- 9 months ago
see more Racing :
https://speedworld.sports-classics.stream/index.html
https://speedworld.sports-classics.stream/index.html
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00This is a production of WGBH.
00:30In a few months' time, the eyes of the yachting world will be on Auckland
00:44as the city plays host to the America's Cup Series.
00:47For the next three days, however, it's home to round nine of the World Rally Championship.
00:52Six drivers are still in with a chance of the title,
00:54while Toyota look to be running away with the Manufacturer's Series.
00:57Now, Colin McRae and Richard Burns have both won here in New Zealand in the past,
01:01but despite the fact that it's a beautiful morning,
01:03it's winter here in the Southern Hemisphere,
01:05and the weather will play a significant part in proceedings.
01:27So, who are those six drivers still in the hunt for the 1999 World Title?
01:32I think at the moment Richard is the quickest one.
01:35Five points ahead of his team-mate Juhar Kankunen,
01:37Richard Burns came to New Zealand in joint fourth place in the series.
01:41It's difficult to pinpoint one person.
01:44But one man had already opened up a clear lead.
01:46Tommy Makanen, victorious in both Monte Carlo and Sweden,
01:49although the championship leader has never won the Rally New Zealand.
01:52It seems to be Didier who is closest fan,
01:55and he's very reliable at the moment.
01:59Didier Aureole was just four points behind Makanen.
02:05I can see Carlos Sainz too, and I can see Colin McRae too.
02:10Sainz, Aureole's team-mate, lay in third place in the series.
02:13Everybody, it's very close.
02:211995 World Champion Colin McRae won both this year's safari and Portuguese rallies,
02:26and came to New Zealand in joint fourth place in the championship.
02:29It's going to be a combination of two drivers.
02:32It's going to be Tommy Makanen and Carlos Sainz.
02:35The fearsome Maoris gave the drivers a traditional welcome,
02:39and having satisfied them that they came in peace,
02:42championship leader Tommy Makanen led the competitors onto the Auckland start ramp,
02:46ahead of the Toyota partnerships of Didier Aureole plus co-driver Denny Girardet
02:51and Carlos Sainz with Luis Moya alongside him.
02:55Stage one would be the now traditional super special,
02:58in the dark and in the rain.
03:00I'll blow you away
03:30Possum Bourne was actually fastest on the super special in his X-Works 1998-spec Subaru.
03:36But once the teams got into the country side proper,
03:39Tommy Makanen immediately stamped his authority on the rally,
03:42with three fastest times on the next four stages.
03:45He'd end the first leg in the lead,
03:48but his efforts obviously weren't without drama.
03:51Everything went well.
03:52We had just some little electric failure on the first stage,
03:56and the engine stopped,
03:59but we managed to get it run again,
04:03and we didn't lose too much time for that.
04:07The only man able to match Makanen's pace was Colin McRae,
04:11the winner of the rally on no fewer than three occasions.
04:14McRae and Nicky Grist snatched the lead on stage eight,
04:16but their Ford Focus ground to a halt on the next.
04:19Nicky, what happened?
04:20Unfortunately, it's an electrical problem.
04:22We don't know what it is.
04:23It started causing us a problem in the first of these three stages.
04:26It cut out on the start line of the first one.
04:29A misfire.
04:30The second stage was fine,
04:31and it started misfiring here,
04:33to the point where it wouldn't even start up and keep going.
04:36Nobody was better prepared.
04:37We were totally confident,
04:38and we haven't got anything,
04:39so that's the way it goes.
04:42How frustrating is it
04:43that it seems to be one problem after another now with this car?
04:46I don't think you really need to see how frustrating it is.
04:48That's our chance of the championship gone now,
04:50so it's finished.
04:51But you know that others have had problems as well today,
04:53so could it be that you start the next round
04:56with the same sort of position as this one?
04:58I don't think so.
04:59Tommy's going very well,
05:00and the two Toyotas are going well,
05:01so one of these three are going to get a good result here.
05:05And what about looking forward to the rest of the season?
05:08I mean, do you think that you can salvage something of the championship?
05:12Yeah, you can always salvage something,
05:14but to win the championship,
05:15it's too far going now.
05:17Commiserations.
05:18Yeah.
05:19Despite Colin's pessimism,
05:21at worst he would only be 23 points behind by the end of the rally,
05:24and there are still at least 50 more to be won.
05:27And he wasn't the only one in trouble.
05:3012 kilometers to the end of the stage,
05:32we got stuck in first gear in a junction,
05:33and I couldn't come up anymore,
05:37so I have to do 12 kilometers in first gear,
05:39and I lost over three minutes.
