In Quarantine with AUTOhebdo – The Jolly Club, legendary WRC team

A few days after the death of Roberto Angiolini, historic boss of the Jolly Club, AUTOhebdo returns to the epic of the Italian team in the World Rally Championship, its main hunting ground in motorsport between the 70s and 90s.

Si Alfa Romeo and Fiat were the team's favorite brands, notably with the 131 Abarth, which Walter Röhrl took to victory at the 1980 San Remo. It was with Lancia that Roberto Angiolini's team would experience its hours of glory.

Already present with the Fulvia and the Stratos in the 70s, it is with Group B and the legendary 037 Rally that the Jolly Club seems to be reaching a milestone. With drivers like Massimo Biasion and Dario Cerrato, the results kept coming, Biasion winning the European Championship, and starting in 1984 a more assiduous presence in WRC.

Dario Cerrato will also be crowned in Europe in 1985.

A brief period followed with the Lancia Delta S4, with Group B ending at the end of 1986.

But in Group A, the Jolly Club will be very present, still with the Delta HF, Integrale, HF Integrale.

From 1987, and always with the support of Totip (horse racing betting), the Jolly Club lined up Alex Fiorio (son of Cesare Fiorio), Yves Loubet, Dario Cerrato... Fiorio even took third place in the championship in 1988 and second in 1989 .

In 1991, the team entered a Delta Integrale for the entire season for Frenchman Didier Auriol. Aligned in Fina colors, the car accumulated podiums despite several disappointments for the future 1994 world champion (abandonment in Rally Monte-Carlo, narrow victories in Portugal, Corsica, etc.) before Auriol won at San Remo and validated a new Manufacturers' title for Lancia.

The following year would mark the near consecration for the Jolly Club. At the helm of the operation of the high-performance Delta HF Integrale on behalf of Lancia, the team offers one last title to the trans firmalpine, but misses the Drivers' crown despite Didier Auriol's six victories and Juha Kankkunen's very regular season, beaten by Carlos Sainz.

In 1993, a change of direction for the team, with the arrival in its ranks of world champion Carlos Sainz, from Toyota. El Matador arrives with its important sponsor Repsol who comes to support Totip and is counting on the performances displayed by the Delta in 1992 to aim for a third crown.

But the Spaniard, nor his teammate Andrea Aghini, will never succeed in imposing the Italian car.

The Jolly Club's rally adventure will continue for a few more years, mainly with Ford Escort RS Cosworth and Escort WRC entered for Gianfranco Cunico.