Editing Rallying (section)

==== Post-World War II years ====
[[File:Osmo_Kalpala_-_1956_Rally_Finland.jpeg|thumb|Osmo Kalpala servicing his car (a [[DKW F93]]) during the 1956 [[Jyväskylän Suurajot]], now known as ''Rally Finland'']]

===== Europe =====
Rallying was again slow to get under way after a major war, but by the 1950s there were many long-distance road rallies. In Europe, the Monte Carlo Rally, the French and Austrian Alpines, and the Liège were joined by a host of new events that quickly established themselves as classics: the Lisbon Rally (Portugal, 1947), the Tulip Rally (the Netherlands, 1949), the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Sweden, 1951, now the [[Swedish Rally]]), the Rally of the 1000 Lakes (Finland, 1951 – now the [[Rally Finland]]), and the [[Acropolis Rally]] (Greece, 1956).<ref>Robson, p.45.</ref> The RAC Rally gained International status on its return in 1951, but for 10 years its emphasis on map-reading navigation and short manoeuvrability tests made it unpopular with foreign crews.<ref>Hamilton 1987, p.17</ref> The ''[[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]]'' created in 1953 a [[European Rally Championship]] (at first called the "Touring Championship") of eleven events; it was first won by [[Helmut Polensky]] of Germany. This was the premier international rallying championship until 1973, when the FIA created the [[List of World Rally Championship Constructors' Champions|World Rally Championship for Manufacturers]].

Initially, most of the major post-war rallies were fairly gentlemanly, but the organisers of the French Alpine and the Liège (which moved its turning point from Rome into Yugoslavia in 1956) straight away set difficult time schedules: the ''Automobile Club de Marseille et Provence'' laid on a long tough route over a succession of rugged passes, stated that cars would have to be driven flat out from start to finish, and gave a coveted ''[[Coupe des Alpes]]'' ("Alpine Cup") to anyone achieving an unpenalised run;<ref>Robson, p.46</ref> while Belgium's Royal Motor Union made clear no car was expected to finish the Liège unpenalised – when one did (1951 winner [[Johnny Claes]] in a [[Jaguar XK120]]) they tightened the timing to make sure it never happened again.<ref>Robson, p.55</ref> These two events became the ones for "the men" to do. The Monte, because of its glamour, got the media coverage and the biggest entries (and in snowy years was also a genuine challenge); while the Acropolis took advantage of Greece's appalling roads to become a truly tough event.<ref>Robson, p.55.</ref> In 1956 came Corsica's ''[[Tour de Corse]]'', 24 hours of virtually non-stop flat out driving on some of the narrowest and twistiest mountain roads on the planet – the first major rally to be won by a woman, Belgium's {{ill|Gilberte Thirion|fr|Gilberte Thirion|lt=Gilberte Thirion,}} in a [[Renault Dauphine]].<ref>Louche, Maurice. ''Le Tour de Corse Automobile 1956–1986'' (Maurice Louche, 1989), p.26.</ref>

These events were road races in all but name, but in Italy such races were still allowed, and the ''Mille Miglia'' continued until a serious accident in 1957 caused it to be banned.<ref>Lurani 1979, p.165</ref> Meanwhile, in 1981, the ''Tour de France'' was revived by the Automobile-Club de Nice as a different kind of rally, based primarily on a series of races at circuits and hillclimbs around the country.<ref>Louche 1989, p.56</ref> It was successful for a while and continued until 1986. It spawned similar events in a few other countries, but none survive.

===== South America =====
In countries where there was no shortage of demanding roads across remote terrain, other events sprang up. In South America, the biggest of these took the form of long distance city to city races, each around {{convert|5000|to|6000|mi|km}}, divided into daily legs. The first was the ''Gran Premio del Norte'' of 1940, run from [[Buenos Aires]] to [[Lima]] and back; it was won by [[Juan Manuel Fangio]] in a much modified [[Chevrolet]] [[coupé]].<ref>Fangio, Juan Manuel, with Carozzo, Roberto. ''Fangio: My Racing Life'' (Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1990), p.50.</ref> This event was repeated in 1947, and in 1948 an even more ambitious one was held, the ''Gran Premio de la América del Sur'' from Buenos Aires to [[Caracas]], [[Venezuela]]—Fangio had an accident in which his co-driver was killed.<ref>Fangio and Carozzo, p.92</ref> Then in 1950 came the fast and dangerous [[Carrera Panamericana]], a {{convert|1911|mi|km|adj=on}} road race in stages across Mexico to celebrate the opening of the asphalt highway between the [[Guatemala]] and United States borders, which ran until 1954.<ref>Murphy, Daryl E: "Carrera Panamericana: History of the Mexican Road Race, 1950-54", page 12. iUniverse Inc.,2nd edition 2008.</ref> All these events fell victim to the cost – financial, social and environmental – of putting them on in an increasingly complex and developed world, although smaller road races continued long after, and a few still do in countries like [[Bolivia]].
===== Africa =====
[[File:EAS1973.jpg|thumb|Checkpoint during the 1973 [[Safari Rally]]]]In Africa, 1950 saw the first French-run [[Algiers-Cape Town Rally]], a {{convert|10000|mi|km|adj=on}} rally from the Mediterranean to [[South Africa]]; it was run on and off until 1961, when the new political situation hastened its demise.<ref>Fromentin, Pierre: "16.000 km à travers l'Afrique", page 1. Plon, 1954.</ref> In 1953 East Africa saw the demanding Coronation Safari, which went on to become the [[Safari Rally]] and a World Championship round,<ref>Barnard, Roger: "Safari Rally: The First 40 Years", page 10. Westholme Publishing, 1992.</ref> to be followed in due course by the [[Rallye du Maroc]] and the [[Rallye Côte d'Ivoire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Rallye du Maroc annulé, remplacé par celui d'Andalousie - Rallye-raid |url=https://www.lequipe.fr/Rallye-raid/Actualites/Le-rallye-du-maroc-annule-remplace-par-celui-d-andalousie/1160296 |access-date=2020-10-02 |website=L'Équipe |language=fr}}</ref> Australia's [[Round Australia Trial|Redex Round Australia Trial]] also dates from 1953, although this remained isolated from the rest of the rallying world.<ref>Tuckey, Bill, and Floyd, Thomas B: "Gregorys 25 Years of Around Australia Trials: From Redex to Repco", page 33. Gregory's Publishing 1979.</ref>

===== North America =====
Canada hosted one of the world's longest and most gruelling rallies in the 1960s, the Shell 4000 Rally. It was the only one sanctioned by the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]] in North America.<ref>[http://shell-4000-rally.org/ "The Shell 4000 and BC Trans-Canada Rally History Project"], shell-4000-rally.org, accessed 4 January 2019.</ref>