MRT/E, Mazda
Full nameMazda Rally Team Europe
BaseBelgium Brussels, Belgium
Team principal(s)Achim Warmbold
Driverssee below
ChassisMazda 323 GTX
Mazda RX-7 Rally
Mazda Familia 4WD
TyresMichelin
Pirelli
World Rally Championship history
Debut1985
Manufacturers' Championships0
Drivers' Championships0
Rally wins3[1]

The Mazda Rally Team Europe was a rally team created by Achim Warmbold that competed in the World Rally Championship from 1985 to 1992.

History

Group B Mazda RX-7

The Mazda Rally Team Europe was created by Achim Warmbold as European Mazda preparation business based in Brussels, Belgium. Mazda headquarters appeared to ignore it. Although eventually Warmbold gained their attention, this did not seem to help the project much at first. Warmbold first created a Group A Mazda 323. This 323 was old fashioned and front wheel drive, but did feature a turbo engine. The 323 was short lived as it was only a warm-up for a Group B Mazda RX-7 with a Wankel engine. It managed to get a podium in the 1985 Acropolis Rally.

Group A

The first Group A model was based on the BF 323 with a turbo engine and 4WD. The timing of this project could not have been more perfect: the 323 4WD Turbo debuted in the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally. While this was before the Group B accidents at the Rally Portugal and the Tour de Corse, its launch was only one year away from the ban of Group B and by the time Group A became the main WRC class, only Mazda had a well proven 4x4 turbo car. With Ingvar Carlsson and Timo Salonen at the wheel, the BF 323 GT-X brought Mazda three wins in the World Rally Championship.

The new 5th generation BG 323 GT-X was debuted midway through the 1990 season at the 1000 Lakes Rally The new model was much improved over its predecessor, its enlarged 1839cc engine, canted forward so as to provide greater freedom to locate the Xtrac transmission. It was also wider, offered improved suspension travel and had better thermal management, even if the addition of so many grilles lent the GT-X a somewhat fussy frontal appearance. Mazda’s driver line-up was also improving what with the team’s stalwart; Finns Hannu Mikkola and Timo Salonen now supported by Ingvar Carlsson and, from time to time, Gregoire de Mevius and Jesus Puras. But it wasn’t to be. The frenetic, relentless pace of Group A development meant that while the GT-X was a marked improvement over what had gone before, it was still behind Lancia and Toyota and Ford.

The new, larger engine gave more power, but its 275bhp still wasn’t enough, especially when mated to an intercooler deemed too small and too inefficient for WRC. Nor was it especially reliable, as evidenced by a rash of retirements following its Finnish debut. More power was extracted through a change of ECU supplier. Come the start of the 1991 season, and the Mazda outfit had also Timo Salonen to Mitsubishi however Carlsson, Puras and Rod Millen remained as did a young Finn called Tommi Makinen. The latter would actually deliver Mazda its best result of the year with drive to fifth on Rally Finland, but that was the only bright spot on otherwise frustrating WRC year.

Mazda withdrew its factory team from WRC programme at the end of the 1992 season, just as the BG 323 GT-R homologation run had been completed for 1993 as a replacement for the GT-X. MRTE built five Group A cars in 1992, one of which went to Bjorn Johansson and Mazda’s Swedish rally arm who bought the team from Mazda. The 323 GT-R was run by several privateer teams from 1993 onwards, its best results being a 5th place in 1993 and second place in 1994, both at Rally Sweden.

The capability of the GT-R was further demonstrated by its success in Group N, in which guise Alex Fassina scooped the FIA Production Cup.

