A series of four films featuring classic rally action from throughout the 1980s, packed with great driving names and iconic rally cars.
The BP Video Library is a treasure trove of motorsport film, packed with rare gems showing the great names, great machines and great contests of years gone by. An extensive archive created on behalf of the oil giant, the Library includes the only surviving moving pictures of important motorsport events. For Rallying in the 1980s we have chosen four action-packed programmes which show rallying in this decade was about more than just the Group B monsters.
The action starts in Greece with the 1981 Acropolis Rally. Chariots in the Sun combines action, interviews and behind-the-scenes access to create a truly evocative look back at this car-breaking event. Among the driving greats featured are Ari Vatanen, Markku Alen, Hannu Mikkola, Malcolm Wilson and Michelle Mouton, while the four-wheel stars include the Ford Escort RS1800, Fiat 131 Abarth and all-new Audi Quattro, which leads the way until controversy intervenes.
Next we head to South Africa for the 1981 Castrol Radio 5 International Rally, which sees World Rally stars including Tony Pond Jimmy McRae and Per Eklund take on heroes of the local scene, like Jochi Kleint and Sarel van der Merwe, in the demanding, hot and dusty conditions. Will the Datsun Stanza and Opel Ascona prove a match for the terrain?
Rallymaster is a rally film classic, as Rauno Aaltonen delivers a master class in competing in a world-spec rally car. Based around Aaltonen’s battle with John Buffum in Canada’s International Lobster Rally 1983, action footage and narration from the ‘Flying Finn’ reveals the secrets of techniques including handbrake turns and safe jumping. There’s also a chance to watch fellow flying Finns Pentti Arrikkala and Timo Salonen in car-sliding action.
Finally, African Roulette takes us to the 1987 East African Safari Rally, with broadcasting legend Dickie Davies as our guide. As well as recording the first Safari win for a four-wheel-drive car, this film lets us enjoy some of the greatest names of rallying in the 1980s in action, including Vatanen, Mikkola, Walter Rohrl, Bjorn Waldegard and Kenneth Ericsson. There are plenty of interviews and shots of crews at work, as well as mouthwatering special stage sequences featuring the Audi 200 Quattro, Subaru RX, Toyota Supra 3.0i and Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V.