Rallye de Portugal
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The Rallye de Portugal is the largest rally racing event held in Portugal. First held in 1968, the sixth running of the race was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. It remained on the calendar for the next 29 years, but from 2002–2006 it was no longer a WRC event. However, the WRC will return to Portugal in 2007.
The most successful driver in the race's history is Finland's Markku Alén, who has won five times (1975, 1977–78, 1981 & 1987).
The first edition was run in 1967. In 1973 it obtained world championship status. It was won by French driver Jean-Luc Thérier in an Alpine-Renault A110 1800. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s it was a mixed event between asphalt and gravel.
It was awarded five times the "Best Rally of the World" award and in 2000 the "Best Rally of the Year". [1]
The Rally of Portugal has an important aspect which once made it so famous or maybe infamous: crowd control. During the 1970s and especially the 1980s, Portugal was known for spectators standing on the roadway even as the cars drove by, often resulting in near-collisions, and finally in 1986 a collision between cars and spectators.
It was the last year the Group B cars domininated the WRC scene. And it was because of a tragic accident which occurred during the rally that the future of Group B cars came under scrutiny. The final blow came at the Tour de Corse later that year with the death of Henri Toivonen.
In the first section of the rally (Sintra), in the "Lagoa Azul" stage, Portuguese works Ford rally driver Joaquim Santos came over a crest too fast, which led to the car getting too wide through the corner. Santos managed to avoid the crowd on the outside of the corner, but he wasn't able to avoid the crowd on the inside of the corner. The inevitable happened: the Ford RS200 left the road, plunging right into the crowd, killing three and injuring dozens more. After this accident all works teams withdrew from the rally.
Although it was tragic, it was also a logical result for the irresponsible behaviour of the Portuguese crowd throughout years. Additionally the speed of the Group B cars was a contributing factor.
It wasn´t only dangerous for the crowd, but also for the drivers themselves. Former world champion Timo Salonen admitted at the '86 edition that he was scared to run first on the road. Walter Röhrl had his own theory on the crowd situation. "You just have to see the crowd as a wall and not as spectators" he said. A harsh approach, but realistic given the situation.
It did not necessarily go any better in following years. At the ´87 edition a privately-entered car plunged into the crowd. Luckily enough this only led to minor injuries, but the crowd control wasn´t much improved. It wasn't until the early 90s that the Portuguese rally became an example for better crowd control and for being a great rally itself. Crowds were no smaller, but were better-behaved and more aware of the risks involved in spectating.
The last WRC edition of the Portugal rally was run under heavy rain in 2001. It was won by Tommi Mäkinen in a Mitsubishi. In 2002 it was replaced in favour of Germany.
In 2005 the organizers of the Rally of Portugal announced their intentions to rejoin the WRC, this time switching locations to an area around the Algarve. This means the character of the rally has changed. It is fully driven on gravel these days. In 2006 it ran as an official WRC candidate event for the 2007 WRC calendar and was formally incorporated into the 2007 calendar on July 5th, 2006.
[edit] Previous winners
| Year | Event | Date | Driver Co-driver |
Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 1º Rallye de Portugal | ??? |  Carpinteiro Albino Silva Pereira |
Renault 8 Gordini |
| 1968 | 2º Rallye de Portugal | ??? |  Tony Fall R. Cellin |
Lancia Fulvia HF |
| 1969 | 3º Rallye de Portugal | ??? | Francisco Romãozinho “Jocames” |
Citroën DS |
| 1970 | 4º TAP Rallye de Portugal | ??? |  Simo Lampinen John Davenport |
Lancia Fulvia HF |
| 1971 | 5º TAP Rallye de Portugal | ??? |  Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean Todt |
Alpine A110 |
| 1972 | 6º TAP Rallye de Portugal | ??? |  Achim Warmbold John Davenport |
BMW 2002 Ti |
| 1973 | 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 13 March–18 March | Jean-Luc Thérier Jacques Jaubert |
Alpine A110 |
| 1974 | 8º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 20 March–23 March |  Raffaele Pinto Arnaldo Bernacchini |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
| 1975 | 9º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 18 July–21 July | Markku Alén Ilka Kivimäki |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
| 1976 | 10º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 10 March–14 March | Sandro Munari Silvio Maiga |
Lancia Stratos HF |
| 1977 | 11º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 1 March–6 March | Markku Alén Ilka Kivimäki |
Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 1978 | 12º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 19 April–23 April | Markku Alén Ilka Kivimäki |
Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 1979 | 13º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 6 March–11 March | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Ford Escort RS1800 |
| 1980 | 14º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 4 March–9 March | Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer |
Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 1981 | 15º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 4 March–7 March | Markku Alén Ilka Kivimäki |
Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 1982 | 16º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 3 March–6 March | Michèle Mouton Fabrizia Pons |
Audi Quattro |
| 1983 | 17º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 2 March–5 March | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Audi Quattro A1 |
| 1984 | 18º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 6 March–11 March | Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz |
Audi Quattro A2 |
| 1985 | 19º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 6 March–9 March | Timo Salonen Seppo Harjanne |
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 |
| 1986 | 20º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 5 March–8 March | Joaquim Moutinho Edgar Fortes |
Renault 5 Alpine Turbo |
| 1987 | 21º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 11 March–14 March | Markku Alén Ilka Kivimäki |
Lancia Delta HF 4WD |
| 1988 | 22º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 28 February–4 March | Miki Biasion Carlo Cassina |
Lancia Delta Integrale |
| 1989 | 23º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 28 February–4 March | Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero |
Lancia Delta Integrale |
| 1990 | 24º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto | 6 March–10 March | Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16v |
| 1991 | 25º Rallye de Portugal | 5 March–9 March |  Carlos Sainz Luís Moya |
Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1992 | 26º Rallye de Portugal | 3 March–7 March | Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen |
Lancia Delta HF Integrale |
| 1993 | 27º Rallye de Portugal | 3 March–6 March | François Delecour Daniel Grataloup |
Ford Escort RS Cosworth |
| 1994 | 28º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 1 March–4 March | Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 1995 | 29º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 8 March–10 March | Carlos Sainz Luís Moya |
Subaru Impreza 555 |
| 1996 | 30º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 6 March–8 March | Rui Madeira Nuno R. da Silva |
Toyota Celica GT-Four |
| 1997 | 31º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 23 March–26 March | Tommi Mäkinen Seppo Harjanne |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 |
| 1998 | 32º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 22 March–26 March | Colin McRae Nicky Grist |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
| 1999 | 33º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 21 March–24 March | Colin McRae Nicky Grist |
Ford Focus WRC |
| 2000 | 34º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 16 March–19 March | Richard Burns Robert Reid |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
| 2001 | 35º TAP Rallye de Portugal | 8 March–11 March | Tommi Mäkinen Risto Mannisenmäki |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 |
| 2002 | 36º TMN Rallye de Portugal | 7 June–8 June | Didier Auriol Thierry Barjou |
Toyota Corolla WRC |
| 2003 | 37º TMN Rallye de Portugal | 28 March–29 March | Armindo Araújo Miguel Ramalho |
Citroën Saxo Kit Car |
| 2004 | 38º TMN Rallye de Portugal | ??? | Armindo Araújo Miguel Ramalho |
Citroën Saxo Kit Car |
| 2005 | 39º TMN Rallye de Portugal | 31 March–2 April | Daniel Carlsson Mattias Andersson |
Subaru Impreza WRX |
| 2006 | 40º PT-Rally de Portugal | ??? | Armindo Araújo Miguel Ramalho |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 |
