1974 London–Sahara–Munich World Cup Rally

The 1974 London–Sahara–Munich World Cup Rally, known also under the commercial identity of 1974 UDT World Cup Rally, was the second and final of the World Cup Rallies to be held. Drawing inspiration from the 1974 FIFA World Cup which was held in Munich, the rally began in London, Great Britain and travelled to Munich, Germany, via Nigeria. It was won by the privateer Australian crew of Jim Reddiex, Ken Tubman and André Welinski, driving a Citroen DS.[1][2]

1974 London–Sahara–Munich World Cup Rally
UDT World Cup Rally
Host country United Kingdom
West Germany
Rally baseLondon
Munich
Dates run5 – 25 May 1974
Stages26
Stage surfaceTarmac and Gravel
Overall distance19,300 km (12,000 miles)
Results
Overall winner Ken Tubman
Andre Welinski
Jim Reddiex
Total Citroën Australia
Crews52 at start, 19 at finish

70 cars entered the race - 19 finished.[3] The number of cars entering was lower than the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally as the 1973 oil crisis and the resultant drop in global car sales had its effect on motorsport budgets. Many of the manufacturer teams of the 1970 event did not take part four years later. An error in the navigation notes of the event, caused by the end of a road in Algeria being extended several miles in between the compilation of the notes and the rally taking place saw the majority of competitors becoming lost in the Algerian Sahara Desert.[4] This, in combination with the most gruelling terrain ever traversed by an international rally to that point saw only seven cars travel the full distance south into Nigeria, with only five then completing the full competition distance to Germany. Of the remainder of the "Kano Seven". the Lancia Fulvia of Shekhar Mehta and Lofty Drews suffered engine problems on the return leg from Kano to Tamanresset, was towed to Tunis and air-freighted to Salzburg to take part in the final part of the event. The V8 Jeep crewed by Americans Brian Chuchua, Douglas Fortin and Richard Clark made it through Africa, but crashed out of the event following a collision with a large dog in Turkey.[4]

The majority of the competition did not complete the southernmost leg of the rally, south of the Tamanrasset rally point. Aerial searches for lost competing vehicles were conducted and eventually all cars were accounted for with no casualties. Some competitors abandoned the route and found their own way out of Africa. Notably former Grand Prix racer Stirling Moss and his co-drivers Mike Taylor and Allan Sell in their Mercedes-Benz arrived at an Algerian military fort with no water to find it abandoned. Moss and his crew-mates were unable to continue until the arrival of a water convoy in the following days.[4]

Time penalties quickly climbed into large figures during the stages held in Africa with the majority of the field finishing with over a week's worth of time penalties at the finish. The gap between the winning Citroën DS over the first of the factory supported Peugeots that finished second, third and fourth was over 28 hours. The 19th and last classified finisher acquired over 450 hours of time penalties, approximately 18 days behind the winners.

Route and scoring

The course covered approximately 18,000 miles (29,000 km) through Europe and northern Africa before returning to Europe. Some of the principal towns and cities visited were, in order:

The course included many special stages, some over 500 miles (800 km) long. Time penalties were given for exceeding set times on the special stages, as well as for other infractions of the rules, and the cars' positions determined by the penalties awarded rather than lowest cumulative times.

Results
Pos No Entrant Drivers Car Penalties (Time)
1 46 Total Citroën Australia Ken Tubman
Andre Welinski
Jim Reddiex		 Citroën DS 23 15 h 27 min 30 s
2 58 Team Aseptogyl Christine Dacremont
Yveline Vanoni		 Peugeot 504 TI 43 h 55 min 1 s
3 19 Team Aseptogyl Robert Neyret
Jacques Terramorsi		 Peugeot 504 TI 61 h 25 min 41 s
4 69 Team Aseptogyl Claudine Trautmann[5]
Marie-Odile Desvignes		 Peugeot 504 TI 78hr 35min 41sec
5 23 David Howes Racing James Ingleby
Bob Smith		 Jeep CJ-6 123hr 58min 23sec
6 32 Automobile Club de France Patrick Vanson
'Jacquy'		 Citroën DS 23 212hr 40min 47sec
7 3 Service Garage (Barnsley) Eric Jackson
Robert Bean		 Ford Escort Mexico 235hr 36min 14sec
8 66 Turkish National Team Ali Sipahi
Azmi Avcıoğlu		 Murat-Fiat 124 245hr 20min 25sec
9 54 Basil Wadman Basil Wadman
Michael Hillier
Chris Lentz		 Peugeot 504 TI 245hr 55min 26sec
10 7 Esso Uniflo Citroën Paris Claude Laurent
Jacques Marché		 Citroën GS 249hr 21min 3sec
11 56 Castrol Team Canada Ed Golz
Fred Baker		 BMW 2002 Alpina 263hr 19min 51sec
12 1 Ortlinghaus Werke Rainer Ising
Hans Ludorf		 Range Rover 287hr 25min 11sec
13 36 Brut Team Australia Evan Green
John Bryson		 Leyland P76 294hr 38min 14sec
14 13 Gary Whitcombe Gary Whitcombe
Steve Kimbrell		 Rover 3500S 303hr 2min 1sec
15 29 White Horse Rally Team Andrew Cowan
Johnstone Syer		 Ford Escort RS2000 Mark I 311hr 20min 0sec
16 14 APLUB Team Brasil Carlos Weck
Claudio Mueller		 Volkswagen Brasilia 324hr 11min 49sec
17 59 Castrol Team Canada Kurt Reinhardt
Ole Pedersen		 BMW 2002 Alpina 351hr 2min 42sec
18 24 Bryan Wood Bryan Wood
Edward Meek		 Ford Escort Mexico 378hr 33min 3sec
19 65 Derek Tullet Derek Tullet
Alan Gaunt		 Ford Capri 455hr 34min 8sec
Source:[4][6][7]

Only 19 cars finished the event, with only five cars completing the full rally distance. The route included a 171 km loop in the Hoggar mountains on the southbound transition of Algeria; of the "Kano Seven" only the winning Citroën and the Lancia Fulvia of Shekhar Mehta and Lofty Drews completed this part of the course. The Escort of Eric Jackson and Bob Bean also completed the loop, but although they started the leg to Kano, they turned back for Tamanrasset after incurring suspension damage in Niger.

References
  1. BRADY, JAMES (2013-04-01). "Sherrard rallies to help in devil appeal". The Examiner. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  2. Michael Scarlett. "UDT World Cup Rally CITROEN The story behind a remarkable achievement w/Autocar 1974".
  3. Cesar, Luis. "Historic Rally & Classic Race Cars: UDT 1974 London-Sahara-Münich World Cup Rally". Historic Rally & Classic Race Cars. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  4. Green, Evan. A Bootful of Right Arms.
  5. Claudine Bouchet married two rally racing drivers first Patrick Vanson, and second René Trautmann. She used their surnames on marriage.
  6. World Cup Rally, Graham Robson, The Car magazine no. 25, 1985, Orbis Publishing Ltd.
  7. Luis Cesar. "UDT 1974 London-Sahara-Münich World Cup Rally".
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