Drivers

Group B era (1984-1985)

Year Car Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Points WMC Points
1984 Mazda RX7 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC
Ret		 ARG BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR
Ret		 - 0 14th 2
Germany Achim Warmbold MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC
9		 ARG BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR 53rd 2
France Philippe Wambergue MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC ARG BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR
Ret		 - 0
1985 Mazda RX7 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON SWE
8		 POR KEN FRA GRC
3		 NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
10		 16th 16 10th 22
Germany Achim Warmbold MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC
6		 NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR 34th 6
New Zealand Mike Montgomery MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
11		 ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR 60th 2
New Zealand Neil Allport MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
Ret		 ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR - 0
New Zealand Stuart Eyre MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
Ret		 ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR - 0
Finland Minna Sillankorva MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 ITA CIV GBR - 0
New Zealand Rod Millen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
9		 60th 2

Group A era (1986-1991)

Year Car Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points WMC Points
1986 Mazda 323 4WD Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON
Ret		 SWE
Ret		 POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 CIV ITA GBR
10		 USA 70th 1 11th 9
Germany Achim Warmbold MON
Ret		 SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR USA - 0
New Zealand Rod Millen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL
7		 ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR USA
10		 44th 5
1987 Mazda 323 4WD Finland Timo Salonen MON
Ret		 SWE
1		 POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRE USA NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 CIV ITA GBR 14th 20 6th 52
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON
4		 SWE
4		 POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRE USA NZL ARG
Ret		 FIN
Ret		 CIV ITA GBR 17th 20
New Zealand Rod Millen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE USA
4		 NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR 26th 10
1988 Mazda 323 4WD Finland Timo Salonen MON
5		 SWE
Ret		 POR KEN FRA GRC
Ret		 USA NZL ARG FIN
4		 CIV ITA GBR
2		 5th 33 4th 66
Finland Hannu Mikkola MON
Ret		 SWE
Ret		 POR
4		 KEN FRA GRC
Ret		 USA NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 CIV ITA GBR
Ret		 30th 10
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON
Ret		 SWE POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRC USA NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR - 0
New Zealand Ray Wilson MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC USA NZL
2		 ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR 18th 15
New Zealand Rod Millen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC USA
8		 NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR 59th 3
1989 Mazda 323 4WD Sweden Ingvar Carlsson SWE
1		 MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
1		 ARG FIN AUS
Ret		 ITA CIV GBR
8		 7th 43 3rd 67
Finland Timo Salonen SWE
22		 MON
Ret		 POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
2		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
6		 12th 21
Sweden Thorbjörn Edling SWE
Ret		 MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
5		 AUS ITA CIV GBR 34th 8
Finland Mikael Sundström SWE
Ret		 MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
7		 52nd 4
Finland Hannu Mikkola SWE MON
4		 POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
9		 27th 12
New Zealand Rod Millen SWE MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
2		 ARG FIN AUS
5		 ITA CIV GBR 11th 23
New Zealand Ray Wilson SWE MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
7		 ARG FIN AUS
Ret		 ITA CIV GBR 52nd 4
1990 Mazda 323 4WD
Mazda 323 GTX		 Finland Timo Salonen MON
8		 POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
6		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret		 25th 9 5th 30
Finland Hannu Mikkola MON
Ret		 POR
6		 KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret		 34th 6
Belgium Grégoire de Mevius MON POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN AUS
6		 ITA
Ret		 CIV GBR 34th 6
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
2		 ARG FIN AUS
5		 ITA CIV GBR 10th 23
New Zealand Rod Millen MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
Ret		 ARG FIN AUS
Ret		 ITA CIV GBR - 0
Finland Mikael Sundström MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret		 - 0
1991 Mazda 323 GTX Finland Hannu Mikkola MON
Ret		 SWE
7		 POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRC
8		 NZL ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR
7		 25th 11 5th 44
Spain Jesús Puras MON
Ret		 SWE POR
7		 KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR 40th 4
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson MON SWE
4		 POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
8		 ARG FIN AUS
Ret		 ITA CIV ESP GBR 16th 13
New Zealand Rod Millen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL
6		 ARG FIN AUS
6		 ITA CIV ESP GBR 23rd 12
Finland Tommi Mäkinen MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN
5		 AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR
Ret		 29th 8

References

  1. ↑ "Mazda – All-time team statistics". World Rally Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
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