#0933 "Walter kommt"

1984 San Remo Rally
Winner: Walter Rohrl

The San Remo Rally was won again in 1985 by Röhrl/Geistdörfer in their Audi S1. It was to be the only race in which the S1 had the edge over the Peugeot 205 GTI, which was dominating that season in 1985. The gravel track in San Remo, however, made the mid-engine French and the Audi S1, which was spoiled for victory last year, once again on a par for a rally. Audi then built the S2. Due to their optimization for rallying, the vehicles of the 1986 generation were so brutal in terms of acceleration and, above all, deceleration that co-driver Phil Short, who as an exception should replace Christian Geistdörfer in England on the occasion of the RAC Rally in autumn 1986 because of his knowledge of the route in his home country , got such severe breathing problems in these extreme situations in the S2, especially while he was supposed to transmit the "vital" information to Röhrl, that Röhrl did not receive the information he needed and Röhrl/Short overturned violently at the 1986 RAC Rally and gave up the race had to. "Thank God they both survived," wrote Christian Geistdörfer in his book "Walter und ich". Not every team can become world champion, no matter how good one is.