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From Brägger's rally diary in the seventies - The team boss and his broken leg

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Created on November 24, 2012

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Bernhard Brägger

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Archiv Bernhard Brägger

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Archiv Bernhard Brägger

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Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 (1974) - road builder Dölf Ruesch in his primal element - gravel - at the Coppa di Liburna 1977

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Poster of the 1977 Coppa di Liburna Rally

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Opel Kadett GT/E (1976) - 'Only flying is more beautiful' said the Opel advertisement - impressively shown here at the Coppa di Liburna

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Opel Kadett GT/E (1976) - seen here at the Coppa dei Liburna - 30 Opels took part in this rally in 1977

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Lancia Stratos (1977) - the winners of the 1977 Coppa di Liburna - Pregliasco/Reisoli, ahead of the Swiss Carron/Schaer in a Porsche Carrera

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Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI (1977) - Polli/Martinelli at the Coppa di Liburna

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Fiat 131 Abarth (1978) - Ceccato/Zarni achieved 4th place in the 1978 Coppa di Liburna

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the official 'prayer book' of the Rallye di Lugano - excerpt

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the personal 'prayer book' of a participating team at the Coppa di Liburna 1977

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Starting list for the 1977 Coppa di Liburna

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Summary

In the 1970s, two rallies were very popular with Italian and Swiss rally drivers: the Rallye di Lugano and the Coppa Liburna. In his rally diary, Bernhard Brägger reports in five episodes on events, opponents and vehicles from this hot rally era of the seventies. In the fifth and final episode, he tells how the prayer book for the '76 Coppa di Liburna was written by a 2-CV driver, how equipment boss Orlando Betschart waited for days with a broken leg to be transported home and how a horse landed on the hood of an Alpine A110 during training. Truly delicious!

This article contains the following chapters

Broken leg and torture 1976
Aftermath in the ditch at the 1977 Coppa die Liburna
And finally, the story about the horse

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Without ever having driven a rally, Franz Xaver Nager from Uri (later winner of Group 1 at the European Championship round in Saarland) traveled to faraway Livorno with the task of writing a detailed prayer book of all the special stages of the Coppa Liburna. This is what happened in 1976, when we drivers, co-drivers and helpers from central Switzerland were only able to arrive shortly before the car was accepted for professional reasons. FX - as we call today's musicologist - was driving his 2 CV around the special stages days beforehand, diligently taking notes of the "Sassetta", the "Traversa-Livornese", the "Bibbona" and the "Marmorosa".

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