1983 Rallycross grand prix from Brands Hatch

Classic Rallycross action from 1983, featuring the first outing of Schanche's Xtrac escort and classic duals between the "old guard" Porsches and the new 4 wheel drive Quattros.

[@mark4lev]

Let’s be honest, this is pure entertainment

[@johntate5050]

I am in a public lavatory.

[@Daisy-ns2xn]

What a race, thank you

[@rovingenglishman]

Rallycross, Murray Walker, Dickie Davis, Nigel Mansell in F1, maybe some trials bikes..that was a perfect Saturday morning in my childhood home 😁

[@shanefunnell542]

Murray Walker best commentator ever legend

[@nopefranks1154]

Said nobody ever

[@Your-Local-RX-Guy]

​@@nopefranks1154 The feeble minded fool.

[@JustK4Y1512]

Murray Walker even back then as commentator 🐐 May he rest in peace 🙏

[@MrACOUSTICPETE]

Ah ! Happy memories of Saturday Grandstand "Aaand " Murray of course ! Scrambling ,Arthur Lampkin, Mike Vickers , rallycross and my favourite London car club versus the Army in a sort of rallycross . Think it was an annual event . Any else remember that ? The " hafflingers " we're particularly impressive !

[@trefod]

Martin Schanche was always a colourful guy to watch. Completely insane!

[@janpetternaustvik1807]

For sure! He gave it all! If he had a chance of getting back and winning, he gave his very best shot!

[@InfiltrateIndustries]

Pretty sure Martin would disagree about his sanity :)

[@evilelf5967]

one of my favorite drivers,always let it all hang out.

[@georgejacob3162]

Top racing from real men. Top commentary from Murray Walker as always.

[@seanokeefe703]

That Ford took off like a rocket ship off the line

[@wallypix1]

cocaine was big in the 80's...

[@DerekLightfoot69]

Glad you enjoyed it - somehow Rallycross was more exciting with all those hammered-together brutal quattos and porches than the smooth sophisticated works-machines of today. Oh well, nostalgia isn't what it used to be....

[@nmo888]

37 years ago yet I would sooner watch this than modern motorsport 👍 That Brands track epic.

[@kevinmartin9775]

Thanks for sharing this Derek. Fantastic.

[@badgers1975]

Martins car was alot more special than it looked the xtrac 4x4 with the ability to manually split a max 78/22% power between front and rear wheels was lightyears ahead of its time. John welches identical car always looked nicer

[@pheasantpluckersson2138]

Superb mix of cars, i think the Quattro would still be just as competitive today with that horse power!

[@off-roadrcaddict4572]

Love watching rallycross. Love watching Quattro. ;-)

[@t16205]

Mr. Rallycross, the Legend

[@MadMedeiros]

Driving a 400 plus horsepower porsche in the rain with one hand while trying to shut the door and maintain control Absolutely terrific

[@gtisid]

this was the first rallycross event i spectated at brands, the years that followed were complete madness. lots of envy on the grid.

[@rvrffdd6416]

La gente puede decir lo que quiera, pero esto era otra historia. Mucho más emocionante, se suplía la falta de tecnología con el valor y las manos. Los ordenadores híbridos con ruedas de hoy... Para quien los quiera. Gracias por subir este material.

[@howardsportugal]

5m23 - as an 11 year old kid, I was standing just behind Murray Walker and I remember being impressed at Martin jumping that barrier - one of the most lovely men you could ever meet. John W & my dad ran the cars he developed and sold on & we had a great childhood. Cheers, Martin.

[@badgers1975]

Totally agree Martin was a lovely guy, history would be alot different if he hadn't got punctures as pikes peaks as he was destroying the time of the "legendary pike's peak Quattro" until then. That escort is one of the most underrated pieces of technology ever made

[@mister_M.]

Brilliant. More please

[@Nothing-to-noone]

Jesus Christ that is one gorgeous Escort. Amazing vidoes man really appreciate the purity of the sport from before my time. Peace.

