Lancia Delta Integrale | Hasegawa 1:24

Because this is a gallery about the car that started with the number "1" in the inaugural rally in the '93 season, I would like to start with a few words of introduction.

Revolutionary season

The 1993 World Rally Championship has undergone the biggest change since the ban on starting in group B. Many regulations have changed, e.g. the required minimum weight of cars was increased, reducers were introduced, which theoretically were suppose to limit the air supply to turbochargers and, as a result, cars were to have a power of 300 HP (unofficially, there were some voices, that the cars had a power of 400 HP anyway). Another very important change in the regulations was the limit on some spare parts and limited service zones. Contrary to previous years, the crew, in the event of a failure, could not call for service assistance, but had to deal with the fault themselves to bring the vehicle to the designated service area.
All the new regulations made the competition much more attractive. But this was not the end of changes that took place in the '93 season. One of the biggest revolutions was the withdrawal of the Lancia factory team. Since then, only private teams, more or less supported by Lancia, such as the Jolly Club or Astra Team, competed in these cars. The '93 season was also the year of many debuts of new cars on rally stages. Ford replaced Sierra with the new Escort Cosworth model, Mitsubishi replaced the well-worn Galant with a new Lancer. The Subaru Prodrive team sponsored for the first time by the 555 with the proven and battle-hardened Legacy model joined the competition in the full cycle of the championship. At the end of the season its debut had Impreza. Toyota, on the other hand, remained with the improved Celica ST185 model. However, the '93 season was not only about changes in the regulations and new cars, it is also one of the last seasons when so many great drivers competed against each other. On the one hand, World Champions and very experienced drivers such as Kankkunen, Biasion, Sainz, Vatanen, Alen, Auriol, and on the other, young drivers knocking on the door of fame, such as McRae, Delecour, Liatti or Makinen. All these factors have created one of the most memorable and best seasons in WRC history.

A lost opportunity

Although from the perspective of the fans, 1993 was a great year, Carlos Sainz probably thinks about this season in a completely different way. As a reward for winning the second world championship for Toyota, El Matador got a contract termination from the team. All thanks to the signing of a lucrative contract by TTE with Castrol. As a reminder, Sainz was sponsored by the Spanish oil and gas processing company - Repsol, and as a result, there was a conflict of interest.
Carlos had to look for a new team and finally ended up with the private team of Jolly Club, which was in close relations with Lancia in those years. The team had, of course, the latest evolution of the Delta, which was an incredibly successful and successive rally car, as evidenced by the fact that in the '92 season Auriol, Kankkunen and Andrea Aghini won a total of 7 rallies, only 4 times behind Sainz in Celica. Another positive aspect was that Repsol invested a lot of money into the team and had become the main sponsor. Unfortunately, Carlos did not use the potential he had. The beginning of the season was bad, and it's a shame to talk about the ending. Even before the Monte Carlo Rally, Sainz declared that he would treat this rally as a training and test, and really did... by testing Lancia's roll-over durability. Rally Portugal was a fierce fight for El Matador for the podium. One mistake and total scrapping of the car... he seemed to continue to test Lancia's durability.

The breakthrough came in France and Greece where Carlos finished 4th and 2nd respectively. The rest of the season was about car faults and accidents, let me add that in New Zealand, after a series of faults and problems with the car setup, the crew recorded impressive results in the last two days of the competition and finally finished the rally in 4th place.

The presented miniature is the result of the renovation of one of my first models. Originally, the Hasegawa model was from the Acropolis Rally, but the effect I got using the original decals was highly unsatisfactory, so the model underwent a bath in brake fluid and the work started again. With the help came the Racing43 Big Model series decals.

In a very shortcut, in December 2014 the model from the Monte Carlo Rally '93 was created.

Body modifications list:
• Painted main sponsor's logo on the rear part of the model
• Lowered down the suspension to get the tarmac specification
• Drilled rims
• Changed tires (in tarmac rally specs)
• Tire stickers coming from Tamiya kits
• Additional bolts securing the front and rear bumpers
• Grish inserted into the front bumper

• Halogen covers
• Added graduation between tailgate and bumper
• Rear window heating imitation
• Modified towing hooks in the front bumper
• Modified engine cover
• Modified radiator
• Reworked antenna base and new antenna
• Broached exhaust tip
• Carbon-coated mirrors
• Door locks made of modeling rivets

Interior modifications list:
• Kevlar-covered battery cover
• Footrests covered with Kevlar
• Dashboard filled up with putty
• Fire extinguishing and electric cables
• Intercom wires
• Added lamps in the pilot's side for reading the route description during night special stages
• Added CB-radio handset
• Fuse cables on the dashboard at the pilot's side
• Additional Lancia logo on the rear shelf
• Badge on the steering wheel
• Fabric seat belts

Author | Krzysztof Szpakowski

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