivonen was somewhat overrated when compared to the drivers of the day when you compare his supposed talent to his list of wins.

What do other people think? Do you agree that he was unbeatable on all surfaces or do you think that people look back upon his a little more favourably after his tragic death in Corsica? This is not a bashing thread or anything, I think Toivonen was a good driver.

I'd like it if this didn't turn into the usual threads where Loeb is mentioned and people assume that I'm only saying these things because I think Loeb is the best because he's taken all his titles and wins....

[BDunnell]

I think Toivonen was on the cusp of real greatness when he was killed in 1986, although it would be wrong to say his wild side had disappeared completely. He was perhaps a bit lucky to win the '85 RAC, even though he drove brilliantly, for he got helped out of a ditch by Kankkunen at one point, rolled, and then took the lead on the last night after Markku Alen went off for several minutes. But he was stunning on the Monte of '86 and could (should?) have won in Sweden too. Would he have won the title in '86? No-one can answer that with any certainty, but my gut feeling is that he would have, at least without the controversy that surrounded the championship after the San Remo fiasco getting in the way.

But Toivonen remains one of the most exciting drivers I've ever seen (albeit not 'in the flesh', as it were). He wasn't necessarily much quicker than other drivers in the same equipment, as was proved at Opel where Rohrl, Vatanen and Jimmy McRae were often able to match him in the Ascona and Manta 400s, but he was so good to watch. The footage of him and Vatanen - the other most dramatic driver to watch in his heyday - in their Rothmans Mantas on the 1983 1000 Lakes is absolutely stunning.

In summary, definitely the greatest lost talent I can think of in the WRC, and 1986 is the biggest 'what if'.

[Josti]

There was always a buzz, a air of respect and excitement when you knew his car was approaching. It's hard to explain but once he passed by you knew you had just witnessed sheer brillance and genius behind the wheel of the Sunbeam or Manta or 911 or whatever he was driving.

Firstly to quote noel157 from the other thread,

From the loads of video material I've seen of him, this comment suits perfectly. He was also a very pleasant and reguraly funny guy in front of the camera.

In my opinion, he was defenitly in his prime at the time of his death, so I'm not surprised he's still a hyped driver. The era and consequences afterwards also play a role. I don't think he's overrated, but calling him a hero or the greatest driver ever is a bit too much I guess. However, I have no doubt he could have proved that.

But still, I can't really judge having not been able to seem him live. But video footage certaintly made me a fan.

[A.F.F.]

I had the pleasure watch him live on stages. I never forget his performance at Rally of the 1000 Lakes with 037. I actually almost was seen on that footage when he did dive in the ditch and people helped him out :)

I never saw him live behind the wheel of Delta S4 though. But I do think he was exeptionally talented driver who could master all surfaces and probably would have been really fast on track too, should he have made a career out of it.

I'm not ashamed to call him my hero out of all drivers. Simply because he was that good. :up:

[noel157]

Got to agree with above.

Full text of my post on the other thread

I was lucky to see Henri Toivonen many times and there was something about him that made him stand out from his contemporaries, an aura or something. I can only compare it to McRae's early years. There was always a buzz, a air of respect and excitement when you knew his car was approaching. It's hard to explain but once he passed by you knew you had just witnessed sheer brillance and genius behind the wheel of the Sunbeam or Manta or 911 or whatever he was driving.

[BDunnell]

I had the pleasure watch him live on stages. I never forget his performance at Rally of the 1000 Lakes with 037. I actually almost was seen on that footage when he did dive in the ditch and people helped him out :)

And his charge to fourth after that, scrapping with Grundel's Peugeot, was quite something as well, wasn't it?


I think he was exeptionally talented driver who could master all surfaces and probably would have been really fast on track too, should he have made a career out of it.

Indeed. There was a feature about this in MotorSport a few years ago, in which Eddie Jordan said he was one of the best drivers he ever had in his team (including its F1 days), and the late Will Hoy, as good a touring car driver as you could ever find in the early 1990s, said that Toivonen was the best rally man he ever saw in circuit racing.

