50 Years Of Grunt And Glory

A decade ago rallycross almost fell off the radar, but now, as it approaches its 50th anniversary, the sport is entering a golden era to rival its Group B glory days

- Hal Ridge

To many, the golden era of rally cross was when the explosive Group B machinery of the mid-1980s was exiled from the rally stages and found a new home, with Murray Walker nearing hysteria as they burst off the line at Brands Hatch in the British Rally cross Grand Prix. Talk to a casual fan of motorsport, and they might have said: ‘Ah, I remember, we used to watch that on television. What was the British guy called? Will Gollop. He drove that ridiculous twin-turbo Metro 6R4. It was awesome. What happened to it? Do they still do rally cross…?’

Forward we travel into the modern social-media-driven era, and suddenly rally cross has gone viral thanks to Kevin Eriksson’s audacious, crazy pass at the first corner to take victory at Estering last October in the penultimate round of the World Rally cross Championship.

With its 50th anniversary coming up this Saturday, rally cross has returned to – and even surpassed the heights of – its Group B heyday.

Yes, it’s even better than when grids bulged with 6R4s, Ford RS200s, Audi Quattros and, to a lesser extent, Peugeot 205 T16s. The sport had strength and depth not only on the international scene but domestically too. Despite being made for television, where rally cross remained as popular as it had been a decade earlier (with Walker’s commentary, the BBC having joined ITV as a rally cross broadcaster in 1968 and subsequently taking the reins), events were also well-attended by spectators. The annual season-closing standalone British Rally cross Grand Prix at Brands Hatch regularly attracted over 30,000 spectators in frosty December.

Finns Seppo Niittymaki and Matti Alamaki won four straight European Rally cross Championship titles in 205s, and Martin Schanche claimed a crown in his RS200 in 1991.