Monster World Rally Team

180px
Full name	Monster Ford World Rally Team
Base	Cumbria, England, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Malcolm Wilson
Drivers	Ken Block Chris Atkinson
Co-drivers	Alessandro Gelsomino Stéphane Prévot
Chassis	Ford Fiesta RS WRC '10
Tyres	Michelin
World Rally Championship career
Debut	2010
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Rally wins	0

The Monster World Rally Team is a team that competes in the World Rally Championship, with driver Ken Block.^[1] The team was formed by Block at the beginning of 2010 as a platform for him to compete at world championship level. The team, sponsored by Monster Energy, currently runs one 2011 Ford Fiesta RS WRC for Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino, and planned to expand to two cars for 2011. The car is built and run by M-Sport,^[2] a British motorsport team, who also run the cars for the Ford World Rally Team. Block and the team are also competing in Rally America in a open class Ford Fiesta.

2012 season[link]

In February 2012 Ken Block announced his plans for the 2012 World Rally Championship season, which included the announcement that he would appear at only 3 WRC events. The first being the Rally México.

In March 2012 Chris Atkinson joined the team.

Complete WRC results[link]

Year	Car	No	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points	TC	Points
2010	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	43	Ken Block	SWE	MEX 18	JOR	TUR 24	NZL	POR Ret	BUL	FIN	GER Ret	JPN	FRA 12	ESP 9	GBR 21	19th	2	-	-
2011	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	43	Ken Block	SWE 14	MEX 12	POR DNS	JOR	ITA	ARG 18	GRE	FIN	GER 17	AUS 19	FRA 8	ESP Ret	GBR 9	22nd	6	8th	27
2012	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	43	Ken Block	MON	SWE	MEX 9	POR	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	GER	GBR	FRA	ITA	ESP	8th*	2*	-	-
		21	Chris Atkinson	MON	SWE	MEX Ret	POR	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	GER	GBR	FRA	ITA	ESP	20th*	0*

* Season in progress.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Sno* Drift Rally test drive

• 

  Sno* Drift Rally test drive

• 

  Sno* Drift Rally test drive

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

This rallying-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Wonder Boy
Genres	Platform game
Developers	Westone Bit Entertainment
Publishers	Sega

Wonder Boy (ワンダーボーイ, Wandā Bōi^?) is a series of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape).

The series itself consists of the main Wonder Boy series, and the Monster World sub-series. Games may be part of one, the other, or both. This has resulted in a sometimes confusing naming structure resulting in titles like "Wonder Boy V: Monster World III". In North America and Europe, the whole series is kept under the Wonder Boy brand, but in Japan there is one title that belongs exclusively to Monster World and is not part of the Wonder Boy series.

To further complicate matters, Westone had a unique licensing arrangement with Sega whereby Sega retained the rights to the names and characters of the games in this series, but Westone retained the rights to everything else. Westone, in turn, had a licensing arrangement with Hudson Soft, who created new characters and titles and ported these games to non-Sega platforms. The most well known of these is Adventure Island, which was more commercially successful than Wonder Boy was.

Condensed series chronology[link]

There are a combined six official titles in the Wonder Boy and Monster World series with original release platform.

• Wonder Boy (Arcade) - Ported to Master System as Wonder Boy and to the Game Gear as Revenge of Drancon.
• Wonder Boy: Monster Land (Arcade) - Ported to Master System as Wonder Boy in Monster Land.
• Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Arcade) - Ported to Mega Drive as Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Master System) - Ported to Game Gear as Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.
• Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (Mega Drive) - Titled Wonder Boy in Monster World for overseas releases.
• Monster World IV (Mega Drive)

Series overview[link]

The first game of the series was initially an 1986 arcade game simply titled Wonder Boy developed by Escape (later known as Westone) and published by Sega. It was a side-scrolling action game where the player controls a young boy seeking to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend, making use of items such as throwing axes and skateboards in order to proceed through eight worlds, each consisting of four stages and a boss. During the same year the arcade version was released, Sega developed a version of Wonder Boy for the SG-1000, available exclusively in Japan, that was a great departure from the arcade version due hardware differences. The following year, Sega released a second home version titled Super Wonder Boy, this time for the Sega Mark III. In contrast to the SG-1000 predecessor, the Mark III was a more faithful conversion of the arcade original, but with added content such as a new set of eight additional stages and all-new bonus stages. Since the SG-1000 was unavailable outside Japan, Super Wonder Boy was the first console game in the series released in North America, Europe and Brazil. The overseas releases for the Master System had the title changed to simply Wonder Boy (omitting the "Super" prefix).

