On this week #3 - Pit-stop in the snow
This week 41 years ago, in Lancia delivered what many people thought would be impossible: a one-two finish on the snowy Monte Carlo Rally with the two-wheel drive 037, against the might of the new four-wheel drive Audi Quattro (which finished third and fourth). One of the keys to this win was a tactic borrowed straight from Formula 1: a ‘live' pit stop on long stages where there was snow on top of the mountain, but dry roads leading to the summit. At a designated point on the stage, the 037s would pull over where their Pirelli dry asphalt slicks would be swapped for studded winter tyres to tackle the snow: benefitting from the best of both worlds. If needed, the tactic could even be repeated on the way down the mountain, when the snow turned to asphalt once more.
Rohrl remembers: “We had a big discussion about it first but we had to do it: without the studs, we wouldn't have got up the hill. I was first and it was horrible just sitting there in the middle of the stage for a minute, doing nothing. There was a fantastic atmosphere though with all the spectators and journalists, just like a pit lane!”
And this is what it looked like:
Not quite a Red Bull sub three-second flyer, but undeniably effective nonetheless.
