1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally

1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally Daily Mirror World Cup Rally
Host country	United Kingdom Mexico
Rally base	London Mexico City
Dates run	19 April – 27 May 1970
Stages	32
Stage surface	Tarmac and Gravel
Overall distance	25,700 km (16,000 miles)
Statistics
Crews	96 at start, 23 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Hannu Mikkola Gunnar Palm Daily Telegraph-Ford Motor Company Limited

Mikkola's rally-winning Ford Escort.

The 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally was the first of two World Cup Rallies to be held and the second of four marathon rallies to be held in a nine-year period beginning with the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. The motor rally started at Wembley Stadium in London on 19 April 1970 and finished in Mexico City on 27 May 1970, covering approximately 16,000 miles (25,700 km) through Europe and South America. It was won by Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm, driving a Ford Escort.

Organisation

The event was the brainchild of Wylton Dickson, possibly inspired by the earlier 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, and was to mark the fact that the 1966 FIFA World Cup had been held in London and that the upcoming 1970 FIFA World Cup was to be held in Mexico. Dickson approached the renowned British rally driver Paddy Hopkirk and together they went to The Daily Mirror for sponsorship.

The event was organised by members of the RAC and the MSA.

Route and scoring

The course covered approximately 16,000 miles (25,700 km) through Europe, South America and Central America. Two boats were needed to convey the rally, one to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro and a second from Buenaventura, Colombia across the Gulf of Panama to Panama to avoid the impassable Darién Gap. Some of the principal towns and cities visited were, in order:

European leg (April 19-25)

• London, England
• Dover, England
• Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
• Mannheim, Germany
• Munich, Germany
• Vienna, Austria
• Budapest, Hungary
• Belgrade, Yugoslavia
• Sofia, Bulgaria
• Trieste, Italy
• Venice, Italy
• Genoa, Italy
• Toulouse, France
• Pau, France
• Burgos, Spain
• Salamanca, Spain
• Lisbon, Portugal

Americas leg (May 9-27)

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Montevideo, Uruguay
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Bariloche, Argentina
• Santiago, Chile, Chile
• La Paz, Bolivia
• Lima, Peru
• Cali, Colombia
• Panama City, Panama
• San José, Costa Rica
• Mexico City, Mexico

The course included many special stages, some over 500 miles (800 km) long. Time penalties were given for exceeding set times on the special stages, as well as for other infractions of the rules, and the cars' positions determined by the penalties awarded rather than lowest cumulative times.

Cars

Mikkola's Ford Escort prototype based on the RS1600, from the rear.

Over one hundred cars started the event. The rules about what cars could be entered were not restrictive but due to the demanding nature of the course most competitors were conservative and used modified versions of standard models. That did not prevent there being a wide variety of cars, from Volkswagen Beetles to Rolls-Royces. There were works (officially sanctioned and prepared) entries from Ford, British Leyland and Moskvitch, and semi-works entries from Citroën.

The Ford team ran modified Escort Mk Is, fitted with an 1850 cc version of the crossflow Kent engine and uprated with various other parts from other Ford models. Each Ford car had two drivers. The British Leyland team entered two teams. The first team ran three Triumph 2.5PI Mark 2s, which were more powerful than the Fords but were significantly heavier; two cars carried a three-man crew, Brian Culcheth preferring to stick with a conventional two-man crew. The second Leyland team ran Austin Maxis, Austin 1800s (some badged Morris) and a lone Mini Clubman. Citroën used the venerable DS21. Moskvich used the Moskvich 412 with 1500 cc engine.

Other cars run in the event included:

• BMW 2002ti
• Datsun 1600SSS
• Ford Cortina Lotus
• Ford Escort Mk I
• Hillman Hunter
• Jeep Wagoneer
• Mercedes-Benz 280SE
• Peugeot 404
• Porsche 911
• Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
• Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
• Trident Venturer
• VW-based beach buggy

Competitors

Many rally drivers of the day entered the event, including:

• Rauno Aaltonen
• Roger Clark
• Jorge Burgoa (Bolivian National Team)
• Andrew Cowan (winner of the 1968 London-Sydney marathon)
• Brian Culcheth
• Tony Fall
• Paddy Hopkirk
• Timo Mäkinen
• Hannu Mikkola
• Jack Murray
• Gilbert Staepelaere
• Rosemary Smith
• Rene Trautmann
• Guy Verrier
• Gastón Perkins
• Jose Migliore
• Alcides Rodriguez (Peugeot #33)
• Henri "Ido" Marang, who was killed in the crash of his Citroën on May 25, two days before the race's end. His co-driver, Paul Coltelloni survived but was seriously injured.

