Here's a pretty famous cheating story that you might have heard about. But even if you have we are going into the depths of the famous 1995 World Rally Championship Toyota turbo cheat.

This happened in 1995, and the cheat was discovered by the FIA in the Rally Catalunya race in Spain. The cheat was committed by Toyota Team Europe, which was then Toyota's racing division in the World Rally Championship. Toyota Team Europe was racing the newly introduced Celica ST205 (successor to the very succesfull st185 and st165)

What was the cheat? Well the cheat involved FIA mandated air restrictors that were installed onto the intake side of the turbos on WRC cars at this time (they are still in use today btw). FIA decided to introduce air restrictors to the WRC in order avoid the same accidents that shut down the coolest thing in rally history just a decade earlier. Yes, Group B, was shut down in 1986 pretty much because the cars were getting too fast and the crowds too crazy. The goal of the air restrictors was to tame down the cars and keep the crowds safe.

But it is with the air restrictor that Toyota Team Europe saw the opprunity to execute it's brilliant cheat. In an example of engineering and mechanical brilliance a system that would push the restrictor out 5mm was devised. This let 25% more air into the turbo and ultimately into the engine which resulted in a power output of 30 - 50 hp. The brilliant part of the cheat was that the restrictor was in the legal position when removed from the car and in the illegal position when installed back.

It was so well made that it managed to impress the people that are there to stop cheating and enforce the rules. Max Mosley who was then president of the FIA couldn't hide his enthusiasm for the cheat:

"“It’s the most ingenious thing I have seen in 30 years of motorsport.” said Mosley. He was also very impressed with the craftsmanship:

“Inside it was beautifully made. The springs inside the hose had been polished and machined so not to impede the air which passed through. To force the springs open without the special tool would require substantial force. It is the most sophisticated and ingenious device either I or the FIA’s technical experts have seen for a long-time. It was so well made that there was no gap apparent to suggest there was any means of opening it.”

However, Mosley did what any FIA president would do, in the interest of motorsport he punished Toyota Team Europe and stripped them of all of their 1995 season points and banned them from racing in 1996.

#d4a #toyota #wrc

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