After his painful victory at the San Remo rally, Didier Auriol, in a Toyota Celica, has an advantage of 11 points, 110 to 99, over his Spanish rival, “el matador” Carlos Sainz who drives for Subaru. Where the Frenchman showed his qualities as a sprinter, with 3 victories, Sainz played the card of consistency, with only 1 victory but five other podiums. At the start of the RAC, the Subaru driver knows that his title chances are low but if the Frenchman is outside the top 4, a victory would be “enough” for him.
Galleys for Auriol
For Didier Auriol, after two successful first specials where he showed that he was in the game, it was a disaster! In the Chatsworth special, his co-driver Bernard Occelli neglected to mention a pile of large stones located at the apex of a blind right-hand bend with a speed bump. Auriol takes the line and hits hard, ending up with a bent wheel, forced to finish the special in slow motion. He lost more than four minutes and found himself 94th! Sainz fared much better, despite an incident which caused him to damage his radiator and his power steering while going through a ford. However, it is rumored in the paddock that the Spaniard would have been helped by competitors to get out of his bad situation… On the very short first stage of 46.61 km, Carlos Sainz is only ahead of Colin McRae, his co- teammate, leader for 11s. With his Toyota, Juha Kannkunen is in third place, twenty seconds away.
On Saturday, the ordeal continued for Auriol who was the victim of a turbo-compressor problem which cost him several additional minutes of delay and relegated him very far in the standings, more than twenty minutes behind. On the evening of the second day, Sainz, author of two scratches, is firmly on the podium, one minute behind his tightrope teammate Colin McRae. Juha Kankkunen, 3rd, could have put pressure on the Spaniard but a spin in the 19th special and a bad choice of tires relegated him to more than a minute behind Sainz, the latter therefore being a little more relieved .
Sainz not so serene
Falling back to 17th overall after his turbo problems, Auriol is obviously in an unfavorable situation. He managed to climb into the provisional top 10 at the end of the second stage…but twelve minutes from a seventh place which could allow him to be titled. For his part, Sainz would undoubtedly like to benefit from a race order which would allow him to pass McRae. Not easy, because McRae, untouchable, is heading towards his first victory, close to home. The two drivers don't like each other and David Richards, the boss of the Subaru team, does not seem ready to sacrifice his colt. It is whispered in the paddock that Subaru will not ask McRae for anything. Sainz's non-verbal language and comments in interviews betray this tension: “we didn’t talk about it much” he retorts with a pout that says it all.
The “catastrophe” for Sainz
Provided that he no longer encounters trouble, Auriol, 9th on the morning of the last stage, should quickly recover 8th place from Makinen, but 7th position, which would be synonymous with the title, is out of reach because Vatanen has 12 minutes in advance. If Auriol finally managed to enter the top 7, Subaru would then be forced to give instructions to McRae so that Sainz won the title.
Sunday morning, in the first time trial of the day, Pantperthog, Sainz set another remarkable time but was almost two minutes behind McRae. The Scotsman seems unbeatable. The Spaniard is probably not in the best frame of mind, with Auriol who can come back, McRae untouchable and a Subaru team which is not ready to do him any favors.
In the 24th special, the fate of the title changes definitively. The Spaniard will commit the irreparable while everything was still under control. In the middle of the Welsh forest, Sainz makes a fatal mistake. He lost control of the Subaru, skidded and hit an embankment, damaging the front end and the engine of the Impreza. It's finished! History will never know if Subaru was going to make Sainz win… Asking Colin McRae to brake, at home no less, seemed far too difficult for David Richards.
Auriol and McRae in history
For Auriol, very far from the mark since the start, this news is obviously a deliverance: “I knew by listening to the radio, just before the start of the special, that Carlos had gone out. Bernard told me that we were world champions, I didn't want to believe him, but we heard correctly. Then I had trouble concentrating. I drove very badly, and even went off the road. That's it, I am the first French world champion. It's hard for Sainz, but I've been through that before. Now I’m all smiles, but not long ago I had tears in my eyes.”
Sixth at the finish of this RAC, more than 30 minutes behind the winner McRae, Didier Auriol became the first French driver to register his name on the World Rally Championship list, paving the way for a golden period in the years 2000-2010 . Colin McRae was imperial and won with more than 3 minutes ahead of Juha Kankkunen. For the first time in 18 years, a subject of the United Kingdom imposes itself on its lands. This heralds an even more memorable 1995 season for the Scot.
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