MARTIN SCHANCHE ‘OTHERS HAD TO GET UP EARLY TO BEAT ME’
Martin Schanche is a six-time European Rallycross champion. He raced in the discipline in its formative years until the age of the current Supercar-type regulations and into the new millennium.
As a driver Schanche only had one setting: absolutely flat out, which earned him legions of fans. For the Norwegian that was a by-product of doing what he loved.An engineer-come-driver, Schanche is renowned for how his prowess out of the car too. He played a key role in the development of the legendary Xtrac Ford Escort, created together with Mike Endean, while he also breathed further life into, and tamed, Ford’s RS200 Group B monster for rallycross competition.
Schanche not only had a long relationship with British counterparts out of the car, but behind the wheel too. He teamed up with John Welch for many years, while he also voyaged into endurance racing in the World Sportscar Championship in the mid 1980s, sharing a car with Will Hoy.
The Pikes Peak Hillclimb and rallying are also on Schanche’s CV, but it’s for rallycross that he’s best known. Much like British Touring Car Championship racer Jason Plato, had Schanche played the percentage game he’d have plenty more titles in his pocket, but he was all about going as fast as possible any time he was in a racing car. His record 74 European Championship wins stands testament to that.
Schanche took time out of his still very busy schedule to answer MN readers’questions.
Question: How did you start your motorsport career?
“I began at the age of 27 with an old, well, second-hand used car because before that I couldn’t afford to buy any car let alone use it. It was a Japanese TMC and there were three of them
