Miguel A. Herguedas
Updated Wednesday, March 6, 2024-23:03
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They got bored of winning and left the World Cup because each victory had simply stopped being news.
Lancia dominated the
rally
scene between 1987 and 1992 thanks to the superiority of its Delta Integrale, a design gem that still fuels the desire of collectors today.
A four-wheel drive car with a turbocharged engine that won six constructors' titles and four drivers' titles, divided equally between
Juha Kankunnen
and
Miki Biasion
.
However, that
Cesare Fiorio
project , developed in the Martini Team by manager
Claudio Lombardi
and
Ninni Russo
, his chief mechanic, also raised a wave of suspicion among his competitors.
To witness the genesis of the Delta Integrale you have to travel to the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, when Lancia presented its new compact model to society.
A design with very straight lines, in line with the tastes of the moment, the work of the brilliant
Giorgetto Giugiaro
on the basis of the Fiat Ritmo.
An elegant and versatile car as a response to the newborn Volkswagen Golf, but it had not been conceived for competition.
However, the efforts of Fiorio and Lombardi would transform that functional vehicle into the roaring beast that won 47 World Cup events over seven years.
In reality, the dynasty was built on the ashes of tragedy.
The death of
Atilio Bettega
in the 1985 Corsica Rally, added a year later to those of
Henri Toivonen
and
Sergio Cresto
, also on the diabolical Corsican roads, forced the FIA to ban Group B cars, whose exaggerated level of performance prevented the safety of pilots and the public from being guaranteed.
It was the turn of Group A, strictly based on their street version.
The moment of Lancia, which had almost a hundred mechanics and technicians expert in
rallying
at the Abarth factory .
Among its select cast of engineers ,
Sergio Limone
and
Giorgio Pianta
stood out , giving the definitive boost to all-wheel drive and turbo engines, the keys to adapting the car to the new regulations.
Not to mention, of course, the pilots.
Destroy the evidence
Some fans today continue to tell the story of that section of the
Thousand Lakes Rally
that ran through the town of Kankkunen's girlfriend and that he knew by heart because he passed by there almost daily.
"I was at the start and I saw that he had crashed on the rear axle, which is why he had a completely twisted tire. Can you believe that with that wheel he only lost a few seconds in the special? Although he was weak on asphalt, in the stretches of land Juha was a beast. Unlike Biasion," a direct witness of that golden era explains to this newspaper.
A rival who sketches a much less friendly image of Fiorio - "the typical Italian who is a little uptight" - and who reveals, openly, some of the tricks that turned Lancia into a usual suspect.
"We had a device with which we listened to what was being said in the cars. On one occasion, without intending to, I heard Lombardi ask:
Has the intervention been done
? The next day, the Delta said that it was outrageous."
This manipulation affected a flange that Lancia widened to multiply the turbo boost.
"When the rally was about to end, before the verifications, they said that their turbo had broken and that to dismantle it they had hit it with a hammer. Therefore, they left no evidence of anything. It was a big scandal."
These tricks were commonplace in those years, in the middle of
the belle époque
of
rallies
.
The teams had complete freedom to develop their cars in the field;
the pilots fraternized in the hotels;
The duels on the
Col de Turini
, the most legendary of the Monte Carlo Rally, lasted an entire night, with almost 150 km timed... "Even though they were rivals, we met for dinner, we chatted and we had a relationship that no longer exists today "It was neither better nor worse. Simply put, the
rallies
have changed and are now much shorter. Today they test for a couple of days and before we spent two weeks," says
Luis Moya
, in conversation with this newspaper.
"There was mutual respect, but you never told how your car was going and you didn't know anything about the one next to you, because no one talked about it. It was never about performance, or other stories," adds Carlos Sainz's former co-
driver
.
At the wheel of a
Toyota Celica
, the Spanish couple won the 1990 and 1992 World Cups. At that time, sales of the Japanese model were growing like wildfire in Spain.
Any success during the weekend was transferred to the dealers on Monday.
The World Cup drew passions and the sponsors offered substantial contracts.
There was too much at stake to stay away from temptation.
One year, Team Martini's times aroused so many misgivings that only the gasoline track remained.
