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1979 Monte Carlo Rally - Thriller at the Turini

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Created on January 21, 2011

Text:

Bernhard Brägger

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Archiv

9

Archiv

9

Lancia Stratos - Darniche:Mahé won the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally in the Lancia Stratos

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Ford Escort RS - Waldegard and Thorszelius finished second in the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally in the Ford Escort RS

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Rally Monte Carlo 1979 - Col de Turini

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Renault R5 - Renault R5 at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally

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Fiat 131 Abarth - Marku Alén with co-driver Kivmaki in the Fiat 131 Abarth at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally

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Ford Fiesta - Vatanen and Richardson in the inferior Ford Fiesta at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally

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Opel Kadett GTE - Blanc and Bublot were the best Swiss drivers in 38th place at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally

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Opel Kadett GTE - The Opel Kadett GTE won Group 1 and finished 12th overall at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally

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Porsche Carrera - Swaten and Cordeste were Group 3 winners and 17th overall at the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally in the old Carrera

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Summary

In the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally, Bernard Darniche wins in a Lancia Stratos just ahead of Waldegard in a Ford Escort RS 1800, which was disabled by a boulder.

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

What exactly happened in the early hours of the morning on Friday, January 26, 1979, after the start of the second-to-last stage, unfortunately cannot be determined exactly. Waldegaard/Thorszelius, the first to set off on the dry 22 kilometers with the number 2, suddenly sawboulders on the road. Not too big, not too small, rolled down in ideal proportion to the width of the road. The Ford Escort can't possibly squeeze past. Waldegaard slams on the brakes. Thorszelius, no weakling in stature, jumps out of the car, pushes one of the stones to one side and Waldegaard slips through the gap. Thorszelius returns to his usual place with an acrobatic interlude. The clock continues to tick relentlessly during the clearing action. In the final count, the two Swedes are just seven seconds short of victory; the good Thorszelius has spent seven seconds too long on the stone pusher. Was it force majeure or sabotage? Either way, Darniche remains the winner of the 47th Rally Monte Carlo. In his fantastic chase to catch up - he always sets the fastest time in the 10 special stages of the final night - he once again proves how fast his Stratos, prepared by the French general importer Chardonnet, is. Alén/Kivimäki in a Fiat 131 Abarth lost almost exactly 4 minutes to the two rivals, Andruet/Lienhard around six and the second Ford with Mikkola/Hertz almost 10 minutes. The full throttle phase for Bernard Darniche/Alain Mahé lasted 8 hours 13 minutes and 38 seconds.

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