Legends of Motorsport

[Jouko Haapanen]

Did anyone catch the LOM show yesterday morning on the 1984 1000 Lakes
Rally?  Good show featuring the first WC win for the Peugeot 205 T16 and the
first showing of the Sport Quattro at a WC race.  Some classic footage and
names, such as Markku Alen, Ari Vatanen, Juha Kankkunen, Pentti Airikkala,
Henri Toivonen and Hannu Mikkola - doing a fine job of promoting the culture
of rallysport in the fatherland.  Kind of made me homesick, the '84 1000
Lakes was the last of the Group B era WC rallies that I have been at.  I do
remember being in a bit of a foul mood afterwards, with Mouton rolling her
Sport and eventually retiring, Hannu retiring after an off-course excursion,
and Blomqvist finishing a disappointing fourth after the 205 of Vatanen and
the two Lancia 037's of Markku Alen and Henri Toivonen.  Spectacular stuff,
only superceded in thrills by the upcoming Lancia Delta S4 and Audi's S1.
Sadly on May 2, 1986, those thrills also brought to end the career of the
rising star, and likely future world champion, Henri Toivonen.  Anyhow, if
you saw it, it was worth every bit of the 30 minutes of your time.

It was the week preceding the race in Jyväskylä that I had my first taste of
a Sport quattro, albeit only as a passenger, making the outing even more
memorable....

--reminiscing mode off--

Jouko Haapanen
St. George, ON