Editing Rallying (section)

===== 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.