The 1970
London-Mexico World Cup Rally
was the first of two
World Cup Rallies
to be held and the second of four marathon rallies to be held in a nine-year period beginning with the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. The
motor rally
started at
Wembley Stadium
in
London
on 19 April 1970 and finished in
Mexico City
on 27 May 1970, covering approximately 16,000 miles (25,700 km) through
Europe
and
South America
. It was won by
Hannu Mikkola
and
Gunnar Palm
, driving a
Ford
Escort
.
Organisation
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The event was the brainchild of Wylton Dickson, possibly inspired by the earlier 1968
London-Sydney Marathon
, and was to mark the fact that the
1966 FIFA World Cup
had been held in London and that the upcoming
1970 FIFA World Cup
was to be held in Mexico. Dickson approached the renowned British rally driver
Paddy Hopkirk
and together they went to
The Daily Mirror
for sponsorship.
The event was organised by members of the
RAC
and the
MSA
.
Route and scoring
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The course covered approximately 16,000 miles (25,700 km) through Europe, South America and
Central America
. Two boats were needed to convey the rally, one to cross the
Atlantic Ocean
from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro and a second from
Buenaventura, Colombia
across the
Gulf of Panama
to Panama to avoid the impassable
Darien Gap
. Some of the principal towns and cities visited were, in order:
[1]
- European leg (April 19-25)
- London
,
England
- Dover
, England
- Boulogne-sur-Mer
,
France
- Mannheim
,
Germany
- Munich
, Germany
- Vienna
,
Austria
- Budapest
,
Hungary
- Belgrade
,
Yugoslavia
- Sofia
,
Bulgaria
- Trieste
,
Italy
- Venice
, Italy
- Genoa
, Italy
- Toulouse
, France
- Pau
, France
- Burgos
,
Spain
- Salamanca
, Spain
- Lisbon
,
Portugal
- Americas leg (May 9-27)
- Rio de Janeiro
,
Brazil
- Montevideo
,
Uruguay
- Buenos Aires
,
Argentina
- Bariloche
, Argentina
- Santiago, Chile
,
Chile
- La Paz
,
Bolivia
- Lima
,
Peru
- Cali
,
Colombia
- Panama City
,
Panama
- San Jose
,
Costa Rica
- Mexico City
,
Mexico
The course included many special stages, some over 500 miles (800 km) long. Time penalties were given for exceeding set times on the special stages, as well as for other infractions of the rules, and the cars' positions determined by the penalties awarded rather than lowest cumulative times.
Cars
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Over one hundred cars started the event. The rules about what cars could be entered were not restrictive but due to the demanding nature of the course most competitors were conservative and used modified versions of standard models. That did not prevent there being a wide variety of cars, from
Volkswagen
Beetles
to
Rolls-Royces
. There were works (officially sanctioned and prepared) entries from Ford,
British Leyland
and
Moskvitch
, and semi-works entries from
Citroen
.
The Ford team ran modified
Escort Mk Is
, fitted with an 1850 cc version of the crossflow
Kent engine
and uprated with various other parts from other Ford models. Each Ford car had two drivers. The British Leyland team entered two teams. The first team ran three
Triumph
2.5PI Mark 2s
, which were more powerful than the Fords but were significantly heavier; two cars carried a three-man crew, Brian Culcheth preferring to stick with a conventional two-man crew. The second Leyland team ran
Austin Maxis
,
Austin 1800s
(some badged
Morris
) and a lone
Mini
Clubman. Citroen used the venerable
DS21
. Moskvich used the
Moskvich 412
with 1500 cc engine.
Other cars run in the event included:
Competitors
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Many rally drivers of the day entered the event, including:
As well as professional rally drivers, the event attracted a number of well known people, including the footballer
Jimmy Greaves
, who finished a very creditable sixth, and HRH
Prince Michael of Kent
, who failed to finish.
[1]
Results
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References
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]
- ^
a
b
World Cup Rally
, Graham Robson,
The Car
magazine no. 25, 1985, Orbis Publishing Ltd.
- ^
"French Pilot, Marang, Dies In World Cup Rally Crash",
Indianapolis Star
, May 26, 1970, p26
- ^
Philip Young & Ted Taylor.
"Final Entry List"
. Archived from
the original
on 2018-08-23
. Retrieved
2018-08-23
.
- ^
Graham Robson, The Daily Mirror World Cup Rally 40: The World’s Toughest Rally in Retrospect, 2010, pages 195-196
External links
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