SPIN, The Rally Pod DirtFish

Radical ideas to get the WRC moving again, and our Rally Portugal memories

How renowned WRC photographer Colin McMaster got his big breaks

The latest on the paused 2020 campaign now the Safari is off the agenda

Relive the days when manufacturers dedicated half a year to winning the Safari rally

Mitsubishi scored a second Safari Rally win in three years on the 1998 event. This one was particularly special for British fans with Richard Burns taking his maiden WRC win and backing up Colin McRae’s Kenyan victory of 12 months earlier.

Typically for the Safari, it was anything but straightforward, as Mitsubishi Ralliart’s Derek Dauncey tells David Evans in the second of his interviews looking into life among the Lancers in the Nineties. 

This time, for the first time, Andrew Cowan’s Rugby-based team was running a brace of cars, something that brought plenty of challenges as well as doubling the potential for success.

Remember the story of Rally of Great Britain 1998? Of course you do. It’s a story all about Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz and Bodmin builder Nigel Barnett. It’s a story all about their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, Toyota Corolla WRC and Hillman Imp.

Ringing a few bells now? Thought so. Derek Dauncey was Mitsubishi Ralliart’s man in the middle of the Millbrook crisis when Mäkinen removed the right rear wheel against a concrete block - thanks to oil from that Imp. For the next three days, the Finn and his team thought that was the end of his world championship.

It wasn’t, it was just the beginning of an unforgettable rollercoaster ride for Andrew Cowan’s team – ending on the highest possible high.

This one is, however, the first half of a fascinating story. Next week, Colin Clark talks to then Toyota team manager George Donaldson about the disappointment that led Carlos Sainz’s co-driver Luis Moya to find a new way of putting his crash helmet back in the car…