Two rally icons will head an impressive line-up on the Goodwood Festival of Speed‘s Skoda Forest Rally Stage as the four-day event celebrates rallying’s early years.
Rauno Aaltonen, the winner of the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally, will be reunited with his 1964 Mini Cooper S, a car he took to seventh at the Monte.
The Flying Finn also won the European Rally Championship in 1965 having taken a pair of domestic rally titles in previous years, while in 1966 he drove a Mini to victory in the 1966 Bathurst 500. He is the only Finn in the history of the race, which is now the Bathurst 1000 and the centrepiece of the Australian V8 Supercar season.
Joining Aaltonen on the rally stage will be another Cooper S, this one being once driven by rally legend Paddy Hopkirk, now owned by celebrity chef James Martin.
Alongside the Minis in the “Birth of Stage Rallying” display will be a host of Fords, including the very first Mk1 Escort RS1600 and the car that took Roger Clark to victory at the 1972 RAC Rally. A pair of Ari Vatanen-driven Mk2 RS1800s will also feature, one of which took him to World Rally Championship glory in 1981.
Fiat will also be present with the 124 Abarth and the 131 Abarth, which combined to take Fiat to 21 WRC wins, while an ex-works Datsun 240Z and an Opel Kadette GT/E will add to the variety of the display.
Finally, two British heroes cars will be in action, with Tony Pond‘s Vauxhall Chevette completing the lineup along with two-time British Rally Champion Russell Brookes‘ Sunbeam Lotus.
