Rally Discussion and Bar Talk Thread

[Rallyper]

One of those drivers I first admired as a seven old boy... Him, Eric Carlsson and Bengt Söderstöm. Bengt also drove BMC Cooper S in1962... think Paddy drove 1962 Midnattssolsrallyt... not sure. In that case I saw him live in his best days.

[AndyRAC]

Sad to report the passing of Paddy Hopkirk the legendary Mini driver who's fame spread well beyond his win on the Monte into a successful business career.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/m...k-dies-aged-89

Winning the Monte - and making headlines, and an appearance on Sunday Night at the Palladium - it doesn't get better or bigger than that. A fabulous all round driver who was pretty handy on the circuits as well.

[Sergiow]

Paul-Henri Cahier
@F1Photo

The wonderful Paddy Hopkirk has passed away. He brilliantly won the 1964 Monte Carlo rally driving a Mini Cooper S.
The picture, taken my Bernard Cahier (my dad) after the event shows: Joan Cahier (my Mom), Jo Bonnier, Graham Hill, Fangio, Paddy Hopkirk, Sir Alec Isigonis. https://twitter.com/F1Photo/status/1...Cj7cGJz4QrAAAA

note: Back row. Unknown; Tony Ambrose, Ron Crellin, either Erle or Don Morley, Alec Issigonis and Henry Liddon. That's Stuart Turner, seated right.

[WRCStan]

Found this early form of scepticism from the Daily Telegraph, November 1959, just before the special stage was introduced.

[mknight]

Seems spot on to me. Special stage with road closed to public was perfect solution.

[lmmjvss]

Two things I was thinking today..
1) does anyone know if Lukyanuk is planning to return to rallying in '23?

2) Im not feeling like Ingram or Kajetan and Gryazin are getting more "RoI" from doing WRC2. Any chances of them going back to ERC?
(I meam, wrc2 is more expensive and the coverage on R5 now is basically bigger in ERC...sure, wrc gets bigger exposure, but is it working? Did Ingram or any of them said something about '23 or so?)

[WRCStan]

Seems spot on to me. Special stage with road closed to public was perfect solution.

Agreed for what we now know and love as rally but some privateers just wanted to tour the country, there were conversations at the time about the direction the rally was taking - that being the year the rally moved to November hoping the weather would provide an attractive driving challenge. I posted that because it doesn't look totally out of place as a forum post - nobody really knew what the future held.

One more evergreen clipping from the Herald Express January 1953. Torquay, Wales, Northern Ireland...

[Jarek Z]

2) Im not feeling like Ingram or Kajetan and Gryazin are getting more "RoI" from doing WRC2. Any chances of them going back to ERC?
(I meam, wrc2 is more expensive and the coverage on R5 now is basically bigger in ERC...sure, wrc gets bigger exposure, but is it working? Did Ingram or any of them said something about '23 or so?)

I don't know about Ingram or Gryazin, but if you were Kajto - would you find it motivating to go back to a championship that you already won 3 times?

[lmmjvss]

Sem título - Copia.jpg
Dad came to visit me using this shirt haha Out of nothing. I thought its really cool. Never seen this one

[Sal yet again]

General question about rally organisation in your respective countries be it a local level or up to WRC. Are rallies organised by volunteers giving up their free time to arrange road closures and insurance etc or do clubs or motorsport bodies employ people to do the job on a paid basis? Bit of an issue in the UK just now which is seeing events cancelled or stopping altogether as more and more time is being asked of less and less people who do the "job" on a voluntary basis. Not many younger people stepping up to help so rallies are biting the dust. This in turn is leading to even less interest in the media so less and less commercial interest as a result.