Lancia's Genius Tactics

Salt trucks

On the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally the majority of the route was dry, with sporadic sections of snow put the rear wheel drive Lancia 037’s at a significant disadvantage. Cesare Fiorio the teams manager ordered 300 tons of salt from Italy and had it spread over the stages, melting the snow and enabling the use of slicks. The other teams such as Audi did not know about this and went out on snow tires to find 90% of the stages on tarmac. Fiorio’s tactic had worked out and gave the Lancia’s an 11 minute advantage by the end of the event.

Lancia first unleashed this tactic on a snowy 1983 Monte Carlo Rally, as a way of getting the two-wheel drive 037 to compete with the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro. After just four kilometres the factory Lancias stopped to change soft rear Tarmac tyres for studded ice tyres – all of which had been specially developed for the 037 by Pirelli. The stop cost around one minute but was reckoned to be just about worth doing, although it was a marginal call. Lancia team supremo Cesare Fiorio was very fond of the tactic though: it created headlines and was completely outside of the box, highlighting the creative approach that Lancia took to its rally campaign. The fastest stop from the factory team was 49 seconds for Markku Alen: he was the quickest Lancia on the 26-kilometre Pinet to Uriage les Bains stage, where the pit stops were first tried, setting fifth fastest time overall. The times soon improved over the years with a 35 second stop in 1985

Walter Rohrl, whose stop was a bit less slick, said: “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!”

In the end, Rohrl and Alen finished first and second on the 1983 Monte, defeating the Audi Quattro of Stig Blomqvist (which was third) by nearly five minutes thanks to some inspired driving and those amazing pit stops.

Lancia continued to use this tactic right up through the Group B period and into the Group A period.