The 1992 RAC rally was probably the most keenly anticipated in years.
The last round of the series, three drivers still had a chance of taking the title. That Lancia had wrapped up the Manufacturers title in August mattered little. The world was watching as Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriel left Chester, but the eyes British fans were on Colin McRae in his blue and white Subaru Legacy.
The Integrale had turned into the Intergrale Evolutione at the end of the last season, a winged monster a full 15cm wider that the original Delta of 1987. Toyota though had unveiled the Celica Turbo 4WD, which was a genuine step forward sin rallycar technology. the key to a performance four wheel drive vehicle, as opposed to a mud plugger like a Land Rover, is a the central differential.
The previous Celica, like the Lancia, had a complicated mechanical device called a Torsen. The new Celica had a simpler and cheaper, but at least as effective, viscous coupling differential. If you drive a performance all wheel drive car today it will have a viscous coupling diff. The result was that whilst the Lancias understeered round the bends, the Toyotas drifted like real rally cars.
This had made for an interesting season. The Toyotas appeared to have the edge on asphelt and the Lancia on gravel. The season started with Lancia's two star drivers swapping wins and the manufacturers crown was again the Italian's after the 1000 Lakes Rally.
But Sainz then started his fightback. On the mixed surface Catalunya Rally he'd shot ahead on the tarmac and then held off Kankkunen's challenge on the gravel to put him three points ahead of the Finn, and four ahead of his French team mate, going into the RAC.
Sainz was using the same tactics in Great Britain, and as the rally left the spectator stages behind and headed into Wales he was in the lead. However this wasn't to last, and but the time the cars arrived in the Lake District Colin McRae had forced himself into the lead proving, that on home ground at least, there was nobody in the world who was faster.
He only managed five stages in the lead before his adventures began. A road accident and a puncture took its toll on the car and he soon found himself driving a front wheel drive, rear wheel braked Legacy through the forests, a challenging task. Eventually he found a corner with his name on it, and as he left the road for good, where he was soon joined by Juha Kankkunen.
Kankkunen got going again, but too far behind to catch Sainz unless he struck trouble. The other challenger had suffered more serious trouble. After previous experience Didier Auriel always packs too pairs of overhauls for the Kielder stages,a s it can get very cold whilst waiting for your car to get towed out. Unfortunately he needed them too as the Integrale's engine let go.
Poor old Auriel. He'd won six rallies, but the world title had once again eluded him. When the car was right he was unbeatable, but when it wasn't he had no luck.
Colin McRae's performance though wasn't the only British success. Lifelong Ford man, and future team manager, Malcolm Wilson set just as many fastest times as McRae and was only prevented from challening for the lead by propshaft problems in Wales. Colin's younger brother Alistair was also doing well, and brought his Sierra home as the winning Group N car. Another hero for British fans to cheer was Ari Vatanen, having a tremendous run in his Legacy.Profiting from others misfortune, was second, his best result for three years. The next year would show he wasn't a spent force yet.
Sainz though didn't put a foot wrong and at full speed until the end of the final stage, won the rally and his second world title.
There were some new names and cars on the rally. My first view of Tommi Makinen in the little Nissan Sunny GTi-R was of him going backwards into the arnco at Old Hall Corner on the Castle Donnington stage. we'd be seeing a lot more of him, but not too much of the Nissan. it was nimble and the road car was possibly the best of the bunch, but was too small to get sufficient cooling to the turbo.
Whilst the Sunny had speed but not reliability, the opposite was true of Michael Kahlfuss's car - his little 42bhp Trabant. Along the way fans waited it the cold for it to pass before going home and rally HQ set up a 'Trabiline' so they could ring in to find out where he was. Troubled only by the limited availability of two stroke oil, he eventually came home 98th, just behind young Richard Tuthill's Reebok coloured VW Beetle and ahead of a Nova GSi, an Astra GTE and an MG Maestro.
It was the most exciting RAC ever and although Roger Clark's record as the only Brit to win a world rally still stood, it surely couldn't be long before we had one of our own on the top of the podium.
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