[Brother John]

I'd like it if this didn't turn into the usual threads where Loeb is mentioned and people assume that I'm only saying these things because I think Loeb is the best because he's taken all his titles and wins....

So you think you can say what you want on the forum and we not?
You start again about Loeb here because you think he is the best!
Do we have to read that everywhere that you are Citroën + Loeb supporter + anti Ford! There existed already rally and top drivers before your time.
Titles and wins OK, but he will never be remind then a lot of other drivers


Originally Posted by A.F.F. http://paradise.motorsportforum.com/forums/images/aria/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://paradise.motorsportforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=561700#post561700)
I had the pleasure watch him live on stages. I never forget his performance at Rally of the 1000 Lakes with 037. I actually almost was seen on that footage when he did dive in the ditch and people helped him out :)


I also had the pleaure to watch him live. He was GREAT! :s mokin:

[Daniel]

So you think you can say what you want on the forum and we not?
You start again about Loeb here because you think he is the best!
Do we have to read that everywhere that you are Citroën + Loeb supporter + anti Ford! There existed already rally and top drivers before your time.
Titles and wins OK, but he will never be remind then a lot of other drivers


Hey Brother John, don't go and touch that electric fence over there :) ->

I said lets not make this a thread about Loeb and what do you go and do? :confused:

[rx-guru]

Grand driver, great loss! One of the very few to hurl a Porsche 911 to its very limits. Loved him most in the Rothmans Porsche 911 SC RS.

[BDunnell]

Grand driver, great loss! One of the very few to hurl a Porsche 911 to its very limits. Loved him most in the Rothmans 911 SC RS.

Something few may remember about that time is that when Toivonen was injured in 1984, a young Juha Kankkunen had a brief outing in one of those 911s on the Manx International (his second British appearance of the year, as he'd deputised for Per Eklund in the works Group A Toyota Corolla GT on the Circuit of Ireland.)

[Brother John]

Hey Brother John, don't go and touch that electric fence over there :) ->

I said lets not make this a thread about Loeb and what do you go and do? :confused:

I just do here what you generally do on the forum! :p :

[sal]

My fave memory of Mr T was seeing him on the 82 Mintex in the Rothmans Ascona 400 at Olivers Mount in North Yorkshire a tarmac race circuit carved into a hill side. He flung the car around like nothing else I have seen since even Colin couldnt have been more spectacular. Henri was to rallying what Gilles Villeneuve was to F1 ie prone to greatness and apparent recklessness in equal measure. A flawed genius Gone but not forgotten

[rx-guru]

Something few may remember about that time is that when Toivonen was injured in 1984, a young Juha Kankkunen had a brief outing in one of those 911s on the Manx International (his second British appearance of the year, as he'd deputised for Per Eklund in the works Group A Toyota Corolla GT on the Circuit of Ireland.)

I took my first pics of "Kankku" during the 1982 RAC (a blue German reg Opel Manta GT/E) and some weeks later during the 1983 Boucles de Spa in Belgium (a white German reg Opel Manta GT/E). IIRC I mentioned in my story for the German mag 'Sportfahrer' something like "Watch out all you Rally lovers, there is a true great one to arise". ;)

[Daniel]

I just do here what you generally do on the forum! :p :
I'm trying to have a serious discussion here though....

I guess seeing is believing. AFF, Noel, RX-Guru and yourself have seen him and I respect your opinions. I certainly agree with BDunnell that he is the greatest lost talent that the WRC has had.

[BDunnell]

I took my first pics of "Kankku" during the 1982 RAC (a blue German reg Opel Manta GT/E) and some weeks later during the 1983 Boucles de Spa in Belgium (a white German reg Opel Manta GT/E). IIRC I mentioned in my story for the German mag 'Sportfahrer' something like "Watch out all you Rally lovers, there is a true great one to arise". ;)

Excellent.

[Tomi]

The problem with Henkka was that he got a competitive car very late that make the statistic look how it looks, he had even to drive track racing because he did not get rally jobs from any team at some point.
Like rx-guru said his 911 driving was amazing.

