A fairly inauspicous debut saw both cars retire early on with gear selection problems although not before Markku Alen was able to set the fastest time on stage three. Three weeks later, the Mediterranean island of Elba hosted another important round of the ERC and Lancia entered a solitary Martini-liveried 037 for Adartico Vudafieri. Like Alen had done in Sardinia, 'Vuda' took several fastest stage times but after a brake retaining pin jammed, the Italian incurred an eight-minute penalty. He later experienced more gear selection problems and eventually wound up seventh whilst Fabrizio Tabaton won in an ageing Group 4 Stratos. May's fabled Tour de Corse marked the 037's World Rally Championship debut, Lancia using two brand new cars for Bettega and Alen. Faring little better on the world stage, Alen clipped a rock early on and twisted his spaceframe. Bettega meanwhile had been on the pace throughout although having lay third overnight, lost control of his car on day two and crashed heavily into a wall, breaking both legs in several places. Alen went on to finish ninth despite incurring another eight-minute penalty, this after he was unable to change a punctured wheel in the allocated time.
For the Acropolis Rally, both cars arrived in Greece with shock absorbers for the steering, new front motor springs, suspension set 2.5cms higher, carbon sumpguards and alloy water radiators. Alen led on the cars first serious test over rough surfaces before the inevitable gearbox problems curtailed his progress. Bettega's replacement, Adartico Vudafieri, was struggling. An early puncture followed by a front suspension failure and then an accident with a spectators car frustrated the Italian, Lancia finally packing for home after his supercharger gave up the ghost.
Back to the ERC and June's Ypres 24 Hour Rally saw Andrea Zanussi's factory-prepared Jolly Club car appear, his Totip-backed machine arriving in Belgium only for FISA to have apparently withdrawn the 037's homologation due to concerns over its cooling system. Forced to compete under threat of exclusion at the finish, a potentially awkward situation was averted when the promising youngsters head gasket blew whilst running fourth. This should have been the final outing for Lancia's first series 037 Rally as the Evolution version debuted in Madeira during the first week of August, but having planned to run an Evolution with carburettors instead of the troublesome injector system on the Greek Halkidikis Rally, Zanussi actually used an older car. With it he led the early stages before broken shock absorbers and a flat tyre cost him around ten minutes, broken drive belts subsequently forcing him to retire after charging back from 52nd to fourth. Thus, the opening few months of 1982 had not been the whitewash some commentators were predicting and although the 037's had clearly demonstrated they had the pace to win rallies, their reliability over several days was still largely unproven. |
