Turbocharged Celica in championship

Press, 6 May 1983, Page 22

Turbocharged Celica in championship

By

JOHN FRIDD

Toyota, which took a stunning one-two sweep in last year’s Motogard Rally, has announced its new weapon for the world championship. The car has the same Celica notch-back shape as last year’s Motor-gard-winner but a much more powerful turbocharged motor, which Toyota claims puts out 326 b.h.p. Features of the KKKturbocharged 2090 cu. cm twin-cam motor include a fuel-injection system designed to reduce turbo-lag dramatically. Bodywork modifications include some fibreglass panelling to reduce weight and an Audi-, style rear spoiler incorporating an oil-cooler. Unfortunately the new Celica will not be homologated in time for the Sanyo Rally in late June so Bjorn Waldegard, of Sweden, will not be able to defend his New Zealand title. Waldegard may test the car on some stages of the Greek Acropolis rally in late May and then in the Mille Pistes event in France.

Toyota plans to contest three world-championship events near the end of this season — the Thousand Lakes (Finland), Ivory Coast and R.A.C. (Great Britain). The car is more powerful than the all-conquering Audi Quattro but whether it can

match the four-wheel-drive German car’s speed on gravel roads remains to be seen.

Reg Cook, of Auckland, will also drive a new works car in the Sanyo Rally. Nissan was so impressed by Cook’s driving and technical knowledge when he took a Datsun Bluebird Turbo to tenth place in last year’s Motogard that it will put him in a works Nissan 240 RS this .year, putting him on equal terms with the quick Finn, Timo Salonen. Cook, better known for his circuit-racing successes, has no illusions about keeping up with Salonen, but he will probably gain some useful world-championship points for Nissan if he repeats last year’s effort. Cook will be the No. 3 Nissan works driver — Shekhar Mehta, of Kenya, will also return to New Zealand this year.

The main feature of the Nissan 240 RS is its light weight — Nissan has not yet switched to the turbocharging, four-wheel-drive trend popular with other manufacturers.

The Sanyo Rally, which runs from June 25 to June 28, has already attracted entries from Audi (Hannu Mikkola and Michelle Mouton) and Lancia-Fiat (Walter Rohrl and Markku Alen).