05:42And his teammate Didier Oriel
05:44wasn't exactly having a great time either.
05:47I mean, this morning, it was very difficult to follow the rhythm
05:54of Tommy McKinnon and Colin McRae.
05:57And on the finish,
06:00we have this three last stage very muddy,
06:02and we get the wrong information,
06:03so we don't cut really the tire.
06:06And it was so difficult,
06:07but I was nearly to go off four times.
06:11Richard Burns and co-driver Robert Reed
06:13was struggling with gearbox problems.
06:14Easy left and tightened, maybe.
06:17The 20-minute service after stage six
06:20gave the Subaru mechanics a chance
06:21to change the car's high-tech, fly-by-wire gearbox.
06:25It's a procedure they've practiced many times,
06:27and even though it would be tight,
06:29they were confident that the 20 minutes allowed
06:30would be more than enough.
06:32As the mechanics worked,
06:34Burns and his teammate Kankinen
06:35took a keen interest in how things were going,
06:38although both knew this was one part of the rally
06:40they could do little to influence.
06:42With only a minute left, the work was done.
06:45Burns could drive off with no penalties.
06:4818 minutes was all the gearbox change had taken.
06:52Sadly, 400 metres were all it lasted.
06:56A puddle of oil beneath the car
06:57and the arrival of the cavalry
06:59spelt the end of the rally for Burns.
07:02and Robert Reed.
07:10The evidence of the oil leak was clear to see,
07:13the result equally plain
07:14and painful for the young Englishman.
07:18Is this starting to become the Achilles heel?
07:20Well, it's a bit annoying, that's for sure.
07:24The thing with the gearbox is
07:26it is very, very good when it's working properly.
07:28It's without doubt the best system
07:31out there,
07:32the quickest and the simplest to work.
07:35But at the moment,
07:37then we've obviously still
07:38haven't got all the problems lined out.
07:41Despite an identical gearbox setup,
07:44there were no such problems for teammate Juhar Kankinen,
07:46who made a steady start
07:48and would end the day in third.
07:49Mackinen's teammate, Freddie Leut, was more lethargic than steady.
07:56He was a disappointing 14th,
07:58nearly nine minutes behind Tommy.
08:00Thomas Rodström was now Ford's only hope.
08:03He was fast.
08:04But then he tried to go faster.
08:15Came a bit too fast in the right-hand corner
08:17and hit the bank with the left rear.
08:19And then it threw the car to the other side of the road
08:22and too much sideways and went off a bit and rolled.
08:25Thomas lost nearly two minutes with his stage four roll,
08:29but the Ford mechanics patched him up
08:30and sent him on his way.
08:33Harry Rovenperer's Seat suffered transmission problems
08:36and lay eighth.
08:37But his young teammate, Tony Gardemeister,
08:39making his world rally car debut
08:41was a superb, trouble-free four.
08:45I'm very happy for the result and like this.
08:48And our times also.
08:50I can get very, very close times for the other drivers.
08:54And like this, I'm very happy.
08:57Possum Bourne was still delighting the locals,
09:00never out of the top ten stage times
09:02and a rock-steady fifth overall.
09:05So, after ten stages,
09:07Tommy Mackinnon led at the end of leg one
09:09with a comfortable 75-second lead
09:11over Didier Oriel,
09:13who had Kankinen breathing down his neck,
09:15but the rest were well spread out behind him.
09:18So, Tommy Mackinnon will take a commanding lead
09:21into the rally's second day,
09:22but the two British drivers
09:23will play no further part in proceedings.
09:26For Colin McRae,
09:27it's his third retirement in as many rallies,
09:29while for Richard Burns,
09:30there'll be no repeat of his victory
09:31in Greece.
09:33There are, though,
09:33two more days of the rally still to go,
09:35and the weather forecasters tell us
09:36that tomorrow the rain,
09:37if anything,
09:38will be even heavier than it's been today.
09:42But weather forecasters the world over,
09:44it seems,
09:44are just as likely to get it wrong
09:46now and again.
09:49Mackinnon began leg two
09:50in much the same way
09:51he ended leg one,
09:52fastest or second fastest
09:53on the first three of the day stages.
09:55Mackinnon and Risto-Manis and Mackinon
10:02still led by a minute and a quarter,
10:04but knew a puncture would drop them back
10:06into the clutches of the chasing pack.
10:11That pack was headed by
10:13Didier Auriol and Denis Girardet,
10:14who'd been quickest
10:15on the day's opening stage.
