1981 World Rally Championship - Talbot’s Year
This feature was written for the 2006 RallyDay programme to mark the 25th anniversary of Talbot winning the WRC. © Sunbeam Lotus Owners’ Club 2006-2009.

Talbot team chief Des O’Dell had always wanted to win what he considered were the two major events in world rallying - the RAC and the Monte-Carlo. In his early days, Des had seen success working with the Aston Martins and Ford GT40s at le Mans, and his CV also bore the London-Sydney Marathon victory of 1968, which had been his first time as Team Manager. With the Sunbeam Lotus at his disposal after all those years of fighting for class wins with Avengers and Imps, he finally saw the chance to compete for the outright victories he so craved.

Following the car’s debut in 1978 at the hands of Andrew Cowan on events used for development, and through 1979 with Tony Pond at the wheel (and Jean-Pierre Nicolas driving a French-run car), the team grew to know the car and improved its reliability and specification. Overall pace had been impressive, competing well with the established rivals but so often losing out due to accidents. Two consecutive second places on the tough Mille Pistes rally in France showed great promise and on its World Championship debut, Pond took the car to fourth place in Sanremo and was running third on the RAC before putting the car on its roof. Quick as Tony was, he and Des didn’t see eye-to-eye and it was no surprise when the driver returned to Triumph for 1980. O’Dell had already been lining up a young Finn who had impressed in a privately-run Sunbeam on the ’78 RAC. In fact, notes made later by Des suggested that Henri had been considered for the drive in ’79 but was thought to be too much of an accident risk! Perhaps a year too late, Des got his man for 1980; an early document actually proposed both Pond and Toivonen in the team for the coming season but as it happened, the Englishman’s departure allowed the French-owned company to bring in one of their own, in the form of Guy Fréquelin, a French rally champion who was particularly noted for his tarmac form (he also raced with some success in hillclimb events and at le Mans - including 1981!). He was partnered with Jean Todt, who had already competed in a Sunbeam with Nicolas in ’79 and was a man noted for his organisational and tactical abilities - and he also spoke English much better than Fréquelin.

1980 was to be the first step to the WRC campaign the following year, with entries in the Monte-Carlo, Portugal, 1000 Lakes, Sanremo, Tour de Corse and Lombard RAC rallies, though only two of these saw two cars entered. A lot was learned during the season, and the car was further developed as the year wore on, culminating in Toivonen’s superb victory on the RAC backed up by third and fourth places for his French team-mate and the privateer car (ex-Pond) of Russell Brookes. Henri’s car was the first to be powered by the new larger-valve cylinder head, which became standard fit for the team’s cars from then on.

Des’s long-held ambitious plan to win the World Championship in 1981 therefore started with great optimism. The arrival of Audi’s quattro on the scene and the competition from existing rivals such as Opel, Ford, FIAT, Renault, etc., did not seem to dampen Des’s confidence; he knew that his cars were fast and that reliability would not be an issue. In any case, it was the championship for makes that he was aiming for (much like stable-mates Peugeot and Citroën in more recent years) and his combination of drivers was ideal for this. Homologating the car into Group 2 would help, since the rules then gave additional points for position in class, though this meant that the team could not make the kind of changes available to Group 4 cars like the Fords, FIATs, Audis, etc. (suspension mounting points being a prime example); the result was that the rally cars followed the layout of the road cars, albeit with strengthened components. It is worth noting that even without the additional points awarded to class positions, Talbot were still to outscore all other teams for the events that they entered.

The budget certainly did not stretch to competing in every event, so a careful plan was formulated and initially only six rallies were selected. Corsica was soon added but the mid-season South American trip was only authorised at the last minute after the successful start to the season, some clever budgeting and some careful marketing to the Peugeot parent company. Additional forays on the African events for Guy Fréquelin came about due to his position in the drivers’ series but the Sunbeams were not built or tested for this kind of event so the rugged 504 coupé was chosen from the Peugeot stable; cars that were better suited to the African motoring market in any case.
This is how the year panned out:

Monte-Carlo
Although Des failed to see his cars take the victory that he coveted, second place overall and first in Group 2 was just the start required for the campaign. Vatanen and Toivonen both suffered early problems (Henri’s being a puncture), but at least the Talbot driver finished; the Ford engine failed on the final leg.
The much-heralded debut of the Audi quattro saw Hannu Mikkola crash out of lead, resume then crash again with brake problems. Jean-Luc Thérier’s Porsche then held the lead for much of the event but he crashed on the last night to leave Jean Ragnotti the victor in the Renault 5 Turbo.

