Former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola to race Audi quattro in the McRae Rally Challenge.

Former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola together with a number of rare and exotic Audi quattro rally cars are heading to Knockhill next month (16-17 May) - Group B machines that changed the sport in the 1980s for ever.

The “Flying Finn” and long standing co-driver Arne Hertz will be in attendance with the four-wheel-drive “supercars” that are part of demonstrations and displays at the McRae Rally Challenge, a special two-day rally event celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Colin McRae’s World Rally Championship win.

Mikkola, who celebrates his 73^rd birthday next month, was active in rallying between 1973-93 and two years after joining Audi, won the 1983 Driver’s World title achieving four wins and three second places in the revolutionary Audi quattro with Hertz.

Hannu commented: “It’s always nice to get back behind the wheel of an Audi quattro rally car and never fails to bring back special memories for me. Scotland has always been a favourite place of mine to rally in the UK, and I have been fortunate enough to do really well there too. It’s also great to support this event and celebrate a fantastic achievement in British motorsports and remember what Colin accomplished in the sport.”

Mikkola won the 1981 and ‘82 RAC Rallies, that swept through Scotland, and also claimed victory, with Phil Short, on the 1982 Scottish International Rally in an Audi A2 quattro. He missed out on the “world” crown to fellow Audi driver Stig Blomqvist that year – the Swede also claiming the British Open Championship title in 1983.

Various derivatives of the Audi quattro were also victorious in Scotland in the hands of Blomqvist (1983), Malcolm Wilson (1985) and David Llewellin (1987).

The original Audi quattro rallycar debuted in 1980 while the Audi Sport quattro S1 E2 that Mikkola drives at the Colin McRae Anniversary event was rallied in 1985. Between 1981-85, quattros won 23 WRC events and netted two WRC Manufacturers’ titles (1982/84).

Toyota at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014

Some of the greatest machines and finest drivers from more than 50 years of Toyota international motorsport are being brought together for next week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Leading the way will be British race star Anthony Davidson with the Toyota Hybrid TS040, which has claimed two race victories and a hard-fought podium finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours to give Toyota Racing a commanding lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Davidson will be demonstrating the 1,000bhp sportscar’s turn of speed with runs on Goodwood’s hill climb course on Saturday and Sunday, with team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin due to take the wheel on Friday.

Toyota’s great rally heritage will be celebrated with some of the most successful cars from its years of dominance in the World Rally Championship. Björn Waldegård will be reunited with his formidable Group B Celica TA65 on Goodwood’s rally stage and former Toyota world champion Didier Auriol will take the wheel of a Tarmac-spec’ Corolla WRC on the hill.

In the festival’s “first glimpse” sessions on the hill, Toyota will be providing a sneak preview of the 2015 GT86, the latest development of its award-winning coupe.

The rally stage will witness speed runs from two further competition Celica generations – the ST185, which in its lifetime netted three WRC manufacturer championship titles, and the ST205. David Llewellin, a double British Rally Champion with Toyota, will be in action and the array of machinery will include the classic Team Toyota-liveried Midgley Motorsport Corolla AE86 and the nimble handling, earlier Corolla TE27. John Reid will be seen in his 1997 Corolla WRC, marking the culmination of Toyota’s world rally involvement.

It’s a far cry from the deserts of South America to the green slopes of the South Downs, but the Imperial Toyota Hilux will be displaying the toughness that took it to a class win and fourth place overall in this year’s Dakar Rally in the hands of South African rally-raid aces Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewtiz. It will be muscled around the festival course by British rally star Alister McRae.

Toyota has been a front-runner in American NASCAR racing for 10 years, competing with both Camry in the Sprint and Nationwide series, and the Tundra pick-up in the Truck championship. Three Camry and a Hilux, from Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing, will be adding some American noise and muscle to the festival.

Much quieter, but no less rapid, Toyota Motorsport’s EV P002 will be driven up the Goodwood hill by Jochen Krumbach. Krumbach broke the Nurburgring lap record for an electric vehicle with the EV P002 in 2012. The car is powered by two electric motors, giving 350kW and a top speed of 160mph.

Toyota will also have a public pavilion at the festival with an extensive display focusing on the GT86 coupe, in both road-going and competition form. The new Aygo city car will also be on show, together with Toyota Racing’s 2013 Toyota TS030 Hybrid, a double race-winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Toyota at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Toyota will bring together four of its works Le Mans race cars at a single event for the first time at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in June. Charting the progress from the TS010 of early 1990s through to this season’s contender, the new TS040 Hybrid, which will be unveiled on 27 March, the gathering will provide a unique snapshot of how Toyota has consistently pushed the boundaries of race car design and technology.

Toyota Racing driver Anthony Davidson will be back at Goodwood, demonstrating the TS040’s speed and handling on the hill climb course on all three days of the festival. 

The original TS010, which campaigned in the 24-hour race in 1992 and 1993, will be joined by the svelte and formidably powerful TS020 – better known as the Toyota GT-One – one of the most advanced machines of its day. The first racing Toyota to be computer designed, it broke new ground with its carbon fibre monocoque chassis and twin-turbo V8 engine, delivering around 600bhp.

Toyota returned to Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012 with the TS030 Hybrid, a car which showcased how advanced hybrid power technology can successfully be applied to the highest levels of international motorsport. In two seasons of racing it garnered five pole positions and 10 podium finishes, including five race victories.

Toyota is still working to secure its elusive first Le Mans victory, and Toyota Racing has entered two of the new TS040 Hybrid cars for this year’s contest, as part of a full FIA World Endurance Championship campaign. The new car’s Festival of Speed debut will follow hard on its Le Mans debut over the weekend of 14 – 15 June.

There will also be a first festival appearance for Toyota Motorsport’s TMG EV P002, the mighty 470hp electric car. Race-prepared with help from Pikes Peak veteran Rod Millen, the open-cockpit car bettered the existing course best by more than two minutes, with Japanese driver Fumio Nutahara stopping the clock at 10:15.380. Watch a video of the TMG EV P002 on track here.

Away from the hill climb, the festival’s rally stage will welcome the Imperial Toyota Hilux that netted a class victory and fourth place overall in this year’s Dakar Rally in South America, piloted by Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz. 

These cars will be joined by more classics from Toyota’s long and successful race and rally heritage, entertaining the festival crowds on both the hill climb and rally course. Just as famous as the cars, some of the great names associated with Toyota international competition success will be taking the wheel, together with members of the current WEC squad. 

Already confirmed for the event are Björn Waldegård, master of the famed Group B Celica TA64 in the mid-1980s, and David Llewellin, who drove a Celica GT-Four to back-to-back British Rally Championship titles in 1989 and 1990.

More thoroughbred machinery will be on display in Toyota’s extensive festival pavilion, together with road-going and concept models that represent the latest in Toyota and Lexus design and technology. Further details will be announced in the lead up to the festival, which takes place in the grounds of Goodwood House, Sussex, from 26 to 29 June.