Thanks guys. It's difficult to just sit here and reminisce on my keyboard though.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
I'll try to post a few other Henri items here.Like his 1983 licence:
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9458/scanx.jpg
Fred
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Thanks guys. It's difficult to just sit here and reminisce on my keyboard though.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
I'll try to post a few other Henri items here.Like his 1983 licence:
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9458/scanx.jpg
Fred
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...
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
I'd like to second (third?) that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
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 !
Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
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
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
Fred
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
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 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.
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.
Didn't Talbot try quite a few different co-drivers for Henri until they hired you to sit alongside him?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Gallagher
Agree with the comments about this being a great thread, by the way.
I ll second that. Thank you guys.Quote:
Originally Posted by cali
Yes. I was proud to sit beside Henri for three full seasons. No one else managed a full one before getting fired......Quote:
Originally Posted by BDunnell
Fred
Hi Fred!Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Gallagher
Can You tell what were the reasons that Henri had so many co-drivers fired?
Why was that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Gallagher
I think some left by themselves or were at least glad to get fired :D
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by Josti
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
Is the "whistling pig" still your favorite car? Do you own one by now?
Yes it is and no I don't! I could never afford one now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nenukknak
Fred
Slight threadjack.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Gallagher
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?
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!
[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Barry%20Clark/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/RALLY%20Folder/Henri%20memorial%20corsica.jpg[/img]Attachment 2213
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 .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYGgw...PXcog&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
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 :(
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!, 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
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