1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
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The 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally was a marathon motor rally that started at Wembley Stadium in London on 19 April 1970 and finished in Mexico City on 27 May 1970, covering approximately 16,000 miles (25,750 km) through Europe and South America. It was won by Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm, driving a Ford Escort.
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[edit] Organisation
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 reknowned British rally driver Paddy Hopkirk and together they went to the The Daily Mirror for sponsorship.
The event was organised by members of the RAC and the MSA.
[edit] Route and scoring
The course covered approximately 16,000 miles through Europe, South America and Central America. Some of the principal towns and cities visited were, in order [1]:
- London, England
- Dover, England
- Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
- Mannheim, Germany
- Munich, Germany
- Vienna, Austria
- Budapest, Hungary
- Belgrade, then in Yugoslavia, now in Serbia
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Trieste, Italy
- Venice, Italy
- Genoa, Italy
- Toulouse, France
- Pau, France
- Burgos, Spain
- Salamanca, Spain
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Bariloche, Argentina
- Santiago, Chile, Chile
- La Paz, Bolivia
- Lima, Peru
- Cali, Colombia
- Panama City, Panama
- San José, Costa Rica
- Mexico City, Mexico
The course included many special stages, some over 500 miles 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.
[edit] Cars
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 Citroën.
The Ford team ran modified Escort Mk1s, fitted with an 1850cc 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 Triumph 2.5PI Mark 2s, which were more powerful than the Fords but were significantly heavier and also carried three people each. The second Leyland team ran Austin Maxis and Austin 1800s (some badged Morris). Citroën used the venerable DS21.
Other cars run in the event included:
- BMW 2002ti
- Datsun 1600SSS
- Ford Lotus Cortina
- Hillman Hunter
- Jeep Wagoneer
- Mercedes-Benz 280SE
- Peugeot 404
- Porsche 911
- Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
- Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
- Trident Venturer
- VW-based beach buggy
[edit] Competitors
Many rally drivers of the day entered the event, including:
- Rauno Aaltonen
- Andrew Cowan (winner of the 1968 London-Sydney marathon)
- Brian Culcheth
- Paddy Hopkirk
- Timo Mäkinen
- Hannu Mikkola
- Rene Trautmann
- Guy Verrier
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]
[edit] Classification
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | H. Mikkola/G. Palm | Ford Escort 1850GT | 9hr 7min |
| 2 | B. Culcheth/J. Syer | Triumph 2.5PI | 10hr 25min |
| 3 | R. Aaltonen/H. Liddon | Ford Escort 1850GT | 10hr 46min |
| 4 | P. Hopkirk/A. Nash/N. Johnston | Triumph 2.5PI | 12hr 26min |
| 5 | T. Makinen/G.Staepelaere | Ford Escort 1850GT | 14hr 31min |
| 6 | J. Greaves/A. Fall | Ford Escort 1850GT | 19hr 31min |
| 7 | P. Vanson/O. Turcat/A. Leprince | Citroën DS21 | 22hr 3min |
| 8 | S. Zasada/M. Wachowski | Ford Escort 1850GT | 23hr 59min |
| 9 | R. Redgrave/P. Cooper/R. Freeborough | Morris 1800 | 24hr 42min |
| 10 | Ms. R. Smith/Ms A Watson/Ms G. Derolland | Austin Maxi | 30hr 35min |
| 11 | K. Tubman/A. Welenski/R. McAuley | Austin 1800 | 32hr 36min |
| 12 | L. Potapchik/E. Bazhenov/Y. Lesovski | Moskvitch | 34hr 6min |
| 13 | W. Bendek/D. Hubner/J. Burgoa | BMW 2002ti | 35hr 14min |
| 14 | R. Channon/R. Cooper | Ford Lotus Cortina | 36hr 43min |
| 15 | A. Rees/H. Thomas/W. James | Hillman Hunter | 37hr 50min |
| 16 | A. Katz/A. Kling/A. Pfuhl | Mercedes-Benz 280SE | 38hr 5min |
| 17 | G. Holm/V. Boubnov/K.Guirdauskas | Moskvitch | 38hr 52min |
| 18 | Ms. J. Denton/Ms. P Wright/Ms. E. Crellin | Morris 1800 | 39hr 16min |
| 19 | G. Perkins/J. Greene | Peugot 404 | 40hr 46min |
| 20 | S. Tenishev/V. Kislykh/V. Chirochenkov | Moskvitch | 41hr 5min |
| 21 | R. Janssen/J. Dik | Datsun 1600SSS | 46hr 1min |
| 22 | T. Kingsley/P. Evans/M.Scarlett | Austin Maxi | 46hr 25min |
| 23 | D. Harris/M. Butler | Ford Escort GT | 66hr 8min |
Only 23 cars finished the event.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The World Cup Rally 1970, from the site of the organisers of subsequent "World Cup Rallies"
- London-Mexico: The Complete Story, transcription of an article in the French magazine L'Auto Journal (in French)
