(in Finnish, 1986) Markku Alen drives Lancia's test car in a session for the summer '86 1000 Lakes Rally. If poor Markku Alen looks sad and tired this is only month and a half after the Henri Toivonen's accident in Corsica.
Markku Alen est une véritable légende du rallye, tout comme Henri Toivonen disparu tragiquement en Corse et qui aurait pu être champion du monde des rallyes en 1986. Respect messieurs Alen et Toivonen.
Whether in the wet, or in the dry, the thousand lakes rally venue is confronting and spectacular . . . the Lancia is a marvel, and so is Marku Alen . . . you can see the pain in his eyes having lost a comrade . .r.i.p.Henri, but with speed.
Massima espressione tecnologica e umana per quei tempi. Alen e la delta s4, ancora oggi mi fanno venire la pelle d'oca. Se quella macchina avesse avuto soltanto la metà della tecnologia attuale, suonava le WRC plus attuali senza appello.
@@alejandromaciel8031 I though it was a jew name, but in recent years I've discovered it is a french name from Burgundy. Some knights came from there to fight the moors in what is today northern Portugal and a Knight of surname Maciel settled near "Viana do Castelo" by 1080 or so.
@@luismaciel7463 yeah, I got the surname from my grandparents who lived their young years in Madeira. They came to Venezuela quite some time ago, where I currently live, and settled down. Fun fact, Maciel was actually my grandpa's second surname (it was his mom's), but because of civil registry stuff -i think- the surnames were reversed here.
It's a fairly non-dramatic interview on what was happening with the team at that particular time. Lancia is running tests in Antiainen, Karkkila (Southern Finland). Markku: We are testing like we did last year. We have tested in Karkkila for ten years I think. We drive a test for Jyväskylä (Rally Finland) and New Zealand. We drive these two rallies with the same base setup. We've had some problems. Tests have not started well. Just like this whole spring; yesterday I had an engine failure, just now had a belt snap, yesterday a turbo and a gearbox. The electric setup does not work well for us. We are not really getting that into good shape. It's good that it happens here in test, so we could get a turn for the better in the races this season. We haven't had a trouble-free day even here. (driving shots) Markku: this last engine problem, a rock got lodged between the belt and snapped it. (Is it not protected in any way?) It is, but after a jump I believe the cover gave way and the stone got in. (driving shots) After six races, how has your season gone? Markku: Well, in Monaco, I got two camshaft failures, second one caused my DNF. First one already on the highway before Milano, the second one on the second or third night. Electric problems for the entire event. Rally Sweden was a disappointment for myself, I should have won, but I couldn't get anywhere. Then on the last day, with just 7 stages to go, we changed the compressor and the car started to move properly. I was missing a lot of power. Portugal was as it was, a mess. Safari Rally, I think this year our car was very good, but the battery was drained overnight and we lost more than an hour there. We got third in the end, which was ok, all things considered, but we shouldn't count third places. We rose past Peugeot in the WC standings there, and then went to Corsica. Corsica was ... what it was, Lancia abandoned the race, and everything that happened. Now Greece, our luck should have turned by now, we should have won, but Lancia had no luck at all there. (driving shots) Markku: I'm hoping I can spend midsummer's eve here, then on midsummer day, fly over to Auckland. We will see next week, what my schedule will be, if I need to go to Torino and test our new car for next year. Nothing is set but we will drive here tomorrow, then see. What is your view on next year, nobody knows what the situation is, what is your opinion on what cars should be driven? Markku: Well, there's so many views on that. This car, that we have driven here for two days, when everything works it's a great car. Very driveable and fast. Now, the rules, there's so much politics going into it, we should let things calm down. Everyone has their own interest at stake. If it will be A-class cars then, will Lancia have a competitive car to enter? Markku: I think so. Our team would not have backed class A unless we had one. Obviously those who don't have one are making most noise now. --- Interestingly, Alén did have a better second half of the 1986 season despite everything. Second places in NZ, Argentina and GB, third in Jyväskylä, won in USA and in the later annulled San Remo. In 1987 with the A-class Delta, Lancia won the constructors' championship and got 1-2-3 in drivers, Kankkunen-Biasion-Alén.
@@d64d64 Corsica was surprisingly "average" by Alen until the withdrawal, the race was already more than halfway through. I doubt he would have catched Henri but maybe challenge Saby and Biasion.
Nonsense. In fact the stretch of road that Henri went off had the Group A cars just as fast there, tight twisty, power had nothing to do with it. The stretch of road is on RU-vid where the accident was, more than one video. The 5 killed in Portugal was the same, tight corner to corner stuff where corner speed mattered, not power, the Group A cars were just as fast there, and just as deadly, if not deadlier because they were heavier cars in that situation. Bettega died in the 037, but they were clearly dangerously 'built to be as light as possible', that was the FIA's rules fault, not Group B per say. WRC cars are even faster today, the corner speed they carry is horrific, it's only a matter of time before someone dies, and it's a wonder it hasn't happened. At least crowd control is far superior now compared to Group B days.
@@markmark5269 big difference is also handling of the cars. Group B , it took a different approach and abilities from driver's point of view compared to nowadays wrc . Modern cars are "easier" and a whole lot safer. I don't mean the current competition is worthless but it also isn't what wrc was 30 years ago.
@@jussiuutaniemi3767 Actually, your Countryman (I presume you are Finnish by your name?) Marku Alen, who tests a lot of cars these days on RU-vid, said recently while testing a WRC car that with the modern cars these days you have zero time to relax, unlike the old cars
@@markmark5269 was it citroen with meeke ? Well, that might be one angle of looking at it. However if you do a more thorough search , I'd say Alen, Kankkunen and others hold group B in rather high esteem. It's not called golden age of rallying for nothing. It certainly had a lot more depth when it comes to top end talent , you could easily have six to eight different guys(+mouton) on almost any given event who could realistically win.