[BDunnell]

The problem with Henkka was that he got a competitive car very late that make the statistic look how it looks, he had even to drive track racing because he did not get rally jobs from any team at some point.

Tony Fall said in the MotorSport interview I mentioned that he used to encourage Henri to do circuit racing, because it filled the gaps between the events he did for Opel and helped keep his racing lines sharp.

[Daniel]

Tony Fall said in the MotorSport interview I mentioned that he used to encourage Henri to do circuit racing, because it filled the gaps between the events he did for Opel and helped keep his racing lines sharp.
You should change your name to Walking British Rallying Encyclopaedia by deed poll :p If something has happened in Britain with regards to rallying or was said in an article or interview you seem to have it on file somewhere in that brain of yours ;)

[Tomi]

I took my first pics of "Kankku" during the 1982 RAC (a blue German reg Opel Manta GT/E) and some weeks later during the 1983 Boucles de Spa in Belgium (a white German reg Opel Manta GT/E). IIRC I mentioned in my story for the German mag 'Sportfahrer' something like "Watch out all you Rally lovers, there is a true great one to arise". ;)

btw. Kankku will drive in next years 1000 Lakes.

[A.F.F.]

And his charge to fourth after that, scrapping with Grundel's Peugeot, was quite something as well, wasn't it?


All in all some of the best years of rallying ever.

[rx-guru]

btw. Kankku will drive in next years 1000 Lakes.

Are U certain? Some time ago he also promised to do the SRC final in Marko Jokinen's Pug...

[A.F.F.]

Are U certain? Some time ago he also promised to do the SRC final in Marko Jokinen's Pug...

Yep. Kankkunen has plans to continue tradition Mikkola, Alen, Salonen and Vatanen already did. To drive NORF at the age of 50. It's Juha's turn next year.

[FAL]

I took my first pics of "Kankku" during the 1982 RAC (a blue German reg Opel Manta GT/E)

Did you take any photos with his mentor Timo Makinen in them? As I recall he was wearing a flat cap and only needed a whippet on a lead to look the complete professional Yorkshireman! I only saw TM once with JK and the Manta on the 82 RAC, as I was taking part myself.

[rx-guru]

Did you take any photos with his mentor Timo Makinen in them? As I recall he was wearing a flat cap and only needed a whippet on a lead to look the complete professional Yorkshireman! I only saw TM once with JK and the Manta on the 82 RAC, as I was taking part myself.

No, sorry, I got just two slides taken in special stages. Starting number 103 and co driver was Rolf Mesterton.

The linked pic was taken during the 1983 Boucles de Spa, at the snowy SS Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

© by rx-guru

[BDunnell]

I guess seeing is believing. AFF, Noel, RX-Guru and yourself have seen him and I respect your opinions. I certainly agree with BDunnell that he is the greatest lost talent that the WRC has had.

Reading this again reminds me of another MotorSport feature, in fact, namely a piece on the 100 greatest drives of all time in all forms of motor sport. Two were Toivonen's — his RAC wins in 1980 and '85. This just goes to show that we shouldn't always go with the received opinion about a driver or an event, because I feel that his Monte win of '86 far surpassed either of those. In both cases, Toivonen won the RAC after others had problems — Kullang and Waldegard in '80, Alen (and to some extent Pond) in '85. And I think that his aforementioned drive to fourth on the 1985 1000 Lakes was just as good as any of these!

[driveace]

I had the pleasure of working with Henri in the 79 Total Escort ,for the whole season.What a lot of people DONT KNOW is that Henri did not want to go into rallying at all.He was brought up in go cart racing with Keke Rosberg,and they were both sponsered by Pauli Toivonen,Henri,s father.When Keke went into racing,Henri wanted to do that too.BUT at that time there were lots of fatal accidents in F1 and Pauli told Henri,that when he got to 60 he wanted to still have two sons,SO he wanted Henri to go to rallying which Pauli thought was safer at that time.When Henri won the RAC in 1980 it was Hannu that he was challenging,for the lead .Pauli had helped Hannu immensly in Hannu,s early years in rallying,so Hannu was VERY happy that Henri won that year(1980) as a pay back to Pauli for all his help.What a lot dont know either is that Hannu used to go out with Henri to teach him driving "blind roads" in Finland,again as thanks to Pauli.When I last saw Pauli at Silverstone years later when he was there with Harri ,who at that time was doing some testing of an Aston Martin,Pauli looked like a broken man ,which was so very sad.

