Rally of the 1000 Lakes 1976

Over 400km on gravel roads. Three days of engine noise in the middle of the Finish forest.

Finland 1976. Legendary Rally Of The Thousand Lakes, almost 100 cars in the lineup.
The entry list can be found here.

Rally Of The Thousand Lakes

The Rally went through some changes since the first race in 1951. I guess we were lucky enough to have been there during the peak of the 1000 Lakes Rally in the 1970th.
Wikipedia has detailed information about the rally's history. The rally is now known as the Neste Oil Rally Finland. Looking at some current race footage, it is as exciting as it was back in 1976. Spectators were roaming freely along the 400km track. Finding the perfect spot was never a problem for us. After looking though our slides, I just had to scan some of them and post them here for everybody to enjoy. Keep in mind that shooting these pictures was a lot of guesswork for me. I'm not a professional photographer and light conditions in the forest are less than perfect. There was some luck involved when trying to capture these very fast moving object.

Starting the picture sequence with the winning team
Alén Markku and Kivimäki Ilkka, Autonovo, Fiat 131 Abarth
They finished the 428km race in 4 hours 10 minutes 18 seconds, that translates to an average of just over 100km per hour.

Fiat 131 Abarth No 3 parked

Fiat 131 No 3 Abarth on the track

And more pictures from the race in no particular order.

Support vehicle Saab Team

Saab Support vehicle

Lampinen Simo and Markkanen Juhani, Saab 96 V4. Finished 5th place.

Saab 96 V4 No 5

Vilkas Jari and Soini Juhani, Saab 96 V4. Finished 8th place.

Saab 96 V4 No 18

Saab 96 V4 No 18 on the track

Blomqvist Stig and Sylvan Hans, Saab 99 EMS. Did not finish.

Saab 99 EMS

Galle Heinz and Kiessling Wolfgang, Trabant P601. Finished 39th place

Trabant P601 No 96

Ullmann Hans and Riedel Klaus, Trabant P601. Finished 46th place.

Trabant P601 No 91

Galle Franz and Sachse Lothar, Trabant P601. Finished 48th place.

Trabant P601 No 100

Varis Pentti and Vehvilainen Erkki, Fiat 850. Finished 36th place.

Fiat 850 No 83

Westermarck Joel and Alaspää Jussi, Fiat 850. Finished 40th place.

Fiat 850 No 97

Mäkinen Timo and Liddon Henry, Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII. Finished 4th place.

Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII

Könönen Erkki and Könönen Raimo, Ford Escort. Finished 43rd place.

Ford Escort

Oksala Marketta and Palmuaro Sinikka, Lada 1300. Finished 22nd place.

Lada 1300

Sahari Tapio and Sahari-Winogra Tarja, Opel Kadett GT/E. Finished 27th place.

Opel Kadett GT/E

Paalanen Kari and Saari Ilpo, Opel Kadett. Finished 42nd place.

Opel Kadett

Jouhki Timo and Piironen Juha, Opel Kadett GT/E. Did not finish.

Opel Kadett GT/E

Schwartz Jukka and Harvia Kullervo, Volvo 142. Finished 24th place.

Volvo 142 on track

Volvo 142 on track corner

Geitel Peter and Mesterton Rolf, Sunbeam Avenger. Finished 19th place.

Sunbeam Avenger

Seltmann Ehrenfried and Hoffman Heinz, Wartburg 353 W. Finished 38th place.

Wartburg 353 W

Luc Jean-Paul and de Roux Christian, Citroën CX 2200. Did not finish.

Citroën CX 2200

Salonen Timo and Markkula Jaakko, Datsun 160J. Finished 6th place.

Datsun 160J

Pahkinen Erkki and Kaipainen Kauko, BMW 2002 Tii. Finished 25th place.

BMW 2002 Tii

Enomaa Heikki and Ahava Jyrki, BMW 2002. Did not finish.

BMW 2002


Photographed August 29, 1976
Digitized July 01, 2020
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