In Europe and beyond, people love to break their antique cars. There are at least three serious rally championships on our continent that have “Historic” word on their names.
Those three are ERC Historic, Mitropa Historic, and CEZ Historic. All of these championships take place mainly on asphalt, in central, southern and western Europe with a few exceptions. Often, the Historic class is joined to a regular rally like the Rally Ypres, Rebenland Rally, or Rally Weiz. But there are also quite famous races where only historic cars take part, like the Historic Vltava Rallye or Lahti Historic Rally. The participants there are usually relevant too – some are long retired, but that doesn’t stop them from having fun with good old time-tested cars. Carlos Sainz’s brother, Antonio, can be found at the ERC Historic. Spaniard has been rubbing asphalt with a variety of historic cars in Spain since 2006, and this year he is racing outside the Iberian Peninsula. Of course, there are age exceptions. Will Graham, who is three times younger than many rivals, is in the same ERC Historic. The 23-year-old has been driving for three years with the Ford Fiesta R2 in the UK until he came up with the idea of joining the family at the ERC Historic Championship. There, father Ernie Graham and mother participate with the Ford Escort MK1 and the youngster with a slightly more suitable for his age – BMW M3 E30.
As far as cars are concerned, there are many different and categorized in many classes. Starting with Group B monsters like Audi Quattro or Lancia 037 or Group A legends Toyota Celica, Ford Escort, Ford Sierra, Lancia Delta, and Subaru Legacy. Porsche’s various models, the Ford Escort MK1 and MK2 versions, the BMW E30 are very popular. Participants from Eastern Europe are armed with Lada VFTS and similar cars, while the northern favorite is Toyota Starlet or Volvo’s. You can also see exotic Renault Alpine, Triumph TR8, Alfa Romeo 1750, or Lotus Cortina. The strongest cars, such as the Audi Quatrro or Porsche 911, gather the most victories, but due to the wide range of technical and crew capacities, much simpler cars also take some wins. The famous Lahti Historic Rally, for example, was won a few weeks ago by a local Finn with a Toyota Starlet.
But this is not just happening in Europe. Historic car races are also live on the African continent. And they are much harder. Here’s one car club in 2016 that has come up with a historic car race that is compact and does not require huge costs. And here at the beginning of this month in Kenya, the third Rift Classic Rally took place, which is now called Top Fry Rally due to sponsorships. The cars drove there are quite the same as in Europe. But instead of tarmac, crews compete in sand and mud baths with a total mileage of almost 1,000 kilometers.
After spending more than 10 hours in Kenya’s wildlife, Baldev Chager with a Porsche 911 was the winner at Top Fry Rally. This is the same guy who has won at the Safari Rally.
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Photo – CMONCY Images