Portugal
Having finished first and second in Sweden (a drivers’ championship round only), first Mikkola’s quattro retired with engine trouble and then Vatanen crashed his Escort, allowing Markku Alén (FIAT Abarth 131) to win this event with a comfortable margin, although Toivonen had been as close as two seconds behind until the last few stages, trading best stage times. Only a broken rear hub could stop Henri from a memorable victory but he had enough in hand to finish second and score maximum Group 2 points for the team. Fréquelin lost thirty minutes after hitting a rock but his sixth place added more useful points, though Datsun’s Tony Pond scored well in fifth place.

Tour de Corse
Jean-Claude Andruet’s Ferrari 308GTB set fastest times on the first five stages before dropping out, leaving Thérier (Porsche 911) and Darniche (Lancia Stratos) to swap the lead until the former retired. Corsica is a tarmac rally, no mistaking! Fréquelin set more fastest stage times than anyone else in his ex-Monte car, in full lightweight spec with ten-inch-wide rear wheels for maximum grip, but only just beat the Datsun of ex-Sunbeam driver Tony Pond. The Frenchman’s car had been through several gearboxes and axles, though. Toivonen’s rally came to an end when he ran out of time following damage to a ball joint when forced to drive a long stage with a puncture. Talbot and their French driver were now leading both World Championships though.

Acropolis
Amidst the controversy of exclusion of the Audis for technical infringements (replacing the inner headlamps with cooling inlets), Vatanen scored his first victory of the year, with Fréquelin coming home fourth behind a pair of 131s while many other crews suffered mechanical maladies. Henri’s rally had ended after a series of punctures; a loose wheel nut caused the studs to shear and that was that. The roughness of the event had caused several minor problems for his team-mate too but he had been lucky. And as a sign that the future was turbo-charged, the top-placed, points-scoring turbo car was… a Peugeot 505 diesel!

Codasur
A single car was taken to Argentina for Fréquelin, this being an old identity with a new bodyshell (with bigger wheelarches for 15” wheels that were not used!) and again, the reliability of the Talbot proved decisive, outlasting Timo Salonen and Vatanen (who was already some way behind due to brake problems when he crashed out). Guy finished nearly forty minutes ahead of Shekhar Mehta’s Datsun, no doubt helped by the experience of Jean Todt, who had also won the event the previous year.

Brazil
The solitary car taken on the long haul was rebuilt between events, this time fitted with a special low compression engine running a much higher percentage of aviation fuel than that used the previous week. Fréquelin/Todt took an untroubled second place this time, behind - of course - Ari Vatanen, whose team were able to fly out a new car for him. This round only counted for drivers’ points.

1000 Lakes
With Fréquelin rested for this event so closely following the South American adventure, and not best suited to him in any case, Stig Blomqvist was brought into the team in his Talbot Sweden-built, works-supported car (wearing the identity of Toivonen’s recce car). What an inspired move this was, too; with Toivonen failing to finish (from third place!) due to a simple problem with his distributor, Blomqvist’s eighth place and first in Group 2 provided useful points, though these would prove to be the dropped score when the final tally was made at the end of the season. Vatanen took another victory after Mikkola lost the lead with a mis-firing engine.

Sanremo
With two cars freshly re-prepared (complete with later-style front grille for the first and only time), one car returned to base looking pristine, and one was ready for the scrap yard. It was the French Sunbeam crew who suffered the disastrous event, however; a broken crankshaft brought their rally to an end and allowed Vatanen to claw back a few points in the title chase (though he had thrown away a possible win chasing Mouton after she suffered problems and lost time). Henri bent his Sunbeam severely but the team patched it up and told him to get on with it, which he did with aplomb, finishing second in this famous event that saw a lady win a round of the WRC for the first time.

Lombard-RAC
Going into the final round, both Talbot and Fréquelin held the lead in their respective championships. For Talbot to fail in their Makes quest, Datsun would need to win outright, which was quite unlikely. Blomqvist’s third place in his Swedish car put the title beyond any doubt but Fréquelin was unable to stay with Vatanen (2nd behind Mikkola’s third win in four years), eventually dropping out after leaving the road and damaging the fuel pipes (and the bodyshell). It was a sorry end to the year for the Frenchman, who didn’t appear to have the energy left to put up a real fight. Toivonen ended his association with the Coventry team with some fastest times after rolling the car but that had already set in motion engine problems that were to lead to his eventual retirement. Even Russell Brookes, entered as an official team driver in a new privately-built car, managed to crash out after only a few stages.
Still, a podium finish, class victory and a World Championship all contributed to a great end to the year for Talbot.

An interesting fact from the season: Fréquelin was only fourth in terms of fastest special stage times behind Mikkola, Vatanen and Mouton, but Hannu’s incredible total of 140 was double that of his nearest rival!

And if anyone was in any doubt as to who were the moral victors that year, a football match was arranged between the Talbot and Rothmans teams. The result? A resounding 13-1 victory for the Coventry boys (and a broken leg on the Ford team!). Says it all really…