Originally Posted by RiN
The first "Rally Viking" was held in 1951, and the last one in 1960.
"Rally Viking 1951" "Rally Viking 1952" and so on, is (was) the official norwegian name for the rallies, and the name has later only been used for a few classic rallies in modern times.
Originally it got it's name from the main sponsor, the Norwegian tyre brand "Viking". As the winner of the first rally was the then importer to Norway for Pirelli tyres, he used his win for what it was worth in advertisements and other propaganda, and there were som long faces around :-)
The rally was part of the Europeean Touring Championship, which was the original name of what we now usually call E.. Rally C..., from -53 to -60.
In -57 the rally were called off at halfway because of the death of the Norwegian king Haakon. Some of my sources says it still counted for the ETC, others say not, as the distance covered were too short. I'm still trying to work out what is true.
The first two rallies were held in late August, the rest in September.
RiN
