We’ve already introduced you to Fabrice Rossi’s R5 Turbo 2 Tour de Corse ‘Hertz’. Now, a second Renault 5 Turbo 2 Tour de Corse will be arriving from France: that of Christian and Philippe Klein, regulars at Slowly Sideways events.
In its ‘Tour de Corse’ configuration, this Renault 5 Turbo sports a livery that is well known to fans of Renault: that of Diac (Diffusion industrielle et automobile par le crédit), a financial organisation founded in 1924 and now a 100% Renault subsidiary.
Those famous Diac colours were also those of François Chatriot in the 1984 French Championship!
The Rally 4 Passion will feature 2 Renault 5 Turbo cars. And you know what they say: never two without three…
The official driver of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, Grégoire Munster will soon be swapping his factory Ford Puma Rally1 for a high-performance Group A Ford Escort RS Cosworth for the Rally 4 Passion, scheduled for 26 and 27 April.
For the occasion, the car will be sporting a livery that has marked the history of motor sport in general and rallying in particular: the Martini Racing colours!
For many years, Gianfranco Cunico raced in these superb colours, taking a superb podium finish at Sanremo 1995 in a Cosworth Gr.A built in the Jolly Club’s workshops.
Thanks to Rally 4 Passion, rally fans are in for a treat on 26 and 27 April…
A few years ago, Pierre-Julien Kaufmann made a name for himself with his speed, particularly behind the wheel of the Renault Twingo R1 and R2. With Valérie Lemineur on his right, here he is again behind the wheel of a legendary Renault, an impressive Clio Super1600….
With this car, the regional driver is also sure to be one of the attractions of this first Rally 4 Passion. This Renault Clio Super1600 comes from Italy and was followed in Namur by Benoît Blaise’s team. It made its debut in the World Rally Championship at Rally Catalunya 2004.
For the occasion, it gets an emblematic livery: that of official Renault Sport driver Simon Jean-Joseph in the 2004 French Rally Championship, exactly 20 years ago! That year, Simon had a double programme, France and Europe. As part of this programme, he was also present in Ypres, but in a different livery, a combination of his main partner’s blue and yellow.
Grégoire Munster will be present at Rally 4 Passion at the wheel of a Ford Escort RS Cosworth Gr.A, the livery of which will be revealed very soon. In the meantime, he answered our questions…
What does this Ford Escort Cosworth Gr. A mean to you? Do you have memories of this car?
I was not yet born when this car raced at the highest level (ed.: Grégoire was born in December 1998), but the images that I have are the passages of François Delecour or Bruno Thiry, with of course his unfortunate retirement in Corsica as well. Rally 4 Passion will therefore be an ideal opportunity to see what Gr. A-cars from back then were able to, and give the fans some fun. We are here first and foremost to provide some entertainment!
Teaming up with Bruno Thiry, a Ford factory driver 30 years ago, is also a nice nod to rally history.
Definitely. Together with Freddy Loix and Patrick Snijers, Bruno Thiry is one of those drivers who have left their mark on Belgian rally history. And I am looking forward to forming a team with him, and we are both wearing Ford colours as well. That will be fun.
You will not have the company of your usual co-driver Louis Louka.
No, that is right. Because it is a ‘fun’ rally, this was an ideal opportunity to finally drive together with my best friend Raphaël Lekeu – who follows me at almost every rally. Craig Breen, for example, also had the habit of driving with his best friends at historic rallies where there was no competition stress. I look forward to share this experience with Raphaël.
(c) Photographs: M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (G. Munster) & Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool & Pascal Giets (G. Munster & B. Thiry)
Gr.B’s, Gr.A’s, Gr.4’s, Gr.2’s… And now a Super1600, the first we’re bringing you for Rally 4 Passion. And it won’t be the only one at the start of the event!
This Super1600 is the Citroën Saxo of Nicolas Colyns and Nicolas Pierson, a car with a high-performance, melodious kit car engine which has already been seen in BRC events, and which is followed by the ‘wizard’ Michel Targez.
Its livery is that of Sven Haaf’s Saxo Super1600, which entered the JWRC championship in 2002 with the support of Citroën Deutschland.
… Nicolas Mativa. While we wait to discover the livery of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth Gr.A that Bruno Thiry will be driving at Rally 4 Passion, here’s the one that Nicolas Mativa, owner of this very fine Cosworth Gr.A, will be entering at the first Huy-Namur Rallye Festival.
Everyone knows the livery of this replica. In 1996, the Spanish oil company Repsol was the title sponsor of the official Ford team in the World Rally Championship, which included Madrid-born Carlos Sainz.
Competing in seven world events with the official team, Bruno Thiry finished the season strongly, claiming back-to-back podium finishes at Sanremo and Catalunya. The 1996 Sanremo livery is the one worn by Nicolas Mativa and Jérémie Tomballe’s Escort RS Cosworth Gr.A!
The Renault 5 Turbo made rallying history, initially being developed as a Group 4 car before evolving into a Group B car in its second generation. This evolution culminated in its ultimate version, the « Maxi ».
Approved in Group B, this Renault 5 Turbo 2 ‘Tour de Corse’ spent a long time on the roads of French rallies in Group F. Its owner since 2004, Vivien Bombré, gave it the traditional yellow and white livery of the 20 ‘Tour de Corse’ customer cars a few years ago.
For the Rally 4 Passion, where it will be driven by Fabrice Rossi, it will sport a new ‘Hertz’ livery, identical to that used by Corsican driver Camille Bartoli in the 1984 Tour of Corsica. Superb!
Tanja Zingelmann-Hartjen was a keen rally co-driver in the 1980s and 1990s, and has now passed this passion on to one of her sons, Corbian, with whom she competed in last year’s Eifel Rally Festival in a VW Golf.
In preparation for this season, Tanja and her team are putting the finishing touches to their new car, a beautiful Group 4 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600, which is an exact replica of one of the very first cars driven by a driver who left his mark on the history of German rallying, Jochi Kleint.
In a similar Mk1 from Ford Boreham, with minimalist decoration, the future European Champion (in 1979) Jochi Kleint and Jochen Berger distinguished themselves during the Int. Rallye Vorderpfalz in 1971. That same year, this factory Escort was also driven by Roger Clark himself.
During the 1982 Belgian Rally Championship, Simon Everett and Dany Colebunders drove their Group 4 Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSR in the colours of Tuborg.
Always spectacular, the British driver was clearly one of the public’s favourite drivers, alongside Belgian stars of the era such as Guy Colsoul, Robert Droogmans, Marc Duez, Jean-Louis Dumont, Didi and Patrick Snijers.
Thanks to Ronald Jussiant and Séverine Chupin, who also love to go sideways, the Rally 4 Passion public will be able to remember Simon Everett in this superb replica, which even has right-hand drive!
Before becoming one of the first Gr.B cars to be homologated, the Audi Quattro A1 spent two seasons competing in the World Rally Championship. Michèle Mouton was one of the drivers to shine at its wheel.
Now an FIA figurehead, the Frenchwoman distinguished herself in particular during her world campaign in 1982 with an official Quattro fitted with Kleber tyres. She finished runner-up in the World Championship with 3 victories to her name (Portugal, Acropolis and Brazil).
Owned by Benoît Martin, who will also be taking part in Rally 4 Passion in his Quattro S1 E2, this Audi Quattro Gr.4 is a replica of Michèle Mouton’s car that year. On April 26 and 27, it will be in the capable hands of David and Agatha Kastler.
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