The story of the first international rally held in Brasil

Publicat in: February 28, 2009, Vizualizari: 36

Sometimes he scored victories through brilliance, sometimes it was with a little help. Markku Alen's win in Brazil in 1979 came with help from the organisers, who seeded him number one in respect to his status as the reigning holder of the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers. It was just the help he needed. The Internacional Rallye do Brasil in 1979 was the first time that any major orthodox rally had been held in this great country and it was a new experience for all concerned. It was only the second special stage event held in the country and a big adventure. Pirelli was the background sponsors of the event, Fiat were invited by their manufacturing associates in the country to send two of their world championship cars, the Abarth 131, with their two top drivers, Markku Alen and Walter Rohrl.

The event was in safe hands, however. At the head of the organising team was Francisco Santos, deeply experienced in rallying in his native Portugal and who was then living in Sao Paulo. He recognised Brazil as a Promised Land for motorsport in all its forms, most particularly rallying. In the traditional style of those days, the three day event embraced the two big cities of the land, moving from Sao Paulo up to Rio de Janeiro, across to the mountainous region of Campos do Jordao before finishing back in Sao Paulo. The stages were mostly run in daylight and were long and dusty. Running at the head of the field, Alen soon realised this might be a winning factor.

"Was it really thirty years ago? We must have covered millions of kilometres since then but it seems like yesterday", said Markku. " Of course, running first car on the road meant that we avoided the dust problem that Walter had running behind us. It meant that we were the first people to encounter the unexpected problems, like local drivers who had forced their way on to the special stages and were driving on the stages in the opposite direction..." Markku's codriver was Ilkka Kivimaki and he also remembers the event very clearly. "For me the most impressive part of the route came on the first day when we had a special stage that used long stretches of beach, in perfect condition. Certainly we had no advantage over Walter on that stage at all, and we still beat him! The wide, firm sand had just been washed clean by the sea. Then we came to an uphill asphalt stage through a canyon, and suddenly coming towards us was a VW bus. We decided that going flat-out on this rally was not such a good idea". (second part will be published tomorrow)