[wotaguy]

thanks driveacre, for that i found that intresting, i too managed to watch henri, live on the lombards of the early 80,s, i also met him, and found him to be a genuine chap, i believe he would have won the title , he had charisma, style , and speed, monte 86 was a great drive

[BDunnell]

When Henri won the RAC in 1980 it was Hannu that he was challenging,for the lead .

I thought it was a case of Hannu trying in vain to challenge Henri for the lead! After all, Mikkola was some way behind him after a couple of offs, and was not helped by his generally unsuitable Dunlop tyres.


Pauli had helped Hannu immensly in Hannu,s early years in rallying,so Hannu was VERY happy that Henri won that year(1980) as a pay back to Pauli for all his help.

There is a great bit of footage at the end of the ITV report of that 1980 RAC, showing Mikkola looking on with obvious pleasure at Toivonen enjoying the winner's limelight.

[tmx]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLH56Jx6qI

Can someone tell if this is Toivonen's onboard driving at Corsica? Too bad they disabled the audio for the video.

[Helstar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLH56Jx6qI

Can someone tell if this is Toivonen's onboard driving at Corsica? Too bad they disabled the audio for the video.
This video is clearly a fake, and it's not even new... I wonder how you could believe it was the real thing ^^ ?

[spartanvg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLH56Jx6qI

Can someone tell if this is Toivonen's onboard driving at Corsica? Too bad they disabled the audio for the video.

It not real. Film is speed up. Some person who is sick with their head did such a disgusting thing.

If you look, you see driver driving in his side of the road. No driving on race line.
Also you see footage of the rally car, video quality is far different.
This is just some sick person.

[ShiftingGears]

It not real. Film is speed up. Some person who is sick with their head did such a disgusting thing.


I think its more a case of someone obviously trying to give a depiction of the onboard and then someone else looking at it as if it was the real thing.

[Nenukknak]

It not real. Film is speed up. Some person who is sick with their head did such a disgusting thing.

If you look, you see driver driving in his side of the road. No driving on race line.
Also you see footage of the rally car, video quality is far different.
This is just some sick person.

It's an old vid, nothing new, but why is this a sick person? I think it's very interesting to see the last roads/route that Henri drove before that faithfull corner.

[driveace]

I have not looked at the video you put on from you tube.But it is definatly a fake.If it is the one I saw it looks like some of the same stage,but some of the stage I did not recognize.When Henri lost his life on the down hill tightening left hand corner there was NO crash barrier or wall there,the film I saw showed a wall at the place of the accident. Anyone who has paid a pilgramage to the accident site will tell you that there is now a wall where the accident occured on the right hand side.Directly opposite it the memorial erected by his fans in memory of Henri and Sergio it is also said that a bottle of MARTINI is encloed in the wall.Martini was the main sponser of the Lancia Delta S4 at that time.At a later date I will enclose a photo of the memorial,and the corner.

[driveace]

You will notice that Henri had a middle name that never appears any where.When working with Henri he sighned me a photograph Henri P Toivonen ,as a personal friend.I said I did,nt know you had a middle name Henri,what is the P for,he said B***y ,you dont need to ask me that,so obviously his middle name was also Pauli
I would be interested to know if anyone else has any autograph from Henri showing it with a "P"

[Finni]

Henri was two time karting champion in Finland and - to my knowledge - had very good shot to F1 but refused to go in it. His flamboyant driving was combined with precision of great track driver.

[Nenukknak]

For more info on Henri:

http://www.thruxton.f9.co.uk/toivonen.htm

[Fred Gallagher]

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/3202/rac1983identitycard.jpg (http://img239.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rac1983identitycard.jpg)

As you can see Henri signed himself as "HPT" here.

