The Best Flying Finn?to

Bob Irvine · 2 May 2003, 20:01 (Ref:587931)

Perharps im not qualified enough to judge these great drivers,but in my opinion the best flying finn has to be Hannu mikkola.From Escort to Quattro,he was fantastic and very difficult to beat.Maybe not as spectaular as Alen or Vatanen or as many titles as Kankkunen,Mikkola was unflappable and very rarely put the car of the road.But this is just my humble opinion,so who do you think is the best out of this list? SIMO LAMPINEN RAUNO AALTONEN TIMO MAKINEN MARKKU ALEN TIMO SALONEN HENRI TOIVONEN JUHA KANKKUNEN HANNU MIKKOLA MARCUS GRONHOLM AND TOMMI MAKKINEN....take it away rally fans..

DavidStHubbins · 3 May 2003, 06:57 (Ref:588222)

Gardemeister

Bob Irvine · 3 May 2003, 07:23 (Ref:588231)

Good driver,but surely alot to do before he can be classed as an all time great.

Amaroo Park · 3 May 2003, 07:27 (Ref:588234)

Markku Alen, was fantastic the Italians had knicknamed him "Maxium Attack" for obvious reasons. Along with Tovinen has rank as the best driver never to win the World Championship.

Ari Vatenen, For coming back after the horrific accident in Argentina in 1985, and then for that awsome display of on the limit driving at Pikes Peak in 1988. Jean Todt who was Peugout team manager when Ari was there, still rates him as one of the greatest drivers he has ever seen,

Ranuo Aaltonen was great I worked with him at Bathurst in 1991 when he come over to partner Bob Holden, the man he won Bathurst with in 1966. He was such a gentleman and the fantastic stories about the Mini's, 260Z's etc where great. Add to the fact he was about a second quicker in a car he had never driven and a track he hadn't been too for 25 years. It was actuallt the fastes that car had ever gone around Mt Panorama.

DavidStHubbins · 4 May 2003, 06:36 (Ref:588893)

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob Irvine
Good driver,but surely alot to do before he can be classed as an all time great.

I was kidding

They are all awesome.

racer69 · 4 May 2003, 09:27 (Ref:588962)

I'd go with Ari Vatanen. Blindingly quick, and although his early career was blighted by numerous accidents (Stuart Turner was said to have fired and re-hired him about 15 times), once he settled down abit showed himself to be one of the very best in the world. In the Peugeot 205 he was awesome, the car and driver fitted together perfectly.

Horsebox · 6 May 2003, 10:07 (Ref:590742)

Toivonen would have been the greatest driver of all time had his career not been ended so prematurely. Mikkola for the way he managed to drive the undriveable Quattro has to come close but yes Ari Vatanen is the greatest ever flying finn.

racer69 · 7 May 2003, 14:07 (Ref:592408)

Toivonen is definatly a what if. He seemed destined for the glory in the Lancia Delta S4 that seemed to suit him perfectly.

He was great to watch in the Rothmans Opel Manta 400, i've got the 1983 Manx Rally on tape which he dominates ( he and Vatanen go 1-2 in the factory Opel's) and is a joy to watch. I watch it regularly

DavidStHubbins · 7 May 2003, 14:12 (Ref:592413)

You could build an argument for so many of the Finns as the best. I think the best thing to do is stand back in awe and pay homage to all of them - mad *******s!

garcon · 7 May 2003, 15:22 (Ref:592476)

Isn't Stig Blomqvist Finnish then?

Got to be Hannu Mikkola for me. Mainly cos I got into rallying when he was at his peak with Audi.

DavidStHubbins · 7 May 2003, 15:54 (Ref:592506)

I vote Tommi M, i got into rallying just as he won his first world championship. He was the best rally driver of his era and Gronholm is the best now. If it's not Finn it's another

SJ Spode · 8 May 2003, 11:15 (Ref:593351)

This is proving more difficult than I thought. Just when I'm ready to post my thoughts about one driver being the best, the old 2nd thoughts emerge again.

I think it shows that Finns are the best overall.

Horsebox · 8 May 2003, 15:01 (Ref:593610)

Racer69 do you know of any company who stills sells coverage of rallies back then? The only coverage I have of the 83 Manx is on Manta Magic. The greatest car control EVER when Ari's car went on that slide coming to the cattle grid!
Tommi and Marcus cannot be judged cause the cars back then were so much different. The 6R4 was almost 600bhp and not 400 as said and the Delta S4, alot more. These cars had very little handling on them and that is why Toivonen, Vatanen, Mikola, Salonen and Allen were such masters.
It didn't just take skill to drive those cars, it took balls of steel and the ability to leave your brains back in the team van on the way out in the mornin!

garcon · 8 May 2003, 15:09 (Ref:593616)

It's never easy to compare across different eras of the sport. For me, the heros of the Group B days were awesome. Not least because they were piloting the rallying equivalent of a Vulcan bomber...

These days, the cars are incredibly advanced, and almost perfectly set up for the job in terms of performance and handling. So in one sense, that's made the driver's job easier. But the sport has got much more competitive; differences on stage times are measured in tenths rather than tens of seconds, which means the drivers have to push the limits of their vehicles just as much as ever. And whether you're in a Vulcan bomber or a Tornado fighter, the edge is still the edge...

Bob Irvine · 8 May 2003, 15:34 (Ref:593631)

Horsebox--Duke marketing sell those videos,all listed on net

SJ Spode · 8 May 2003, 16:05 (Ref:593657)

garcon, that was one of the things I've been struggling with. Rallying has changed in so many ways over the last 25 years (cars, formats etc) that it's tough to call.
(Slinks back to the fence.....)

Horsebox · 12 May 2003, 11:12 (Ref:596764)

Thanks very much Bob Irvine!

racer69 · 12 May 2003, 11:57 (Ref:596803)

Quote:

Originally posted by Horsebox
Racer69 do you know of any company who stills sells coverage of rallies back then? The only coverage I have of the 83 Manx is on Manta Magic. The greatest car control EVER when Ari's car went on that slide coming to the cattle grid!

I'm not sure if they specifically have the 1983 Manx. I've only gotten hold of the '83 Manx because family members recorded it when the rallies where shown on TV in Australia (I've also got the 1983 Scottish, and heaps of the 1985,86,87 and 1988 BRC rounds).

As Bob Irvine says try Duke, they would be the most likely to have it.

Horsebox · 12 May 2003, 15:12 (Ref:597012)

Ah no problem racer69, I have most of the 86 championship recoarded off tv myself also. As I was only 18mths old at the time my father took the duty of recoarding it! Will look into the duke site. Thanks again.

Bob Irvine · 12 May 2003, 18:22 (Ref:597201)

RE THE VIDEO THEME,FOR YEARS NOW I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE 1984 SCOTTISH RALLY ON VIDEO (THE BEST EVENT IHAVE EVER ATTENDED).TRIED DUKE,NO JOY. CAN ANYONE HELP?

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