This year the World Rally Championship chalks up its half century, and in that time it has produced a plethora of iconic cars. From the Group 4 Alpine A110 that claimed the inaugural title in 1973 to the fire-breathing Group B monsters, the cult hero Group A classics, the manufacturer-heavy World Rally Car era and today’s Rally1 hybrid-powered beasts.
While the technology has advanced rapidly over the past 50 years, the cars continue to have this unique ability to instantly rekindle evocative memories, just as much as the drivers who drove them – whether it’s Hannu Mikkola and Michele Mouton taming the wild Audi Quattro, or Colin McRae and Richard Burns sparking rally mania in the UK, guiding the famous blue-and-yellow Subarus to world tiles in 1995 and 2001 respectively.
To celebrate 50 years of the WRC, Autosport pitched 2003 world champion Peter Solberg the ultimate stage test of driving a car from each of the WRC’s definitive five regulation eras to understand how the cars have progressed. Lined up for this special drive through the 2.5km Goodwood Festival of Speed’s Forest Rally gravel stage were an Alpine A110 Berlinette (1971), an MG Metro 6R4 (1986), a Subaru Legacy RS (1992), a Subaru Impreza (1996), a Skoda Octavia WRC (2002), and the current WRC benchmark, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Still as passionate about rallying since his fresh-faced WRC debut, 48-year-old Solberg is more than qualified to tackle this unique drive through WRC history. Known as ‘Hollywood’ during his WRC career spanning 1998-2019, Solberg won legions of fans thanks to his flamboyant driving style and heart-on-the-sleeve character. The Norwegian claimed 13 WRC victories and 459 stage wins, but the ultimate success arrived when he and co-driver Phil Mills won an emotional Rally GB decider to pip Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb to the 2003 title by a point.
“I had a blast the whole day to be honest with you,” says Solberg. “To be driving all the different types of cars is emotional. I think many of us are impressed with the history of the championship. It is a very tough and hard sport in extreme conditions. The cars are built to drive in the Safari Rally to Monte Carlo, it is such a wide spectrum compared to other motorsport.”
“Unbelievable! This is hard work! It is a completely different world”
First up for. But first, a quick history lesson.
