Without a round of the World Rally Championship for four years and with a once-great British Championship dwindling to the point of obscurity, you could be forgiven for thinking the nation’s relevance in rallying was all-but done.
Think again. At least for this week.
It’s Roger Albert Clark Rally time again. The R.A.C.
For a generation of fans around the world, those three letters were enough to make them go weak at the knees. It stirred memories of standing somewhere in Dalby listening to a V6 Ferrari engine bouncing off the limiter, only for the full glory of the wedge-shaped Lancia Stratos to be lit up by its own foot-long flames as Markku Alén downshifted into the woodyard.
That would, no doubt, have been three o’clock in the morning. A bed wouldn’t have been seen for days and time was now marked by geography; it’s not Tuesday, it’s Yorkshire.
Great days. Sadly never to be repeated.
That was the RAC. This is the R.A.C. This week is the modern incarnation of what was one of the most gruelling rallies in the history of the world championship. And when I say modern incarnation, I mean that in an entirely positive way.
For understandable and entirely laudable reasons, it’s no longer acceptable to ask rally drivers to hammer through the trees day and night for the thick end of a week on a diet of pork pies, Walkers crisps (chips), Coca-Cola and the occasional nip of something a bit stronger – just to keep the cold out.
The Roger Albert Clark has been rekindling amazing memories for two decades now and this week will be no different. In fact, it’ll be better than ever. The route is an absolute ripper, the entry list even better.
Itinerary first, it’s a couple of days in Wales, up to the Scottish Borders for Saturday then two days in Kielder. That’s 33 stages and 350 competitive miles. That’s just 17 miles less than the last two Rally GBs combined. It’s the longest rally in the UK this year and probably the longest since the last Roger Albert Clark Rally two years ago (it’s biennial).
It’s early starts, late finishes and an awful lot of fever.
The entry? Packed. Full. Sold out in a matter of minutes.
Three-time winner Marty McCormack starts from one. Behind him? Kris Meeke and Oliver Solberg – all three in Escorts. Then there are the local heroes: Welshmen Osian Pryce and Jason Pritchard – more Escorts. But don’t worry, it’s not all about the Mk2. The king of all things historic Porsche, Richard Tuthill wheels out a 911. Further down the list, there’s Chris Ingram running a TR7, Seb Perez in a Stratos and Theo Bengry in an Opel Ascona.
There’s some more modern history too, with Phil Morton’s Mitsubishi Starion (think Pentti Airikkala’s Safety Devices car winning the 1988 Cartel and Welsh rallies) or even more modern with Kevin Procter’s Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4 (think Pentti Airikkala cartwheeling through Cropton on the 1990 RAC).
Seriously, what’s not to love? Here at DirtFish we’ve banged on about various rallies being the best in the world. Right now, it’s hard to see past the one starting out of Carmarthen, South Wales on Thursday morning.