[@Nothing-to-noone]

Schanche didn't have the patience to drive that escort nor to qualify...

[@badgers1975]

John Welch drove and identical gatrac xtrax g4 with a cosworth bdt it was gorgeous in STP colours and a genuinely lovely guy, but all the drivers were back then, apart from Will Gollup who was always a bit up himself

[@DS-dd7vf]

Hats off to the guy who brought a Volvo 340 to a race against Audi Quattros and Porches.

[@badgers1975]

Classic rob Gibsons Porsche burning oil like always. Classic stuff, Martin was always a character, met him numerous times, as kid was in his pit one day (brands was brilliant for that) and he introduced me to Penttii Arirkkala.

[@robertpayne5507]

Fantastic, thanks for uploading. Awesome

[@agentolshki1690]

Legendary stuff! And I really miss Murrays commentary too.

[@alexdoherty1984]

Amazing post thank you

[@Roblstar]

Great to see the old cars! This was truly the change over point from 4wd v 2wd! Contentious? Of course... Schanche... Back then... who else apart from Will... Then Hanson arrived... Then... He won to much....

[@Roblstar]

A great champion, needs a great rival... Or he is not quite as great... If you do not understand? Please leave it there...

[@Ankan..]

This is awesome!

[@bretthousman8317]

I just watched an escort absolutely blow the doors porsches and quattros. AND a fiesta keeping up with the pack. Never knew such a race existed and had no idea those cosy's were that powerful. The back of the car squats down and the it absolutely RIPS.

[@alanolden.7575]

Proper cars and drivers

[@BaronVonHaggis]

The Schanche drama was top class 🤣🤣

[@riaanshaigh1338]

We wer so blessed to live in the time of Murray Walker. Rip sir. Epic balls to the wall greasy peanut butter sandwiches in the pits stuff this.

[@DerekLightfoot69]

Spot on, well said!

[@AFExploration]

very cool upload, thanks for sharing

[@rogerfell4270]

Volkswagen John qa

[@monkeycsl]

Think I watched this as a boy loved the audis

[@gmain1977]

This was a great watch man

[@guidorollard2944]

Schanche very good driver, but here had no right to complain. It was his own fault

[@chrisst8922]

Where's there's motorsport there's Murray Walker.

[@sarahlivingstone8367]

These were the proper days of rallycross when you could build your own car in your shed and race it - too expensive now, like everything else.

[@DerekLightfoot69]

Absolutely, Sarah. I was in shock at first when I saw how basic these Quattros and 911's were inside, but that didn't matter on the track - they went like "their ass was on fire" (as it often was, in the early turbo years!)

[@gothicpagan.666]

All ways been expensive, put it into perspective, Mr. Rallycross spending 50k When you could buy a nice house for 12k. When I say nice it has a bed and room for 5 race cars. 🙂

[@alfamonk]

i remember some mag ads showing that x-trac escort, said 2.5 0-60 i think. Seemed mind-blowing back then.

[@64fairlane305]

it was even faster than that, faster than a formula one car at 0 - 200 km/h

[@flammenjc]

Schanche was good, but its plain to see that car was just something else. There's no way a driver makes THAT much of a difference.

[@seanokeefe703]

Apparently that Ford xtrac transmission had some variable hydraulic technology that let it hook up like it had glue for tires. Not even big tires

[@sonicstep]

I had this recorded to VCR tape among others when it was broadcast by BBC's Grandstand. Alas, much to my horror, I discovered years later that my father spitefully taped over it years later. It took me a while to find it here as I'm not not so good at spelling Scandinavian names (Nordstrom, Martin Schanka/Shanka, Beetle Subaru water cooled head, Ford Esort, Porsche.. were my search words). I loved the highly modified Beetles. Thanks for posting.!

[@t16205]

The old beetles have potential, no doubt

[@bjornar9026]

Schanche was the king!

[@neiltitmus9744]

I remember reading at the time about the escort and then watching one of the first races which it won second was an audi

[@nikolac290v7]

Bellissimo...altri tempi...