In 1987, Wonder Boy: Monster Land was released for the arcades exclusively in Japan. The sequel was a complete departure from the original, eschewing the original game's tropical setting with a medieval world and changing the game's format from a traditional platform game to an action RPG with elements such as a health gauge, collecting currency to purchase new weapons and equipment, magic spells and supporting character who provide the player with information. This sequel was ported to the Sega Mark III the following year under the title of Super Wonder Boy: Monster World, making it the first game in the series to be released under the "Monster World" banner. This home version was released in North America and Europe as Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Home computer versions were also made by Activision which bore the title of Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land on their cover art.

Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, released in 1988, was the final arcade release in the series. This installment also featured a different format. This time the stages were composed of two segments each, in which the first segments featured auto-scrolling platforming action with rules and mechanics similar to the original Wonder Boy, while the second segments involved the player fighting his way to the boss' lair while riding a dragon. It bears the distinction of being the only Wonder Boy game with a 2-player co-op mode. Home versions were released for the TurboGrafx-16 in 1989 (making it the only Wonder Boy game that was ported unaltered to the platform) and the Mega Drive in 1990.

Around the same time Monster Lair was released, Westone began developing a sequel to Monster World specifically for the Sega Mark III titled Monster World II: Dragon no Wana ("Dragon's Trap"). However, when the game finished development in 1989, Sega already discontinued sales and support for the Mark III in Japan, but still sold the Master System overseas. As a result, an English-language version was still released for the Master System under the name of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (titled as such since it was the third Wonder Boy game for the Master System, even though its officially recognized as the fourth Wonder Boy game in Japan). The game eventually saw a Japanese release for the Game Gear in 1992.

Wonder Boy V: Monster World III was the final game in the Monster World series to be given an international release outside of Japan, and the last game in the Wonder Boy series. Known as Wonder Boy in Monster World in the west, it was made the first game specifically for the Mega Drive and its American counterpart, the Genesis. A version was also released for the Master System exclusively in Europe, making it the only Wonder Boy game to be released on both platforms.

Monster World IV was the series' last installment, released only on the Mega Drive exclusively in Japan. Exclusive to that title is a main, female character named Arsha. Instead of boasting a medieval look, it features a Middle Eastern style. This is the only game part of the Monster World series while not being part of the Wonder Boy series.

Game classification by series[link]

Part of both series[link]

• Super Wonder Boy: Monster World
• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
• Wonder Boy V Monster World III

Exclusive to the Wonder Boy series[link]

• Wonder Boy
• Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair

Exclusive to the Monster World series[link]

• Monster World IV

Complete list of games[link]

• Wonder Boy (Arcade (System 1))
  • Wonder Boy (SG-1000)
  • Super Wonder Boy (Sega Mark III/Master System, released outside Japan as Wonder Boy)
    • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (NA: 03/31/08, JP: 04/08/08, EU: 04/11/08)
  • Wonder Boy (Game Gear, released in America as The Revenge of Drancon)
  • Ported to the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 by Activision

• Wonder Boy: Monster Land (Arcade (System 2), Japan only)
  • • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (JP: 06/21/11)
  • Super Wonder Boy: Monster World (Sega Mark III/Master System, released outside Japan as Wonder Boy in Monster Land)
    • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (JP: 12/24/08, EU: 01/23/09, NA: 01/26/09)
  • Ported to the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari ST and Amiga by Activision as Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land

• Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Arcade (System 16))
  • Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM², released in North America as Monster Lair)
    • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (NA: 12/17/07, EU: 12/21/07, JP: 04/15/08)
  • Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Mega Drive, released only in Japan and Europe)
    • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (JP: 01/06/09, EU: 03/06/09, NA: 04/20/09)

• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Master System, a Japanese version titled Monster World II was planned but unreleased)
  • • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (EU: 10/09/09, NA: 11/09/09)
  • Monster World II: Dragon no Wana (Game Gear, released in Europe as Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap)

• Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (Mega Drive/Genesis, released outside Japan as Wonder Boy in Monster World)
  • • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (JP: 03/27/07, NA: 04/23/07, EU: 05/04/07)
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World (Master System, Europe only)

