The history of Castrol in World Rally
Release date:
10 February 2005
Our history in the WRC - from "the smell of Castrol R" to a Ford Focus flying through the trees at 170kph and not landing for 60 metres
Castrol in Rallying - over 70 outright wins at World Championship level
Think of World Championship rallying and your mind will probably conjure up an image of some of the great marques, such as Ford and BMC, Audi or Toyota. But Castrol has almost as rich a tradition in the category as any of the cars which have borne its red, white and green colours through the forests, with over 70 outright wins to its credit at World Championship level.
The smell of Castrol R epitomised Castrol's presence in motorsport for many
Ask anyone who ever stood at the side of a special stage during the 1970s and early 1980s about their abiding memories of rallying and it's a fair bet that a large number will wistfully draw a deep breath through their nose and say: "The smell of Castrol R." The aroma of the famous lubricant lingered long after the noise of the car had faded into the distance and, for many, it epitomised Castrol's presence in motorsport.
Castrol has been oiling the progress of the rally greats for decades, and the continuing support of Ford WRC Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala merely extends the involvement.
The Second World War disrupted the growing enthusiasm for motoring but once peace had been restored across Europe things didn't take long to pick up again. Driving for pleasure inevitably led the more wealthy to add the element of competition.
The 50s and 60s
By the 50s and 60s serious competition was taking shape and events were forming themselves into championships although the World Rally Championship was still some years away.
Germans Walter Schock and Rolf Moll drove a Mercedes-Benz 200SE to victory on the 1960 Monte Carlo Rally and went on to secure that year's European Championship. The cars may not have carried sponsors' livery or even a few decals advertising trade partnerships in those days but there are no prizes for guessing what oil was in the car's sump…
Pat Moss - the first woman rally driver to win a race outright - on Castrol
A Castrol advertisement in 1962 heralded the success of the world's top woman rally driver, Pat Moss (Stirling's sister), in taking her seventh consecutive Coupe des Dames on the Monte Carlo Rally - all on Castrol. Pat was hugely successful in the sport at the time and achieved her results in a wide variety of cars, notably the Mini and the Austin Healey. Her win on the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege event was the first outright win for a woman on the European Championship, just one of many significant victories for Castrol-supported drivers.
The 'Mini and the Monte' story is also part of Castrol's rich history with four successive wins between 1964 and 1967 (although of course the 1966 'win' was subsequently taken away in the infamous lighting fiasco that saw all the British crews excluded after the event).
The 1970s
Marathon rallies attracted extensive factory support in those days and Ford entered the works Ford Escort of Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm on the London-Mexico World Cup Rally of 1970. The pair took victory on an event that covered 26,500kms (16,500 miles), the perfect way to demonstrate the durability of the recently introduced Castrol GTX brand.
The World Rally Championship began in 1973 and the Castrol-backed Saab 96V4 of Stig Blomqvist won the second event of the new series, the Swedish Rally. It was the start of a long-term relationship with success that saw nine of the first 10 World Champions take event wins in Castrol-liveried cars.
Whether it was the frozen wastelands of central Sweden, the twisting asphalt of the Austrian Alpine Rally or the Tour de Corse, the searing heat of the East African plains on the Safari Rally or the mud of the British forests, Castrol was there to play a vital role.
Michelle Mouton became the first woman to win a World Championship rally
Hannu Mikkola's victory on the 1981 Swedish Rally with his new Audi Quattro heralded the four-wheel drive era while later that same season, team mate Michelle Mouton became the first and (still) only woman to win a World Championship rally. She took two further wins and came within a whisker of defeating Walter Rohrl for the 1982 championship crown.
Castrol supported teams and drivers have won many titles between them. The teams' prize wasn't joined by a drivers' title until 1979 and in that year Bjorn Waldegard's Castrol-liveried Ford Escort claimed both titles. In 1982 Audi won the manufacturers' title and the following season Hannu Mikkola drove a Quattro to the drivers' crown. In 1984 Audi scooped the pool with Stig Blomqvist added the drivers' title to the makes championship.
The tumultuous 1986 season had far reaching effects for the sport and the rule changes that were brought in for 1987 meant that Kenneth Eriksson's Group A championship title in 1986 (when he drove a Volkswagen Golf) remains a stand-alone crown.
Castrol enjoyed event wins with Nissan, Mazda and Toyota throughout the 80s
Japanese teams had been involved in rallying since the start and Castrol enjoyed event wins with Nissan, Mazda and Toyota throughout this period. By the early 90s, the Toyota Castrol Team was emerging as a serious player on the world stage. In 1993 it became the first Japanese team to win the World Championship with Juha Kankkunen adding the drivers' title to the trophy cabinet as well. The following season they repeated the feat, this time with Didier Auriol the top driver and then they added a third makes title in 1999 after Auriol won the one and only World Championship China Rally.
Castrol renewed its links with the Ford World Rally Team in 2003 with specific support to the team's lead driver Markko Märtin from Estonia. Märtin went from strength to strength and the 2003 campaign might have brought him championship victory had fortune smiled a little more favourably in mid-season.
However, the year brought two significant results; the first victory for the stunning Ford Focus WRC03 on the gruelling Acropolis Rally in the intense heat of the Greek summer and then an historic win in Finland. Martin became only the third non-Scandinavian driver to win this most specialised event in the series. The sight of Martin's Focus flying high through the trees at 170kph and not landing for 60 metres is one of the most outstanding visual images of the year.
Skip ahead to the 2009 season and the Ford WRC team has evolved into a double constructors' championship winning outfit, with two of the sport's most promising young drivers filling its race seats. 2006 and 2007 brought team titles and a Ford driver has come runner-up in the drivers' championship for three years running. It's now down to Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala to go one step better this year.
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The history of Castrol in World Rally
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