Chairman, Endurance Rally Association
Fred Gallagher grew up in a part of Northern Ireland where those noted for a passion and love of pure motor sport lived. Paddy Hopkirk was a near neighbor, and the likes of John Watson and Eddie Irvine were raised just a handful of miles away. Despite studying at University, rallying was to be the major career path he pursued, eventually competing as co-driver for many top names in the sport, in many factory-based teams and winning a number of WRC events. With his wealth of experience, when he hung up his helmet more administrative opportunities opened for him, including Clerk of the Course for the UK’s RAC Rally. Gallagher also became Vice-Chairman of the Endurance Rally Association. Following the sudden and tragic loss of the ERA’s founder, Philip Young, at the beginning of 2015, Fred has stepped up to take on the responsibility at the top of that organization. VR’s European Editor, Mike Jiggle, sat down to ask Fred how these first months have been, as he adjusts to his new position.
VR: It’s been nearly 12 months since you took over as head of the Endurance Rally Association, following the sad passing of Philip Young. How has it been… a baptism by fire?
FG: I knew it was going to be a big job and Philip’s boots were enormous boots to fill. Unfortunately, the biggest problem has been that Philip carried most of the information he had in his head, so it’s been a question of trying to assimilate and understand things not written down, those things no one else knew about and arrangements he’d made prior to his accident. Within weeks of Philip’s death, we had the Flying Scotsman Rally, where I must say the team pulled together and rallied round in a most excellent way. The entire organization did a magnificent job in such a short space of time.
VR: Were the entries directly associated to Philip’s passing? Was it a case of entrants wanting to pay homage to him?
FG: That may be the case in some circumstances, but overall we’ve found that these events are regularly oversubscribed within days of being announced, we have a great following. The Safari Rally opened on a Monday morning in mid-January and by Thursday of the same week the entry list was full.
VR: Looking at your background, you’re no stranger to rallying, or organizing such events. Perhaps we could talk a little about you and your career, where did it all start?
FG: Well, it was a family thing; my father navigated in many events including the Circuit of Ireland many times. He did some international rallies in the 1960s. Once old enough, he’d take me with him to certain events. I’ve probably been on most Irish rallies and marshalled on many stages. Paddy Hopkirk was our neighbor, in those days. When he won the Monte Carlo Rallye he lived in the house just opposite us.
VR: You had a real village hero, then?
FG: Yes, particularly famous after winning the Monte Carlo Rallye in 1964.
VR: With all this around you, was it inevitable you’d be somehow involved in the sport?
FG: It’s difficult to remember my first competition, but you’re right it was inevitable that I’d get involved. Somewhere in my mother’s attic I’m sure there is a record book with all these details, but my memory can’t help too much with those early years at the moment.
I think it was around 1969, when I went on small navigation events around Northern Ireland. There was a great rally scene in the country, you could do a three-hour event most Wednesday nights in the winter followed by an “all-nighter” on a Friday night through to Saturday morning.
VR: I’ve just interviewed BRDC Chairman John Grant, also from Northern Ireland. He alluded to this hubbub of motor events in the country –it was quite a hotbed, which spawned a great deal of motor sport talent?
FG: The area where I spent the vast majority of my childhood was within a mile of where John Watson lived, two miles the other way there was Eddie Irvine—I remember his father racing an 1172-cc Ford Special and, as I’ve mentioned, Paddy Hopkirk was a neighbor.
VR: When did you break into the big league?
FG: I just had a succession of lucky breaks. Important things in life would have been getting a good step up with a guy called Adrian Boyd, he drove ex-works Escorts sponsored by Lombard Bank in Ulster and the main Ford dealers in Belfast. I got to do the 1974 Welsh Rally with him—we ran right at the very front, seeded number 4. It was a time when Markku Alén, the Finnish driver, was just starting too. I got to do the Circuit of Ireland Rally, in 1975, with a Swedish driver, Bengt Lundström, who I’d never heard of before, he was one of those guys who knew he wouldn’t win that many rallies in Sweden or the Scandinavian countries, so he tried his hand elsewhere.
VR: They say the Scandinavian drivers have a different driving style to most other rally drivers, did you find that to be true?
FG: I think it’s a bit of a myth, a certain Scandinavian self-assurance. What I really think is, when a country has a driver at the very top of the sport it pulls up all the others from that country.
If I can return for a moment to that Circuit of Ireland Rally, with Ben Lindström for a minute; the Clerk of the Course was Malcolm Neill, many people might know of him—he ran the RAC Rally for many years—well, it was Malcolm who put me in touch with Lundström. In the rally, we crashed almost immediately on the Good Friday afternoon, but in those days you could rejoin the rally and join in different stages, like the Killarney-Killarney loop. John Haugland, the Skoda factory driver, had also dropped out of the rally too. We were running together at the back of the field and at a stopping point the two drivers, Lundström and Haugland, were sitting on a grassy bank talking in their native tongue. It became obvious they were talking about me. Haugland approached me and asked if I was a student, I told him I was, he went on to ask if I’d like to co-drive with him. I had 10 weeks holiday from University coming up, so I grabbed the chance. We rallied in various events in Czechoslovakia, as it was called then, Denmark and Germany. We got on really well together, finishing 2nd overall in the Barum Rally, so that was a major step. We did the RAC Rally together and won our class.