Fred

[Nenukknak]

Hey cool, you are the real Fred Gallagher, aren't you? Always nice to see/hear/read from a person who was there in the good old days. You should post more, I bet you have a lot of great stories. :D

[Daniel]

Hey cool, you are the real Fred Gallagher, aren't you? Always nice to see/hear/read from a person who was there in the good old days. You should post more, I bet you have a lot of great stories. :D

I definitely agree. Always nice to hear things first hand

[Fred Gallagher]

I definitely agree. Always nice to hear things first hand

Thanks guys. It's difficult to just sit here and reminisce on my keyboard though.....

I'll try to post a few other Henri items here.Like his 1983 licence:

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9458/scanx.jpg (http://img514.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scanx.jpg)

Fred

[turves]

Agreed, it's a pleasure to have you here Fred, you must have a heck of a lot of stories and memorabilia.

Just going off topic, did you know you were also mentioned on Steve Wrights afternoon show on Radio 2 last week, which was being hosted by Mark Radcliffe, in a rather dubious feature called 'Fred or Dead' in which people named Fred were read out and the host had to decide whether they were Fred (alive) or dead. I'm pleased to say they got you right...

[driveace]

Nice to see your contribution to the thread Fred,why I try to give some information is because some of the guys on this site will only be in their early 20s and were too young to know or have met some of these great drivers,who we have had the good fortune to have worked with

[BDunnell]

I definitely agree. Always nice to hear things first hand

I'd like to second (third?) that.

[dimviii]

I d like also to hear some unknown stories from you Fred!
tell us some stories about the Talbot years. :)

[BDunnell]

I d like also to hear some unknown stories from you Fred!
tell us some stories about the Talbot years. :)

And from the Triumph years if possible!

[driveace]

I think it was Paul White that was with Henri in 1980 in the Talbot days .,but if it was you Fred then Correct me.
Henri was doing a French event in the late part of 1980,and was catching up his team mate Guy Frequelin up in leaps and bounds,when it started to rain which Henri loved.He got very close to passing Guy but was told in no uncertain terms that it was a French event,and that a French car had to win with a French driver.Henri pleaded with Des to let him pass Guy ,but was told if he did not abide by team orders there would be NO CAR for him for the 1980 RAC.At the start of the last stage Henri sat after the 54321 GO for over 20 seconds even being told by all to GO.Henri lost to Frequelin by a mere 4 or 5 seconds ,but was so disgusted he flew straight back to Espoo.He refused to do the next rally,and said to Des O,Dell if YOU want ME to do the RAC you had better come here to Finland to see me.Des flew to Finland and pleaded with Henri to come to the UK to do the RAC and promised him any mortal thing he wanted.He told him that he was the priority driver,and anything he wanted doing would be done.And he became the youngest ever driver to win a world championship event !

[Fred Gallagher]

I think it was Paul White that was with Henri in 1980 in the Talbot days .,but if it was you Fred then Correct me.
Henri was doing a French event in the late part of 1980,and was catching up his team mate Guy Frequelin up in leaps and bounds,when it started to rain which Henri loved.He got very close to passing Guy but was told in no uncertain terms that it was a French event,and that a French car had to win with a French driver.Henri pleaded with Des to let him pass Guy ,but was told if he did not abide by team orders there would be NO CAR for him for the 1980 RAC.At the start of the last stage Henri sat after the 54321 GO for over 20 seconds even being told by all to GO.Henri lost to Frequelin by a mere 4 or 5 seconds ,but was so disgusted he flew straight back to Espoo.He refused to do the next rally,and said to Des O,Dell if YOU want ME to do the RAC you had better come here to Finland to see me.Des flew to Finland and pleaded with Henri to come to the UK to do the RAC and promised him any mortal thing he wanted.He told him that he was the priority driver,and anything he wanted doing would be done.And he became the youngest ever driver to win a world championship event !


I was with Henri from 1981 to 1983. I think Paul White only did the 1980 RAC, previously Henri was co-driven by Antero Lindqvist.