10:17Stage 14, though,
10:18was another matter,
10:19and saw the French pair punished
10:20for using just a little
10:21too much of the road.
10:31Arriving at service on three wheels,
10:33Auriol knew only too well
10:34that over three and a quarter minutes
10:35had been lost in that ditch.
10:40First, I said,
10:41OK, I can pass just touch
10:42little the mountain,
10:43but there are big, big stone,
10:44so I hit the big stone
10:45with the left wheel
10:46very strongly,
10:48and we have a spin
10:49and the car stopped.
10:51OK, we are a little bit in a ditch,
10:53so we don't try to start again.
10:54We have seen we have lost two wheels,
10:56but we go check,
10:57and we say, OK,
10:58we call the spectator,
10:59push the car,
11:00and we come back on the road,
11:01and OK, we start again.
11:03Just about changed everything
11:04at the back of the car.
11:05The whole rear subframe,
11:07including the diff,
11:08both driveshafts
11:09and all the rods,
11:09both sides.
11:10The left-hand side,
11:11as you saw, was damaged.
11:13Also, the left rear suspension upright,
11:15the Munk-Pherson stride.
11:16They managed to get the car out on time, though?
11:18Yeah, no problem.
11:19We were complaining about them
11:20not cleaning it, actually.
11:21No, they did a fabulous job.
11:2318 minutes,
11:23and they were ready to go.
11:25So Didier was back on four wheels,
11:28but now back in seventh spot,
11:30seven seconds behind teammate Sainz.
11:33Juhar Kankun thus inherited second spot,
11:35and with big gaps both ahead and behind him,
11:38it looked unlikely that the veteran Finn
11:40was going to throw the place away.
11:42100, long medium left to crest.
11:55Equally intent on not making any mistakes
11:57was his young compatriot Gardemeister,
11:59who was continuing to drive a faultless rally,
12:02and now lay an incredible third.
12:04120, long left to 170.
12:15The Sainz squad could hardly believe
12:17their good fortune.
12:20The enthusiastic crowd made an orderly contrast
12:24to the near lunacy of the last round in Greece,
12:27but they still had plenty to cheer
12:28as Possum Bourne continued his strong run,
12:31fighting the recovering Toyotas for four.
12:43Rodström was another involved in the same fight,
12:46with Ulsterman Fred Gallagher
12:47doing his best to keep him on the straight and narrow.
12:50He's all right.
12:5440.
12:56Medium right tightens.
13:01Carlos Sainz finally got the better
13:09of the battle for four
13:10when he got ahead of Rodström after stage 17.
13:20But then he would stick it in a ditch on stage 19
13:23and lose nearly four minutes.
13:25In all, Makanen would be quickest
13:29on three of the day's ten stages.
13:31With Oriel and Sainz now languishing
13:33in the lower half of the top ten,
13:34Kankunen was his closest threat
13:36nearly two minutes down.
13:38Tony Gardemeister might have been third,
13:40but Seat were about to lose
13:42his more experienced team leader.
13:43Harry Rovampere's Cordoba ground to a halt
13:58with engine failure on stage 17,
14:00leaving Gardemeister to represent the team
14:01on his first outing in the World Rally car.
14:04Talking of teammates,
14:05Freddy Loix was now in the top ten
14:07in the second of the Mitsubishis,
14:08but the Belgian never looked to be on the pace.
14:10A change in differential settings helped,
14:13but Loix's first visit to New Zealand
14:15wasn't going well.
14:16He and Sven Smietz would end leg two
14:18in ninth place,
14:19just 33 seconds ahead
14:20of the Group N leader, Gustavo Trelles.
14:27The forecast rain finally materialised,
14:30and with both Colin McRae and Richard Burns
14:32already on their way home,
14:33Alistair McRae was now the leading British driver.
14:36Like Oriel, however,
14:37Alistair would also inspect a New Zealand ditch
14:39rather too closely.
14:41Into, flat right.
14:54Just had a slightly wrong note over a crest.
14:57I should have had it tightened and keep in.
14:59We didn't, we came over the crest
15:01and it went wide and hit some rocks on the outside
15:03and spun round about
15:04and it's obviously taken the back suspension off the car.
15:06The damage was soon repaired,
15:10but the lost time dropped Alistair
15:11from first to second in Formula 2.
15:17Others weren't so lucky,
15:19to the delight of the local spectators.
15:21There were no such dramas, though,
15:35for leader Tommy Makanen,
15:37who cruised into leg two's final service
15:39with a lead of over one and a half minutes
15:41and just 50 miles of stage mileage left to run on leg three.