As well as professional rally drivers, the event attracted a number of well known people, including the footballer Jimmy Greaves, who finished a very creditable sixth, and HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who failed to finish.

Results

Pos	No	Entrant	Drivers	Car	Penalties (Time)
1	18	Daily Telegraph-Ford Motor Company Limited	Hannu Mikkola Gunnar Palm	Ford Escort 1850 GT Mark I	9hr 7min
2	88	British Leyland Cars-The Football Association	Brian Culcheth Johnstone Syer	Triumph 2.5 PI Mark II	10hr 25min
3	46	Daily Express-Ford Motor Company Limited	Rauno Aaltonen Henry Liddon	Ford Escort 1850 GT Mark I	10hr 46min
4	98	British Leyland Cars-The Football Association	Paddy Hopkirk Tony Nash Neville Johnson	Triumph 2.5 PI Mark II	12hr 26min
5	103	Daily Telegraph-Ford Motor Company Limited	Timo Mäkinen Gilbert Staepelaere	Ford Escort 1850 GT Mark I	14hr 31min
6	26	Springfield Boys Club-Ford Motor Company Limited	Jimmy Greaves Tony Fall	Ford Escort 1850 GT Mark I	19hr 31min
7	100	Societe d’Encouragement de Automobile France	Patrick Vanson Olivier Turcat Alain Leprince	Citroën DS 21	22hr 3min
8	14	Ford Motor Company Limited	Sobiesław Zasada Marek Wachowski	Ford Escort 1850 GT Mark I	23hr 59min
9	54	Reginald Redgrave	Reginald 'Redge' Redgrave Phil Cooper Bob Freeborough	BMC 1800	24hr 42min
10	74	Evening Standard-British Leyland Cars	Rosemary Smith Alice Watson Ginette Derolland	Austin Maxi	30hr 35min
11	32	BLMC Australia	Ken Tubman Andre Welinski Robert McAuley	Austin Maxi	32hr 36min
12	28	Avtoexport	Leonti Potapchik Edouard Bazhenov Youri Lesovski	Moskvitch 412	34hr 6min
13	29	Bolivian National Team	William Bendek Dieter Hubner Jorge Burgoa	BMW 2002 Ti	35hr 14min
14	15	Temple Meads Motors	Ron Channon Rod Cooper	Ford Cortina GT Mark II	36hr 43min
15	83	W.G. James	Alun Rees Hywel Thomas Washington James	Hillman Hunter	37hr 50min
16	38	Fixo-Flex Sports Team	Alfred Katz Alfred Kling Albert Pfuhl	Mercedes-Benz 280 SE	38hr 5min
17	71	Avtoexport	Gounnar Khlom Vladimir Boubnov Kastitis Guiradouskas	Moskvitch 412	38hr 52min
18	91	Woman Magazine	Jean Denton Pat Wright Liz Crellin	BMC 1800	39hr 16min
19	66	SAFRAR-Peugeot Argentina	Gaston Perkins Jack Forrest Greene	Peugeot 404	40hr 46min
20	19	Avtoexport	Sergei Tenichev Valentin Kislykh Valeri Chirotchenkov	Moskvitch 412	41hr 5min
21	31	Rob Janssen	Rob Janssen Jaap Dik	Datsun 1600 SSS	46hr 1min
22	96	Autocar-British Leyland Cars	Terry Kingsley Peter Evans Michael Scarlett	Austin Maxi	46hr 25min
23	45	Doug Harris	Doug Harris Mike Butler	Ford Escort 1300 GT Mark I	66hr 8min
Source:

External links

• London-Mexico: The Complete Story, transcription of an article in the French magazine L'Auto Journal (in French)
• WCR40: The 40th Anniversary Event, The site for the reunion of all surviving cars, crews, mechanics, organisers and associated personnel to be held in April 2010. Now a part of the Heritage Marathon Rally Group website.
• Lotus Cortina to Mexico, The story of the Cal Withers entered Lotus Cortina in the 1970 event