I cannot recall Henri ever talking about the situation you mention and indeed cannot recall Guy ever winning a French event in a Talbot. I think Henri's Talbot outings outside the WRC were all in Finland or the UK.

It could have been Sanremo 1980 when Henri finished around a minute behind Guy. I must say I doubt the bit about him refusing to do the next event - it wasn't as if at that point the world was queuing up to sign him.

Fred

[driveace]

Fred I am currently wintering in Spain,and do not get home untill the 1st of April.BUT fortunatley I have the Autosport report of that FRENCH rally,which it was reported in .I thought San Remo was an Italian event,and Henri deffinatly said a French event,but I will get the book out,soon as i return home

[Fred Gallagher]

Fred I am currently wintering in Spain,and do not get home untill the 1st of April.BUT fortunatley I have the Autosport report of that FRENCH rally,which it was reported in .I thought San Remo was an Italian event,and Henri deffinatly said a French event,but I will get the book out,soon as i return home

Just checked a few sources. It was Sanremo 1980. Henri had driven a rather scrappy event seemingly and Guy was ahead until mechanical problems near the end. Henri passed him and was then asked to slow by Des. Quite what went on afterwards is open to conjecture. The result seems to have been Talbot withdrew his Corsica entry and fired Lindqvist. Co-driver's fault as usual!

Fred

[driveace]

Thanks for that Fred,will get Autpsport out once the weather improves in the UK and I come back.I knew Antero Lindquist,who was a friend of Henri,s also another friend he and Harri used as a navigator was Juha Parjannen,who I also knew.Juha did the 1980 Thousand Lakes wth Harri in a Mitsubishi,that was orange and white,and did some events in the UK with Henri

[cali]

Hi Fred and Driveace! This is the best thread for a long time in our beloved forum. Please keep on going with the stories and facts :)

[driveace]

I think you are right Fred that it was the 1980 San Remo Rally.
Henri was fastest on stage 17 with an average speed of just over 100kmh,then again on stage 22 with an average speed of over 135 kph,it started to rain just before stage 45.On this and the next stage46 Henri was fastest again,then told to slow,or else.Henri felt that 3rd was on the cards.results were 1 Rohrl 2 Vatenen 3 Mikkola 4 Frequelin 5 Toivonen.
Talbot withdrew the entry to Corsica as Henri would not do it.

[Fred Gallagher]

I still don't believe at that point in his career Henri would have turned down a rally. Much more likely Todt and O'Dell decided to cool him down a bit.

[BDunnell]

Just checked a few sources. It was Sanremo 1980. Henri had driven a rather scrappy event seemingly and Guy was ahead until mechanical problems near the end. Henri passed him and was then asked to slow by Des. Quite what went on afterwards is open to conjecture. The result seems to have been Talbot withdrew his Corsica entry and fired Lindqvist. Co-driver's fault as usual!

Didn't Talbot try quite a few different co-drivers for Henri until they hired you to sit alongside him?

Agree with the comments about this being a great thread, by the way.

[Leon]

Hi Fred and Driveace! This is the best thread for a long time in our beloved forum. Please keep on going with the stories and facts :)

I ll second that. Thank you guys.

[Fred Gallagher]

Didn't Talbot try quite a few different co-drivers for Henri until they hired you to sit alongside him?

Agree with the comments about this being a great thread, by the way.

Yes. I was proud to sit beside Henri for three full seasons. No one else managed a full one before getting fired......

Fred

[cali]

Yes. I was proud to sit beside Henri for three full seasons. No one else managed a full one before getting fired......

Fred

Hi Fred!
Can You tell what were the reasons that Henri had so many co-drivers fired?

[A.F.F.]

Yes. I was proud to sit beside Henri for three full seasons. No one else managed a full one before getting fired......

Fred

Why was that?

[Nenukknak]

I think some left by themselves or were at least glad to get fired :D

[Josti]

Not sure if I can argue this, but apart from Antero Lindqvist, I don't think many got fired. Piironen just went on to sit alongside Kankkunen and I would pressume that White and Wilson were merely hired to do those RAC's with Henri due to their local knowledge of the forests. Don't know much about his pre-Talbot codrivers though.