• Monster World IV (Mega Drive, Japan)
  • • Re-released for the Wii Virtual Console (JP: 01/15/08, NA + EU: 05/10/12)

• Sega Ages Vol.29 : Monster World Complete Collection (PlayStation 2, Japan only)

• Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network)
  • • Consists of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV

Modified ports[link]

Westone, the developer of the series, owns the copyrights to each game in the series, while Sega owns the Wonder Boy trademark. Because Westone was an independent company from Sega, this created a unique situation which allowed other game companies, namely Hudson Soft and Jaleco, to publish ports of the games to non-Sega platforms under license from Westone, provided that they changed the titles and characters to remove all references to "Wonder Boy" or "Monster World".

The first of these modified ports was Adventure Island (originally released in Japan as Takahashi-Meijin no Bōken Jima) for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Hudson Soft, a modified version of the first Wonder Boy in which the main character replaced with a caricature of real-life Japanese video game expert named Takahashi Meijin. Adventure Island was followed by a series of sequels that were independently produced by Hudson Soft with no involvement from Westone.

Following the launch of the PC Engine (aka. TurboGrafx-16 in the US), Hudson Soft released ports of all the subsequent Wonder Boy games for the platform with the exception of Monster World IV. The ones that were modified included Bikkuriman World (a port of Monster Land released exclusively in Japan with characters from the Bikkuriman trading stickers), Dragon's Curse (a port of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap released as Adventure Island in Japan) and The Dynastic Hero (a port of Wonder Boy in Monster World released as Chō Eiyū Densetsu Dynastic Hero in Japan). The PC Engine port of Monster Lair was the only PCE version of a Wonder Boy game that was left unchanged from its source game (although, the US version omitted the "Wonder Boy III" portion of the title).

A port of Wonder Boy: Monster Land was also released for the Family Computer titled Saiyūki World, developed by NMK for Jaleco and released in Japan in 1988. This was followed by a sequel unrelated to the Wonder Boy series titled Saiyūki World 2 in 1990, which was released in North America Whomp 'Em.

Mônica[link]

Mônica's background[link]

The first three Monster World games were published in Brazil by Tec Toy, Sega's official Brazilian distributor. The games were translated into Portuguese and the characters were replaced with characters from the Brazilian comic book, Turma da Mônica (Monica's Gang). Other cartoon characters were superimposed on the Brazilian releases of Teddy Boy, Ghost House, Astro Warrior, Psycho Fox, and Kung Fu Kid. (The latter three forming the Sapo Xule series)

Mônica games[link]

• Mônica: No Castelo do Dragão (Monica in the Dragon's Castle) – Sega Master System
• Turma da Mônica em O Resgate (Monica's Gang: The Rescue) – Sega Master System
• Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros (Monica's Gang in Monster Land) – Sega Mega Drive

Comic books[link]

Wonder Boy was adapted into two stories that ran in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, which were loosely based on Wonder Boy in Monster World. "Wonder Boy in Demon World" ran between issues 2-9 and saw Shion, the protagonist who has a dislike of being referred to as Wonder Boy, fighting to save some people whilst staving off a demon curse. "Wonder Boy in Ghost Land" ran between issues 22-27, and saw Shion travel to a world of ghostly dinosaurs.

External links[link]

• Official Monster World Complete Collection website from Sega (Japanese)
• Westone Bit Entertainment (developers of the series) (Japanese)

Ken Block
Ken Block in 2008.
Nationality	American
Born	(1967-11-21) 21 November 1967 (age 44) Long Beach, California
2012 Rally America
Debut season	2005
Current team	Monster World Rally Team
Best finish	2nd Overall in Rally America in 2006 and 2008
Awards
2004[1] 2005[1] 2009	• One of the most influential people (#17) in Sports Business Journal • Ad Age's Marketing 50 • One of the Fast 50 in Fast Company Magazine • 40 Under 40 Awards, Sports Business Journal • Rally America's Rookie of the Year • Gymkhana 2 was 2009's #4 most viewed viral video

Ken Block (born November 21, 1967, in Long Beach, California)^[2] is a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes.^[1] Block has also competed in many action sports events including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross.