[@andymcneil7085]

Made Saturday sports programs for me did rally cross.

[@andrewwright.]

Quality racing

[@Dany45UR]

Old school Martin Schanche con ese look de los 50s 😀. Estilo Elvis

[@neiltitmus9744]

The ford escort had a 4wd system that could manually be moved from front wd to rear wd with a lever if i remember right

[@ArvoR]

end of an rwd era

[@showoe3126]

Same year that the last rwd car won the WRC

[@ramonsanchez1809]

Siento decir esto pero antes era primordial la mecánica Ino como ahora que predomina el marqueting i antes era más bestial

[@musicstewart9744]

Is there any form of Motorsport Murray Walker didn't announce? All during coronavirus time I hear Murray here, there and everywhere.

[@mark4lev]

He commentated on bike racing as well in the early 80’s.

[@peterbalac1915]

France vorts looks like Tony Blackburn

[@hizzytech]

My dad beat Welch at the innogural rally x meeting at Knockhill.

[@andreasdahl717]

"im not her for bicycling"- : D :D

[@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999]

18.10 4WD DANKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@sonicstep]

The recording I particularly recall had no fewer than two Beetles racing. One a yellow and blue was doing really well, actually it was leading for many laps, but unfortunately suffered engine failure. That was the Subaru head Beetle driven by Nordstrom. Martin won the event with his highly modified Ford Escort. It's a real pity VCR tape seems to suffer age related issues. It would have been much sharper and richer in colour when freshly recorded. Film seems more durable as with stills, especially monochrome. Nonetheless, excellent drama and competition!

[@jasondobney2623]

What engine in the MK3 escort cosworth just looks a little different thanks

[@malcolmwilcox6320]

Does anyone know what month in 1983 this race was taken place?.

[@DerekLightfoot69]

December

[@Nothing-to-noone]

I would Love to see that Escort against Opel's Group B Kadett 4S... But I never will...

[@stelamo]

you can ...

[@Nothing-to-noone]

Link or it didn't happen.

[@Nothing-to-noone]

Lol, just kidding, I would really like a link, if you could? X'D

[@stelamo]

by the way , i was there watching this :)

[@Nothing-to-noone]

Crap, I wish...

[@stewthorne]

if it wasnt for slower armatures turning up he would be going around on his own its not all about money

[@jondrizzle4554]

Schanche is an absolute legend even out the car hes entertaining 😂 Brilliant video rally x sucks now 😢

[@dossiecolvin4664]

33

[@matthewdufty606]

Shanka is not going to be happy with that

[@mark4lev]

He was never happy was an absolute loon

[@paulwoloschuk1]

I used to marshall for TEAC at Lydden and Brands in the 70s and 80s. By the way, this video is showing Lydden Hill, not Brands Hatch!

[@paulwoloschuk1]

@Vegard Oops, I'd posted my comment to the wrong video!

[@JohnDoe-ng6ts]

Alright, this guy is playing this rallygame on easy......

[@t16205]

No one held a candle to Mr. Rallycross.. A pure genious.. He invented x-track in his garage and ford bought it off him.

[@assininecomment1630]

Yes, Walker was a laughably inept commentator late in his career. However, it is important that we remember he was just as incompetent in the _early and middle_ parts off his career.

[@lutherblissett9070]

That's what I liked about him

[@mortenfrosthansen84]

Hahaha.. crying about wanting an unfair advantage, of pole position. If not I'll go home.. What a baby. After making a enormous driver error.. hahahahaha

[@nopefranks1154]

People like Martin the bore weigan way too much i think hes a prix prik though. When hes losing he will full on 9yr old on gran tourism his way through the pack. He would rather everybody goes out in fire balls than lose. Every race i see him in mayb later in his career hes just dangerous on track a hot head meat ball. But in the early days mayb he was good. But others soon got berter. Then he got dangerous.

[@snotkop1736]

Now that's existing!

[@ungurdani8346]

Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe