One that got away

Author

admin

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Rauno Aaltonen: 1965 Alpine Rally

To lose a rally is bad enough, but when you also lose one of the most coveted prizes in the sport, then it’s indeed a bad day. In 1965, at the start of the Alpine Rally, Rauno Aaltonen stood on the verge of winning a Coupe d’Or, an award made to a driver who had completed three Alpine Rallies in a row without being penalised, winning the event in ’63 and ’64. To win a Coupe d’Or was already a prized accomplishment: on the 2400-mile route of the Alpine Rally — over 70 passes, 40 selective sections and 12 special stages — it was an outstanding achievement. Only Ian Appleyard in ’52 and Stirling Moss in ’54 had won one. Now, both Aaltonen and rival Jean Rolland could add their names to this exclusive list.

Aaltonen was driving a 1275 Cooper S; Rolland was in an Alfa Romeo GTZ. Rolland wasn’t long for the rally, though: his wipers failed on the Chorges-to-Embrun section and he hit a wall. For Aaltonen, the first leg of the rally went well despite heavy rain as he and co-driver Tony Ambrose worked their way north to a rest halt.

The second leg was a figure of eight based on Grenoble, including a test up the Col de Luitel and a night-time rendezvous with the Col du Frene. This was not a tough section, but the maze of roads around Route National Six needed care and BMC had gone to the trouble of making a road book to negotiate them.

“We came to the main road and a gendarme told us that the road ahead was blocked and we should turn right. I urged Tony to take the map out, but he couldn’t find it… So we took a road to the left and went like hell. It even fitted in with where we thought we’d rejoined the road book— but then Tony found the map under his seat. It took only a few seconds before he shouted, ‘Stop! Turn around.’ When we hit the big road, the engine was pulling 8500rpm in top but, of course, we were low-geared for the mountains. We must have gone at least 7km wrong, which meant 14 extra in the section.”

To rub salt in the wound, the other Cooper Ss of Timo Mäkinen, Paddy Hopkirk and Tony Fall all won Coupes. Mäkinen nearly won the event outright, finishing 1.7sec behind René Trautmann’s Lancia Flavia Zagato. Without his road penalty, Aaltonen would have been third behind Mäkinen. As it was, he was classified 14th.