In 1976, Pat Ryan asked if I’d do the Manx Rally with him in a Triumph—we finished 8th overall. Then to my shock, in October 1976, I got a call from John Davenport, who was about to take over as head of Triumph Motorsport, he asked if I’d like to co-drive with Tony Pond…you can imagine, I jumped at the chance. He reflected and asked if I’d do just one event with him first, just to ensure the chemistry was there. To my even greater surprise, the day after John Davenport called me, Russell Brookes phoned me asking if I’d navigate for him—he added it would be better for us to do a rally together first to see how we got on! So, I did the Tour of Dean with Russell, we got on fine, but the car retired. The following week, Tony Pond and I did that first event together at Spa, Belgium, the first week of February, I think. We only went out and won the event outright! I couldn’t believe it. It was a landmark win, too, for the Triumph TR7, the first international victory.
VR: It’s important that there’s a good rapport between driver and co-driver, or is it a case of two people doing a job?
FG: I could say later in my career the latter is true. I could go out and do a job without any social ties or collaboration. But, initially, it was good to have that certain bond and understanding.
VR: I suppose there was an interesting dilemma you had to sort through— Russell Brookes or Tony Pond?
FG: Life was rosy for a couple of days after the win, but inevitably I had to make a decision. I checked the Motoring News that week and on the entry list for the Mintex Rally I was entered in car number 3 and car number 5. It all ended in a political nightmare, as you may imagine, but I won’t go into detail. John Davenport was very professional, as you may expect, he put a contract together for me to continue with Tony Pond. I tried to apologize to Russell Brookes, it was difficult, but he got over it. Career-wise, I made the best decision, no doubt.
VR: From there on you became a professional co-driver?
FG: Yes, paid at last! And that lasted for 25 years—1977 to 2001—with major manufacturers, too.
VR: We can’t talk about all those years now, but what are some of the highlights and low points of those years?
FG: The Triumph years with Tony Pond and the TR7 was certainly a high point, as was winning the Manx and Ypres Rallies, both European Championship events. A low point was spending six to eight weeks in hospital following a crash in the Galway Rally—I damaged my hip, ribs and lungs. It had to be a home rally rather than somewhere exotic. My current contract ended in 1980, and by chance on the steps of Rally HQ for the RAC Rally, I bumped into Henri Toivonen, he asked what I was doing for the following year. When I told him I had no plans, he suggested we get together for 1981.
That chance encounter led to my co-driving with him for 1981 with the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Team for that year and the Opel Team for 1982 and ’83. Co-driving a Finn was interesting as you can imagine, I had some great times with him. Yes, we crashed a few times, but we also had some good results too, 2nd place in San Remo and Portugal in the Talbot Sunbeam and some top places in the Opel, including a win at the 1983 Manx Rally. Again, at the end of 1983, a chance meeting in a bar with Henry Liddon, the Toyota team manager, resulted in my co-driving with another young Finnish driver, Juha Kankkunen for 1984 and 1985, with two wins, including my first of three Safari Rally victories in 1985. We didn’t crash as much as I did with Henri, but retirements were more due to mechanical failures.
To answer you original question, there’s no doubt my greatest achievement was winning the Safari Rally three times—once with Juha and twice with Björn Waldegård.
VR: What confidence do you, as a co-driver, have to have in the ability of the driver?
FG: Probably none, that’s the real answer —just an understanding. That first Safari Rally win was notable, as Henry Liddon had promised return flights in First Class if we won—he was a great motivator. Throughout the rally Juha drove very carefully and slowly, driving around mud holes and other obstacles that may cause any damage or delay. After taking the win, we had to get back into the car and do some high-speed publicity shots for the press, as they had no exciting driving photos of us for their publications. At the airport, true to his word, Henry had the two First Class tickets waiting for us.
VR: In racing, Fangio famously said he drove slow enough to win, is that true for rally drivers too?
FG: Certainly in Juha’s case he thought about his driving and calculated what others did, and yes, that’s possibly true of him. Today, however, it’s totally changed, it’s foot down and flat out all the way.
VR: Rallying involves driving on different terrains depending where in the world the event is staged—unlike racing where the tarmac surface is constant, do you become masters of certain terrains?
FG: Personally speaking, as a navigator, I’ve always preferred the long distance endurance events like the Safari, Ivory Coast and Dakar events—I’ve competed in the Paris-Dakar six or seven times.
VR: Moving from your competition experience to a more administrative role in the sport?
FG: I think it was sometime in 1996 when I was asked, or it was proposed, given my experience, if I would consider the role as Clerk of the Course for the RAC Rally. It was a job that I embraced and continued to do for 20 years—2015 being my last year. During that time, I worked closely with the teams running the sporting side of things.
VR: With Alec Poole you also revived Tour Britannia in the UK?
