The protagonists
The technicians that contributed to making the Lancia Racing Department an Italian excellence known throughout the entire world give us their insight into that journey. Also, the pilots and navigators who raced in those years and who experienced both the successes and defeats; the journalists of yesterday and today, who told the public all the stories; and finally, the famous enthusiasts, who were inevitably seduced by Lancia; they all bear witness to the success of the Italian car manufacturer.
Here is a list of the interviewees: Massimo “Miki” Biasion, Claudio Bortoletto, Carlo Cavicchi, Andrea Cordovani, Alex Fiorio, Cesare Fiorio, Roberto Giolito, Sergio Limone, Claudio Lombardi, Luca Napolitano, Fabrizia Pons, Riccardo Scamarcio, Beppe Severgnini, Tiziano Siviero, Harri Toivonen, Gianni Tonti, Ottavio Tonti.
The Racing Department
The Lancia Racing Department was established in the 1960s, with a low budget and a huge desire to win. Thanks to the words of Cesare Fiorio and Gianni Tonti, we relive the foundation of this Department, and the challenges that led the small Lancia Fulvia Coupé HF to winning its first World Cup in 1972. And this is just the beginning: two years later, the Stratos, the first car designed specifically for winning, was launched and inaugurated a golden era destined to stop – only temporarily – with the fusion of the Lancia, Fiat, and Abarth racing departments.
Beauty, the Beast and the Monster
After a six-year hiatus, Lancia returns to the racetrack with the Rally 037, which won the World Cup in 1983: a great moment of passion for motorsports which, not by chance, inspired a new film with Riccardo Scamar- cio in the role of Cesare Fiorio. Following was the Delta S4, monstrously powerful and technically advanced. Perhaps, even too fast: Henri Toivonen died in the Tour de Corse racing the S4. A painful fracture that changed the history of motorsports... but Lancia was ready to change with it.
Queen Delta
After 1986, the Group B cars are replaced by the saf- er, Group A ones. The Racing Department stood up to the challenge with the new Delta 4WD which, driven by Miki Biasion and his legendary partner Tiziano Siv- iero, was able even to win the Safari Rally – the first victory ever for Lancia. The Rally had by now become a collective phenomenon, but following the conquest of a good five consecutive Constructor World Cups, Lancia announced their retirement from the racing scene. Why leave when you are winning everything? Even today, more than 30 years from their final World Cup, there are still those who imagine – and dream – a possible return of Lancia to the Rally.
Delta
4 cylinders
1.995 cc
295 CV
Delta S4
4 cylinders
1.759 cc
480 CV
Rally 037
4 cylinders
2.111 cc
305 CV
Stratos
6 cylinders
2.418 cc
320 CV
Fulvia
4 cylinders
1.599 cc
165 CV
