World Cup Rally
Encyclopedia
The World Cup Rally was the name of two intercontinental motor rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 competitions. The event drew inspiration from the successful London-Sydney Marathon
London-Sydney Marathon
The London–Sydney Marathon was a car rally from the United Kingdom to Australia. It was first run in 1968, a second event was organised in 1977 and a third in 1993 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original. Two further rallies have subsequently been contested in 2000 and 2004.The original...

 rallies, which had been held most recently in 1968. Organised by Wylton Dickson, the World Cup Rallies were named for and celebrated the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 Association Football tournaments. Each Rally started in London and raced to the World Cup host city; Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 in 1970 and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 in 1974. With Munich being relatively close to London, the rally was routed southwards into Africa, reaching as far south as Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

.

The 1970 event was a success with over a hundred competitors starting and many automobile manufacturers entering professional teams. The rally was won by a factory supported Ford Escort driven by Finnish drivers Hannu Mikkola
Hannu Mikkola
Hannu Olavi Mikkola is a retired world champion rally driver. He was a seven time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.- Career :...

 and Gunnar Palm. The 1974 event, held in the immediate wake of the 1973 oil crisis, was much less successful, with the only two factory supported teams and the majority of the front running cars being privateer entrants. The second event was additionally blighted by an error in the navigational notes which saw the majority of the field become lost in the Algerian Sahara desert. The rally was won by the privateer Citroen DS of Australian drivers Jim Reddiex, Ken Tubman and Andre Welinski.

While no rally was organised for 1978, the 1974 events journey through the Sahara planted the seed that would become the Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...

 in 1980.

The two events were:
  • 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
    1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
    The 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally was the first of two World Cup Rallies to be held and the second of four marathon rallies to be held in a nine-year period beginning with the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon...

  • 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally
    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...

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