OV9

And this fellas fielding a Stratos



https://dirtfish.com/rally/what-you-nee ... est-rally/

Bit of onboard:

One of my mates is doing it in a BDA mk1 escort

Just had a look at the RAC Facebook page, some lovely stuff. Talbot Samba was a particular highlight



https://www.facebook.com/RogerAlbertClark

My friend works on the Stratos, they've been burning the midnight oil this week



Live coverage on youtube

Nicely coinciding with the first snow of winter in the U.K. - very much an RAC Rally tradition of my childhood.

I watched all the 1985 RAC Rally highlights videos on Sunday - they’re on VHS Rallies’ channel on YouTube. All presented by Woollard, no Propaganda theme music yet, and the rally was still in its ridiculous format of ~20 hours of driving every day. Amazing stuff.

Yeah, the coverage on YouTube from a very white Wales this morning properly took me back to the 80s. I went to a special stage at the West Mids Safari Park at some point, maybe '86?

John wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 9:55 am My friend works on the Stratos, they've been burning the midnight oil this week

Very

My first in-person rally experience was at the Bellahouston Park (Glasgow) special stage. I was defo there in 1985, and I was there either the year before or after too )

SD1 and Quatty sounded just epic . Spent a bit of time at the hairpin - had to keep your mouth shut to avoid it being filled by bits of gravel and rubber marbles.... I learned this the hard way.

speedingfine wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 1:00 pm Yeah, the coverage on YouTube from a very white Wales this morning properly took me back to the 80s. I went to a special stage at the West Mids Safari Park at some point, maybe '86?

I think that’s the right year. I was there too, with my grandpa who died a couple of years later.

If you like the sound of the Stratos they've also built a Ferrari 308 rally car and that sounds savage

Bugger!

Yeah just saw that

Very lucky not to roll it. Looks like the rear O/S wheel has taken a bit of an impact and *something* has broken.

Thats a fucker isn't it

My mate Endaf is up to 16th overall in his Mk1 escort.

Watching on youtube and the conditions look treacherous and the rally seems to have stopped at the moment.

Hollie McRae (daughter of Colin) has rolled her Mini, her dad would be proud

John wrote: Sat Nov 22, 2025 3:29 pm Watching on youtube and the conditions look treacherous and the rally seems to have stopped at the moment.

Hollie McRae (daughter of Colin) has rolled her Mini, her dad would be proud

Indeed, the interviews after the last stage (SS14?) are

Enjoyed the chap saying:

Is that Arnie (Norwegian driver) behind me, he's just shopping

It's a mixture of traumatised drivers and others who are enjoying it

What a balls up, the rest of todays stages have been cancelled due to what sounds like spectators parking where they shouldn't and blocking the roads.

I saw the announcement - they cancelled 3 or 4 stages and it referred to an incident on the road sections. I wasn’t sure if it was an accident or something. Irritating for the spectators to cause it with thoughtless behaviour - parking and a long walk was always the way.