15:46Juhar Kankunen was equally secure in second spot,
15:49but with his experience,
15:50he knew he had to keep his concentration up
15:52to avoid making a silly mistake.
15:54These are fast and nice day season.
15:57But tomorrow it will be again a lot different
15:59because Maramaruwa forest is very, very muddy
16:02and slippery and difficult forest,
16:04but all right.
16:05Can you now win the rally for the first time?
16:08At least we are much closer than yesterday.
16:10Long day behind.
16:12Behind everything was working well
16:14and it was very lovely day.
16:16Nice day season.
16:18I was really enjoying all day.
16:21Kankunen had only actually dropped 11 seconds
16:23to Makanen on leg two
16:25and the incredible Gardemeister had lost just 15 more than that
16:28as the Finnish formation swept well clear
16:31of the ragged battle for fourth,
16:33once again led by Rodström.
16:3711 hours after the cars left Auckland,
16:39the rally's second day finally draws to a close
16:42and going into the final leg,
16:43it's an old Finnish top three.
16:46Now it's those podium places
16:47which have given us the day's two top stories.
16:49For the first time this year,
16:50it looks as though there won't be a Toyota there tomorrow
16:53and it's also the performance of this young man
16:55which has set most people talking,
16:57Tony Gardemeister,
16:58on only his first event in a world rally car
17:00who looks to be giving Seat
17:01their first podium finish ever.
17:05Day three to the south of Auckland
17:06and all eyes were on the world champion
17:08who looked as though he hadn't a care in the world.
17:11Tommy McKinnon could afford to cruise
17:24through the final seven stages in the Maramurua forest
17:27yet the Mitsubishi was fastest
17:28on all of the day's first three stages.
17:31It was a relentless pace
17:32but would the Lancer stand up to it?
17:34Four stages,
17:35totaling only around 23 miles
17:37now stood between Tommy
17:38and his first win in New Zealand.
17:50Kankinnon, however,
17:52wasn't exactly pushing him
17:53as he kept to a steady pace
17:55with one eye on his rearview mirror.
17:57He knew the rally couldn't be won
17:59without misfortune hitting Kankinnon.
18:04But he was only too aware
18:06it could easily be lost.
18:13Easy left, 40.
18:15Keep middle of a crest, 100.
18:17Easy left, keep in and fast, right.
18:20Cut.
18:21And very long, fast, left.
18:2450.
18:25Even when cruising at 9 tenths,
18:29a rally car is still a spectacular thing to watch.
18:3716 years younger than his school day's hero,
18:40Tony Gardemeister continued to drive
18:42as if he was the veteran.
18:44Still without a scratch on his car
18:46and with the Seat Cordoba never missing a beat,
18:49the 24-year-old Finn looked destined
18:51for a fantastic top three finish.
18:53Well, the team is confidence, obviously.
19:08It's a little nervous
19:09because we have never been in this position
19:10into a rally
19:11and we are so close
19:13but the races are so crazy
19:15that we can expect anything
19:18however we spend the rest
19:19and the best is to finish in that position.
19:21Now, still some stages
19:23but the smaller ones
19:24so we will try to keep that.
19:26Thomas Rodstrom and Fred Gallagher
19:28began the day in fourth place.
19:30McRae's retirement
19:31had placed added pressure
19:32on the suite to finish
19:33although Rodstrom's mind
19:35may well have been on rumours
19:36that Ford are considering a replacement
19:38as McRae's teammate for next season.
19:40Whatever the reason,
19:41he wasn't concentrating on his driving.
19:43Opens and tightens, medium plus.
19:54Here we are.
19:57I'm sorry.
19:58We were very disappointed,
19:59I have to say.
20:00I mean, he slid off
20:01on the first stage this morning,
20:02the long stage
20:03and apparently you can't get back on
20:05there's no spectators or any,
20:06no damage
20:07other than what's already done to the car.
20:08But, yeah, I mean,
20:11it's quite silly really
20:12because they had a comfortable position,
20:15they couldn't really be caught from behind
20:16and they couldn't really catch
20:17Tony in front of them.
20:19So, it's a big mistake.
20:21It would be a long journey home to Cumbria
20:23for the Ford team.
20:27TDA Oriole was then able to move up a place,
20:29passing the stricken focus.
20:31TDA Oriole knew that any hope
20:42of a podium finish
20:43had ended in that ditch on leg two.
20:45Yet, Rodstrom's retirement
20:46had given fresh hope
20:47to the 1994 world champion.
20:49Like Makinen,
20:50Oriole's never won in New Zealand,
20:52but victory this year
20:53would have taken nothing short of a miracle.