FG: Yes, it started off very well, but the recession came right at the wrong time for us and in the period when it started to pay off its early debts we began, like many businesses, to struggle. With various other things going on, I stepped back from it after a couple of years, or so, but Alec continues with it today.
VR: How did you first get involved with Philip Young and the Endurance Rally Association (ERA)?
FG: When Philip ran his first ever event, which was the Pirelli Classic Marathon, in 1998, I spent a lot of time with him. In fact, I think I was Clerk of the Course on that event too. I was certainly Clerk of the Course on the Monte Carlo Challenge, another event he organized and we always kept in contact since. A couple of years ago another long-distance rally organizer asked if I’d be a consultant with them. I mulled it over in my mind, but thought I should run it by Philip before making any definite decision. This organization was a potential rival to the ERA. Philip being Philip told me I didn’t want to get involved with them and basically told me I should work with him at the ERA. So, that’s how I came to be here.
The night before the crossing of the Thai border, on the Road to Mandalay Rally, he called me. Despite all the meticulous planning and discussions he’d had, he wasn’t sure things would work out—he couldn’t sleep and needed a friendly voice to talk to. He was looking for a little reassurance.
VR: Yes, I remember talking to him a few weeks prior to departure for the event, he mentioned that things were still on a knife-edge and although they were going there was no certainty that they could make that crossing between Burma and Thailand—the first of its kind?
FG: Yes, having said that and given the pressure he wasn’t downcast, in fact he was typically upbeat. We spoke for around an hour—I’m not sure whose phone bill it was, but an hour long-distance was quite expensive. Of course, the next day he had his accident, so that was the last time I spoke to him. It was a great shock to all to lose him.
Following his passing, I was asked by Jane Young if I could go with her to the ERA Rally Office to meet the staff, who were obviously still very shell-shocked. On the car journey home with Jane, she asked if I’d assist in the running of the ERA and take the position sadly vacated by Philip. Of course, I agreed. To me Philip was an inspirational leader, but most of all a good friend. Not many weeks after the Road to Mandalay event ended, there was the Flying Scotsman Rally to prepare for. For me, it’s been a great opportunity, and I’ve been on every event since.
VR: Looking at the events that are organized by the ERA, what should those considering entering bear in mind? What experience, or training should they have?
FG: As organizers of events like these we offer a considerable amount of advice and courses that would help prospective entrants —especially those with no experience. We wouldn’t ever suggest novice entrants should undertake the long-distance events without first trying their hand at a shorter event. Having said that, while there are those with a very competitive spirit and ambition, these events are supposed to be fun events and an opportunity for entrants to visit many parts of the world they wouldn’t necessarily see, and have experiences they wouldn’t ever encounter in their normal day-to-day life.
So, there is a great deal of support on offer, or we can point them in the right direction to get instruction for subjects including basic mechanics, car preparation, driving on and off road, all forms of navigation and anything we believe is necessary for the novice to enjoy the experience. We have leaflets showing the dos and don’ts, what to pack and what not to pack, and encompass the logistics of taking part. Having fun and enjoying the experience is paramount as this leads entrants to want to do more. We do, from time to time, have those people who really want to do an event like Peking to Paris—it may be on their “bucket list” or something and they have a zeal and determination to do it, then we have to go with it. For most, it’s the taking part and getting to Paris rather than winning the thing outright.
The ERA offers a tremendous amount of support, firstly with all the paperwork including the most basic thing of making sure everyone has the correct driving license for the country they’re driving through. On the rally itself we take our own marshals, mechanics and medics, including four doctors, there are many support and sweep vehicles to look after those who breakdown—it really is a massive logistical exercise to get the right people in the right places at the right time.
We have events with varying degrees of intensity, so if someone who was quite experienced entered a low-key, relaxed touring event we’d point that out to them, and vice-versa—we advise novices, or those with inappropriate cars, or experience to re-consider entering intensely competitive events. On the 2016 Peking to Paris Rally we have around 30 percent of the entrants as “first timers”—the entry is full, and we have reserves, too—just in case something happens that a crew is forced to withdraw at the last moment.
VR: Have you been surprised at the enormity of the job and challenge?
FG: I suppose I had some idea of what was involved, but there are always those times when something comes out of the blue. It’s taken some nine months to get the teams co-ordinated with various roles and responsibilities sorted out. Thankfully, we have a very strong and committed bunch of guys. As far as I’m concerned, I take an overview of the events as a whole, I make decisions when asked, and try to look after and nurture those competing. I’ll try to have social exchanges and dinner with them all over the life of the particular rally and do a bit of PR and market research—trying to find what they like or don’t like.
VR: One last thing, Philip was such a visionary who looked at achieving the impossible and organizing unique events. What has the ERA got in store for the future?
FG: Of course, Philip had great drive and, as you say, wanting to achieve the impossible, but the ERA will continue to organize those events it has become noted for and also new and unique events as it has done in the past. In fact, there are some things we are planning at this very moment to be announced in a few weeks—watch this space!!
