RallySport Magazine March 2017

in selected ERC and German
championship events.
And in 1985 there was something
very special, perhaps the most
exciting adventure of all, the
special twin-engined Pikes Peak
project Golfs.
Each engine provided the power
for its own axle. Three times Jochi
competed on the Colorado state
hillclimb.
“The Pikes Peak car was
something different, it was
incredible, 0-100km/h in 3.4
seconds. I finished third in 1985
and was awarded ‘Rookie of the
Year’, in 1986 I was fourth, and on
the final attempt in 1987 I was up
against our old friend Rohrl, now in
an Audi Quattro.
“Walter won the race and I
stopped on about the last corner
when a wheel fell off, so I had to
complete the last few metres of my
Race to the Clouds on foot!
“Our car was terrible to drive. If
you suddenly had even 200 fewer revs
going through the rear engine, you can
imagine the driving style was not so
funny anymore, especially at Pikes Peak
with all those drops.
“At that time we had not so much
aerodynamics, we don’t have the big
high spoiler and we had not done much
testing before. Anyway, it was good
fun and the Americans, well they were
really, really absolutely happy, the
crowd was there to see our funny little
car with its two engines.
Jochi Kleint (standing, second from left) with other VW
motorsport heroes in Berlin in 2016.
“And the car worked. We had been
just a little bit faster than Walter at
halfway.”
Nowadays, Jochi’s life is still full of
horsepower, showing customers how
to drive 500bhp supercars. Why give
up old habits?
RACE AGAINST TIME
Richie Dalton’s Shamrock
Motorsport team are
in a race against time
to have their new Ford Fiesta
Proto ready for its first event in
early April.
Dalton and co-driver John
Allen are entered in the first
round of the New Zealand Rally
Championship, the Otago Rally,
from April 7 to 9.
But wiring issues have
seen delays in getting the car
finished.
“I hope we make it. We are
under pressure with wiring,
but fingers crossed. It will be
tight,” Dalton told RallySport
Magazine.
A further spanner was thrown
in the works when a cleaner
not associated with the team
accidentally threw out the flyby-wire
throttle body for the
car.
Not only is the throttle body
valued at $840, there are
none available in Australia
for six weeks.
Luckily for Dalton, fellow
Irishman, JJ Hatton, had
one available, getting the
Shamrock team out of
trouble in the short term.
The new Fiesta Proto,
built in Poland before
being shipped to Australia,
is looking magnificent,
with spectators eager to
see the car in action in the
Otago Rally.
- PETER WHITTEN
NEW MAJOR SPONSOR
FOR ALPINE RALLY
Toperformance Products have signed on as a sponsor
for the Alpine Rally of East Gippsland, to be held on
December 1-3 in Lakes Entrance, Victoria.
The Australian distributors for Koni shock absorbers,
Toperformance-Koni have been a long-time supporter of
the Historic Rally Association and the Alpine Rally.
MARCH 2017 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 57