The Rothmans Escorts – Pure Sound – Video Tribute

Video clip of the Rothmans Escorts in action mainly from the British Open Rally Championship in the early ’80s.

The footage is of Escort artist Ari Vatanen going from sideways to sideways all across the UK and Ireland. All the sequences in the clip are from The Vatanen Touch film, featuring the Mintex, Circuit of Ireland, Welsh, Scottish and Manx rallies.

Tribute to “The Rothmans Escorts” – Pure Sound!… Continue reading

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MotorsportMAD.com videos of the Circuit of Ireland from the ’80s

In the build up to the forthcoming Larsen Circuit of Ireland Rally here is a selection of videos from the 1980s, hosted by MotorsportMAD.

The eighties would be defined by change for The Circuit with the coming and passing of the Group B supercars, Rothmans sponsorship and a reduction in stage mileage, imposed by FISA, in the wake of Group B being banned from International competition.

The decade also brought… Continue reading

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Lombard RAC Rally 1980: Henri Toivonen becomes the youngest WRC event winner in the Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus

Henri Toivonen became, at 24, the youngest winner of a world rally championship event (that is if we regard 1973 as being year zero, otherwise Simo Lampinen would still hold the record even today by winning the 1963 1000 Lakes aged just 20) on the 1980 Lombard RAC Rally driving the Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus.

Some say he was fortunate, being gifted the rally after the punctures that befell Anders Kullang’s… Continue reading

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