In the last decade, we’ve had two pretty spectacular racing films covering Formula 1 (“Rush”) and Le Mans (“Ford v. Ferrari“). Soon, the World Rally Championship will get its turn in the spotlight with the upcoming “Race for Glory: Lancia vs. Audi.” The first trailer for the film launched this week, and you can check it out above.
The film goes over the 1983 championship, early in the Group B era that ushered in some seriously extreme rally machines. And 1983 is a perfect year to examine. Audi had taken the previous year’s manufacturer’s championship standings with its all-wheel-drive Quattros, showing what the future of the pinnacle rallying would be. Lancia on the other hand was sticking with rear-wheel drive as it always had with the 037. So the season was a perfect battle of the past and future (even though the 037 rally car was a fully up-to-date machine for the time, just lacking driven front wheels).
Of course the results help keep things interesting for the film, too. In a spoiler alert for a rally season that finished four decades ago: Lancia snagged the world championship in 1983, which would be the last time until Lancia adopted all-wheel drive itself with the Delta Integrale. At the same time, the driver championship in 1983 went to an Audi driver. In summary: there’s plenty this season to work with to make a thoroughly compelling story just on the surface. There’s undoubtedly much more behind the scenes on either side to see.
The film launches on January 5, so there isn’t long to wait, and it’ll make for a full couple of months of automotive films (“Ferrari” comes out on December 25). And while “Ferrari” will have Adam Driver, “Race for Glory” will have Daniel Bruhl, whom you may know from his performance as Niki Lauda in “Rush.” You’ll be able to catch “Race for Glory” in theaters, as well as digitally.
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