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The second staging of this popular FIA-sanctioned event took place on the holiday island of Majorca during five days from Wednesday 6th March until Sunday 10th March. Extremely well organised with significant local and national sponsorship, the event provided both Competition and Regularity sections, each with six age-related classes enabling the rally to embrace a wide diversity of vintage and classic machinery; ranging from the oldest - a 1928 Type 35B Bugatti to the youngest - a 1974 Volkswagen cabriolet. 28 Controls, 13 Special Stages (including a promenade sprint and a track
session) plus 410 road miles over sometimes narrow and mountainous roads,
gives some indication of the scope and scale of this rally. A superbly
detailed and professionally produced Road Book provided details in three
languages (German/Spanish/ Day 1: Wednesday 6th March - was centered on the paddock in Palma and revolved around registration and scrutineering The cars were left in a secure compound overnight and the competitors bussed to their hotel. Day 2: Thursday 7th March - entailed 144 road miles and included four timed stages. Whilst the terrain at the Eastern side of the Island is not too hard going, the unseasonably wet and cold weather made conditions difficult for the competitors in open cars. Day 3: Friday 8th March - was another 144 miles, with five special stages, including the Port de Pollenca promenade sprint; a 1.43km blast with four chicanes along the seafront. This stage attracted considerable spectator interest, with the overlooking bars doing good business throughout. Day 4: Saturday 9th March - called for only 62 road miles with two special stages, including ten laps of the LLucmajor Circuit for the Competition cars and timed runs for the Regularity cars. Final Day: Sunday 10th March - just 60 road miles but including two special stages in the mountains of Western Majorca which are notoriously tight and difficult, followed by a return to the paddock in Palma and the end of a challenging four days of classic rallying. The weather throughout was unkind to say the least, with the first day having the worst of it but with a gradual improvement thereafter. There were seven UK crews amongst the 165 cars entered (split 55 in the Competition section and 110 in the Regularity section). Highlight cars in the Competition section, additional to the usual run of Porsche 911s and Mercedes, were an Aston Martin DB3S, Lancia Aurelia B20, Osca Maserati, two Lancia Stratos and an AC Cobra. Of specific Ferrari interest in this class was the fearsome-sounding competition Daytona, driven in a fearless manner by Historic Challenge competitor John Bosch. An unlikely entrant in this section was the Porsche 906 Carrera of Hans-Peter Richrath, which sadly seemed somewhat off-song. Other well-known names in this section were "Speedo" Vido Roessler with the Porsche Carrera 6 and long-distance Porsche racer Jurgen Barth, driving a 911RSR. Picking interesting cars from the Regularity section entry is an invidious proposition but among the Invictas, TRs, Healeys, Porsches, Jaguars and Astons were two delectable 328 BMWs and the superb 300S Maserati of Klaus Werner (which later sported a dent in its tail). Additional to the aforementioned Competition Daytona, and of particular interest to Ferrari aficionados, was Richard Will's 250 Lusso, a 275 GTB entered by Hans Breidenbroich, Bernd Hahne's 330 GTC and Manfred Lampe's 246 Dino plus a late-entry 250 SWB. Although driving a Ford Shelby Mustang, another well-known name in Ferrari circles, David Franklin, appeared to be enjoying himself with his usual spirited driving. So, there it is, five days of Historic Rallying on the "Sunshine Island", without the sun (well, maybe on the final day) but great fun nonetheless. Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
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