Please correct me if I'm wrong Fred. :)

[Fred Gallagher]

Not sure if I can argue this, but apart from Antero Lindqvist, I don't think many got fired. Piironen just went on to sit alongside Kankkunen and I would pressume that White and Wilson were merely hired to do those RAC's with Henri due to their local knowledge of the forests. Don't know much about his pre-Talbot codrivers though.

Please correct me if I'm wrong Fred. :)

I'm not trying to be superior here - after all I was "fired" at the end of 1983!

Maybe fired is the wong word - it was just that Henri (and maybe Pauli) always thought there was an even better way to do things.

Lindqvist was fired at the end of 1980, Ian Grindrod lasted about half a season in 1984, Juha Piironen completed that year but was falling out of favour by mid-1985, hence Neil Wilson for the RAC, and then poor Sergio Cresto took over.

I mostly enjoyed my time with Henri; we had some good results and lots of fun. I admit it was also difficult at times and my move to Toyota did me a lot of good so no regrets there.

Fred

[Nenukknak]

Is the "whistling pig" still your favorite car? Do you own one by now?

[Fred Gallagher]

Is the "whistling pig" still your favorite car? Do you have one by now?

Yes it is and no I don't! I could never afford one now.

Fred

[noel157]

Yes it is and no I don't! I could never afford one now.

Fred

Slight threadjack.

Bout ye Fred, good to see you here. What are you up to these days? Last I heard you were consulting for FIA etc. Get back to NI much?

[WRCfan]

Wow a real pleasure to have Fred on the forum. Welcome! Henri is my all time favourite driver so to hear from the man who sat alongside him is great!

[driveace]

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Barry%20Clark/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/RALLY%20Folder/Henri%20memorial%20corsica.jpg2213
As promised for those who have not seen the Memorial to Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto at the opposite side of the road to where the fatal accident took place .

[Japé]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYGgwgNmJuY&list=UUa3kXowTOYMSHsU-_wPXcog&index=48

Please, does someone know the real source, from where this clip is taken from? There is a WRC logo on left upper corner and TF1 logo in upper right corner. So, I can be at least sure that french TV channel TF1 has presented this clip in their channel, but in which program, what program it might have been, or if they have done it by themselves, where they have got this clip from Henri's accident? All comments are welcome.

In finnish motorsport forum we have topic related to Henri's accident on Corsica. Topic is already a 13 pages long. It is of course finnish, but can be found from here:
Henri Toivosen onnettomuus korsikalla - Keskusteluforum (http://www.f1-forum.fi/vb/showthread.php?t=30671)

[Tofrallye29]

This is extract from automoto on TF1, several years ago now (2006 I think) ;)

It was the best motor broadcast during many years in France, but now it's too stupid. They stopped to talk motorsport, it's only stupid tests of cars and a bit F1 :(

[Kielder]

It was a pleasure to read this thread, thank you all for sharing your memories. Besides, it's been incredible to find the words of such a legend as Fred Gallagher.
There are here some posts talking about the talent of Toivonen as circuit racer. I add this article: Henri Toivonen: Racing driver! (http://www.motorsportretro.com/2011/07/henri-toivonen/), some kind of crossroads. It is worth reading it.
In the photo below, which is shown in the article, you can see the Finn behind Senna at Thruxton's starting grid in 1983:

http://i46.tinypic.com/34ee3v7.jpg

[Miika]

Hello fellow rally people - your input is now needed! Have you visited the memorial site of Henri and Sergio in Corsica? Or would you like to visit there some day? Please share your experiences by filling out the quick survey at: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/C2601D326E6E486C

This survey aims to collect the experiences of people who have visited the Toivonen - Cresto memorial for a master's thesis done in the Cultural Studies department at the University of Turku In Finland. By responding, you help to capture what Henri and Sergio mean to people still, after all these years!

So thank you for helping to preserve the memory of Toivonen and Cresto - and for being vital part of the rallying culture!


https://i.imgur.com/gowDqTK.jpg