Rallying will never be safe: Mikkola 27 | 06 | 2014
"RALLYING WILL NEVER be completely safe for spectators." That's the frank assessment by former world rally champ and Scottish International Rally winner, Hannu Mikkola (pictured in action in his Audi quattro A2).
The Finnish legend's views come as rallying in Scotland bids to emerge today from the understandable gloom which enveloped it in the wake of the triple fatalities in last month's Jim Clark Rally.
More than 100 crews will leave the start-ramp in Dumfries this evening and tackle the opening stage, before heading into the forests tomorrow for a further nine stages.
And as the Scottish Government prepares its review of motorsport in Scotland, aided by the expert views of three-times Formula One world champ Sir Jackie Stewart, Mikkola has his own clear views.
"How can you make rallying safe for spectators? I don't think you can ever do it," the still sprightly 72-year-old, his piercing blue eyes unblinking, stated matter-of-factly.
"If the spectators behave badly, and don't follow the guidance and instructions of the marshals, then that, I'm afraid, is the biggest reason behind many of the accidents in rallying.
Related: Three die in Jim Clark Rally
"From a driver's perspective, when you're on the edge and trying to drive as fast as possible you can have an accident because at times it's very difficult to know exactly where the car will end up.
"There's no question a lot has been done over the years to enhance safety for the spectators. When I was rallying, nobody really cared.
"Rightly so, the organisers began to address the safety issues. Now spectators are told exactly where they can stand and, more importantly, where they can't stand.
"But if they then choose to ignore that advice and return — after the marshal has left — to the spot they've been told to vacate, then they leave themselves open to danger and the potential consequences."
Mikkola, world champion in 1983 and winner of the Glasgow-based Scottish International Rally in 1984, beating Lanark's Jimmy McRae's Opel Manta into second — as well as seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, and four-time winner of the RAC Rally in the UK — knows only too well the dangers rallying exposes both its drivers, and spectators to.
The Finn was at the height of his powers in the mid-Eighties when the hugely powerful 500-plus horsepower, fire-breathing, chest-thumping, lightweight four-wheel drive Group B cars emerged into the stages.
Related: Jim Clark Rally — Police Statement
But their life was short-lived. As the pace of technological development accelerated, so too did the speeds: 0-60mph in 2.3secs.
The result was, perhaps, inevitable. In the 1986 Port Wine Rally in Portugal, a Ford RS200 left the road on a spectator stage, killing three and injuring dozens.
Weeks later in Corsica, Lancia's Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto died when their car went off the road, hitting trees and rocks before exploding into flames. Group B cars, and the imminent, even more powerful Group S cars were immediately cancelled for the 1987 season.
Mikkola has vivid memories of piloting his pioneering Audi quattro through the thousands of spectators who thronged not only the side of the rally stages in the Eighties, but also blocked the road.
"Especially in southern Europe, Spain and Portugal, and even Italy and Greece, it was like a bull fight," the Finn, who drove a Ford Escort MkII in the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages in Perth as a tribute to the Scot who died in 2007, continued. "They wanted to stand on the road until we sped past and they'd try and touch the car.
Related: Audi's "impossible" Le Mans 24-Hours win
"In Portugal, even at the start of stages, you'd lift the clutch and accelerate off the start line and you couldn't see the road for spectators. They just parted like the Red Sea as we sped through them.
"Thankfully that's not the case now: the spectators seem to have got the message. Safety of the cars and the drivers has increased, and all — well, most — of the organisers are doing all that they can to ensure spectators' safety: well, within the parameters they can achieve.
"They explain to people exactly where they can stand: but as I said before, if the spectators then choose to move back to the 'danger zone', then that's when accidents can happen.
"Spectators have to accept that in this world you need to take care of yourself: they must have some common sense and not leave themselves exposed to the dangers. It's simple: they need to think.
"And that goes from the world rally championship all the way down to national championships like the Scottish Rally Championship."
Related: Roadtest — Audi S1 quattro Sportback
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars
Jim McGill