Hannu Mikkola on the Circuit of Ireland rally in 1986. The event was won by David Llewellin in the MG Metro 6R4.
I
t all started with the noise. A raucous, violent sound punctuated by pops and bangs. The deep rumble, then a higher roar as a long straight allowed a hastily snatched 5th gear before the hairpin bend forced a violent application of brakes. And suddenly there it was, right before me, smashing through the forest like a lion after its dinner. All growls and high-beam lights. The year was 1981, and being the impressionable teenager I was back then, let me tell you – Hannu Mikkola in his Audi quattro made quite an impression…
I remember the smell of high-octane fuel, baking brake discs and pine needles. The first rally photograph I ever took was of Hannu and his Audi. One frame was all I got, but that was enough. He came through the Grizedale special stage on the RAC Rally that year without a windscreen, having rolled the car earlier in the day. He wore a set of clear plastic goggles and drove the final stage that night with nothing between him and the night air save for 2mm of Perspex: Ari Vatanen may have won the World Rally Championship that year in the
ancient Escort, but Hannu had welcomed in a new dawn for World Rallying by winning the RAC, and I for one was totally hooked. Four years later and rallying’s Group B era had transformed the sport. I would watch Grandstand on BBC television every Saturday for glimpses of the cars and their drivers. Never had motorsport gripped me as much. My brother and I became keen rivals – he a Lancia fan and me with Audi. We both wrote off to the teams’ PR offices and soon posters of the cars adorned our bedroom walls. Little did I realise
then how much that first letter to Audi UK would affect me… I received a box of images from David Bryant, VAG’s staff photographer, as well as a video of Stig Blomqvist’s 1983 season with Audi Sport UK. In the box was a compliments slip wishing me well with my photography. It was all the incentive I needed to write straight back and send in some crudely printed images of a local rally to show more of what I could do! Poor David, I don’t think he realised how keen I was to follow the sport in more detail, but