"We didn't know how they achieved so much performance until one day we received a fire extinguisher. It seems like a joke, although that's when we discovered that it was a tank with enriched fuel, with the flow inlet on one side and the outlet on the other. "When we called the supplier they told us that they had been confused in the rush. In reality, everything was for Lancia and they delivered it to us by mistake," recalls the aforementioned source, who preferred not to reveal his identity.
The Bic pen
These tricks were so seductive that Toyota, a team whose exorbitant budget allowed it to send 200 people to the
Safari Rally
, also ended up succumbing.
The Japanese were hunted down by the FIA in the
1995
Catalunya Rally and excluded from the World Championship for two seasons.
Today, advances in electronics and detailed telemetry make adulteration difficult, but back then even a simple Bic pen made it possible to bypass the regulations.
"It was a much simpler trap. The sleeve of the pen, the tip with the transparent part, was inserted into the rubber tube of the turbo. Just about three fingers, so that the diameter of the turbo would decrease and thus blow twice as much. Like the Assistance was done on the field, a mechanic would remove the pen while they cleaned your car before the finish line. During the final check of the turbo pressure, imagine where they could look for the Bic.
Lancia's star would begin to decline at the end of 1991, when the leadership of Fiat, the parent company, decided to close the Martin Team factory division.
Two years earlier, Fiorio had already jumped ship, due to an irrefutable offer from Ferrari, in search of a sports director after the death of
Don Enzo
,
Il Commendatore
and to fight McLaren in the Formula 1 World Championship. "There was There came a time when we only made the headlines if we didn't win," Russo justified.
In truth, the most plausible reason for the ending of this fairy tale must be attributed to a mistaken bet by
Gianni Agnelli
.
The great
boss
of Fiat, under the advice of his executive director,
Cesare Romiti
, wanted to promote a luxury brand with the best of Lancia and Alfa Romeo.
That strategy took down the king of
rallies
.
In 1992 they were still able to say goodbye with the last of their six consecutive constructors' titles.
But there was no turning back: the official team would pass into private hands.
Those of the Jolly Club, owned by
Claudio Bortoletto
.
The worst moment for the landing of Sainz, who had committed a few weeks before after resolving a stormy sponsorship conflict between Castrol and Repsol.
After nine victories in three years with Toyota, the Spanish couple failed to add one after 13 races, including disqualification from the San Remo Rally for the use of a prohibited fuel.
Quite a discredit for Lancia in the face of its own
tifosi
.
Ruote da Sogno
"It's not that the car was bad, no, but it wasn't good either, because we couldn't beat anyone. We found the Delta just as they had left it the year before. We did what we could, but the car remained in zero development. Since the beginning of the year there has been no evolution. While the rivals were advancing and continued working, we remained stagnant," argues Moya.
Although the Volkswagen Polo has a better percentage of wins and consecutive titles - four between 2013 and 2016 - the footprint of the Delta Integrale is still present in the gutters of half of Europe.
"There are several cars that have won a lot, like Citroën with
Sebastian Loeb
. Subaru and Toyota have also won World Championships, but I couldn't choose one in particular. In fact, I don't think it makes sense to compare cars from different eras. I think we don't count with sufficient elements of judgment," Moya ditches, without a hint of bitterness despite that disastrous adventure.
"It is a model that marked an era and I will always think that it is a shame that Lancia is not back in the World Cup"
Luis Moya
"It is a model that marked an era and I will always think that it is a shame that Lancia is not back in the World Cup."
For now we will have to continue waiting, since the rumors that placed
Carlos Tavares
, CEO of the automotive giant Stellantis, as the new
condottiero
were never confirmed.
The Portuguese, who already led Citroën's return to the World Cup in 2017, has wanted to promote Lancia as one of its three
premium
brands , although for now the balance sheets outweigh romanticism.
The flame of nostalgia, of course, is still alive among the fans, who are barely coping with the current decline of the WRC.
Of course, the Delta Integrale is one of the most efficient and special cars ever designed.
A model that strikes a chord.
And, despite its very delicate setup, in some auctions offers of more than 250,000 euros have been heard.
It is not only the roar of its engine (1995 cc and 300 HP) but, on a smaller scale, its wonderful collection of clocks on the dashboard, with a turbo pressure gauge and another for oil temperature. .
In any case, no one will be able to measure or weigh the soul of this car.