21:01Sure enough,
21:06fourth place would be Oriole's reward
21:07for his three days' hard work.
21:14Possum Bourne continued on his solid route
21:17to a fine fifth
21:18with a couple of third fastest times
21:20over the last three stages
21:21to keep the local fans cheering.
21:26Named after one of the furry little rodents
21:28which he blamed for causing an accident
21:30who wrote off his father's car
21:32when he was just 17,
21:33Possum is now a 43-year-old veteran
21:35with two Asia-Pacific titles
21:38under his belt
21:38and with an ever-ready smile on his face.
21:42I mean, I was talking to Graham
21:44and it's exactly the same track
21:46that you guys have taken to the other.
21:50Fifth place for Possum
21:52was a popular result for all.
21:54Carlos Sainz never gave up trying
22:02despite all his setbacks,
22:04but just one point for sixth place
22:06must have seemed like poor reward
22:08at the end of two weeks
22:10of hard work down under,
22:11first preparing for
22:13and then competing in the rally.
22:15Even at the midday service halt
22:25on the final leg,
22:26he was still concentrating on tyre choices
22:28and would be fastest
22:30on two of the last three stages.
22:36Too far behind to make up any places,
22:39the team were still trying to gain
22:41valuable data for future events.
22:43Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets
23:12have come to New Zealand
23:12and to learn.
23:21The learning curve was a steep one, however,
23:24and the Belgian pair were relieved
23:25just to have finished the rally,
23:26their eighth place,
23:27earning the team one championship point.
23:32Alistair McRae and David Senior
23:33finished 20th overall,
23:35but made it a Hyundai 1-2
23:36in the 2-litre World Cup,
23:38finishing over three minutes
23:39behind the identical car
23:40of Kenneth Eriksson
23:41and Staffan Pamander.
23:42The top three overall, however,
23:45was an all-finish affair.
23:47Gardemeister gave a delighted
23:48Seat team their first podium finish
23:50for the world rally car,
23:51while Kankinen continued
23:52Subaru's recent return to form
23:54with second place,
23:56scoring six valuable championship points
23:58in the process.
23:58But it was yet another maximum
24:0010 points for Tommy Makinen.
24:03After two horrific crashes
24:04in recent years,
24:05his first victory in New Zealand
24:07was particularly sweet,
24:08even if the moment itself
24:10was a little low-key.
24:11O.K.Risto,
24:12sounds good enough to me,
24:18well done,
24:18fantastic drive by both of you.
24:24We really put the others in that place
24:26this time.
24:26excellent result finally finally i have tried so many yes and and finally we gained it it's
24:49it's incredible feeling was this an event you had to win well indeed we tried to win them all but
24:55i think it was quite important for tommy especially and for the team to win here i mean mitsubishi have
24:59always been very competitive in new zealand but we've never really managed to to crack it when
25:05it's been a world championship round so this is perfect it was very good actually first day we
25:15lost quite a lot to tommy and after that he had been about equal but couldn't catch him anymore
25:19and and we had a bit of fight yesterday we did here but then he went off and that's it the joy
25:26of finishing third was far greater for the two young fins who followed their more non-plussed heroes home
25:33with a great result for sayat and they have a new evo 2 version of their cordoba for the next round
25:39everything feels very good i don't know what is the best but i'm very happy
25:46for the for the team and for myself and everything tony has made a fantastic job because he's not
25:51made any mistake in all the rally he's run in a very high level always between the second and
25:58fifth position and he's done a fantastic job but it was still tommy's day on the top of the podium
26:04gardemeister may be a name for the future but makinen is the man of the moment
26:10one minute 37 seconds makinen's winning margin with kankinen a further one minute 12 seconds ahead
26:24of tony gardemeister aureole possum born and science rounded off the top six
26:31makinen's win means he stretches his advantage over aureole to 11 points in the driver's championship
26:36with science still third and kankinen now fourth ahead of mcrae and burns there are though still
26:41five rounds remaining in the series for manufacturers it's a familiar story although toyota's lead is
26:47now down to 19 points subaru are still third while ford took no points home from new zealand
26:54seat and skoda complete the leaderboard so tommy makinen has finally laid to rest the ghosts of the
27:00rally new zealand this is his third victory of the year and one which surely puts him on course for a
27:05record-breaking fourth consecutive world title the next round of the series is one he knows only too
27:10well he's won it for the last five years the rally finland starts in a month's time
27:15breathtaking yorkshire dales or a countryside theme park postcards from the country in five minutes
27:24here on bbc two
27:25you