Rallying[link]

2005[link]

In 2005, Ken Block began his national rallying career with the Vermont SportsCar team.^[3] Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class.^[4] During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group N class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship.^[3] At the end of his first rallying year, Ken Block had won the Rally America Rookie of the Year award.^[5]

2006[link]

In 2006, Ken Block along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru.^[3] Through this deal with Subaru, the teammates became known as "Subaru Rally Team USA."^[3] With the new rally season, Block also got a brand new Vermont SportsCar prepped 2006 Subaru WRX STi.^[3] He competed in the first ever X Games rally event at X Games XII.^[3] In the competition, Block ended up finishing third to take the bronze.^[3] He went on to compete in the 2006 Rally America National Championship, where he finished second overall.^[3]

2007[link]

In 2007, Ken Block competed in the X Games XIII rally event, where he placed second overall and won a silver medal.^[5] In the 2007 Rally America National Championship, Block finished third overall.^[5] During this season, Block also entered in a few rounds of the World Rally Championship; Rally Mexico and Rally New Zealand.^[4] In Rally New Zealand, Block recorded two top-five stage times in the Group N class.^[4] At the end of 2007, Block had achieved 19 podiums and 8 overall victories in rally events.^[1]

2008[link]

In 2008, Block was provided with a brand new rally prepped 2008 Subaru WRX STi to compete. Block decided to compete in the Rallye Baie-des Chaleurs of the Canadian Rally Championship to gain some experience with his new 2008 rally car and prepare for the World Rally Championships later this year.^[6] Block gained his first Canadian rally win at the event.^[6] This was only the second event for the new car.^[6] Block and his co-driver were unable to get any championship points at the event due to not having a Canadian competition license.^[6] Block competed in the Rally New York USA competition and finished in first place.^[7] In the X Games XIV rally competition, Block finished tied for third place with Dave Mirra.^[8] This occurrence was due to both competitors having issues with their car. Block, who made it to the semi-finals of the event, had a radiator problem after landing the car awkwardly on a jump. With both bronze place competitors in damaged cars unable to compete, the medals were awarded to both of them.^[8]

Block competed in the 2008 Rally America National championship, which concluded on October 17, 2008. In the event, he finished second overall with a strong victory in the last event. In the Lake Superior Performance Rally stage, Block finished over one minute ahead of his next closest competitor and secured the second overall position.^[9] Next up for Block this rally season is three World Rally Championship events.^[4]

2009[link]

Block appeared in a segment of motoring show Top Gear.^[10]

2010[link]

Ken Block testing Ford Fiesta for the 2010 Rally America season

Block driving a Ford Focus RS WRC at the 2010 Rallye de France

On January 6, 2010 the Monster World Rally Team announced Ken as their driver for selected rounds of the World Rally Championship, in which he will be campaigning the Monster/Ford Racing Focus RS WRC 08. His car will be prepared and run by the North of England based M-Sport, who also prepare the official Ford WRC cars. He will be simultaneously running in his sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta, as well as his fifth X-games. Ken will also be the first ever American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. On February 27, Block won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Rally America) for the 5th consecutive time. This broke the record held by John Buffum.^[11] Ken is currently being trained by former Ford factory driver Markko Märtin. At the Spain rally, he won his first 2 points in World Rally Championship.

2011[link]

On March 23, Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were taken to hospital, having rolled their Ford Fiesta RS WRC during the shakedown stage of the 2011 Rally de Portugal in Faro, Portugal.^[12] A representative of the Monster World Rally team later stated that both men were fine.^[13]

Complete Rally America results[link]

(key)

Complete WRC results[link]

* Season in progress.

PWRC results[link]

Other motorsport activities[link]

On October 15, 2009, it was reported that Block was close to a deal to join the World Rally Championship in a new Ford team. Long time co-driver Alex Gelsomino is also reportedly involved in the deal. Former Subaru WRC driver Chris Atkinson has been reported to be lined up as Block's team-mate in the all-new Monster Energy Drink Ford World Rally Team.^[14]

In 2005, Ken Block along with his DC Shoes associates participated in the Gumball 3000 Rally. For the event they sent out three modified 2004 Subaru WRX STi's sponsored by DC Shoes.^[15][16]

In 2006, Ken Block competed in the One Lap of America competition along with Brian Scotto. They were teamed up in a 2006 Subaru WRX STi and finished forty-fifth overall.^[17]

In 2006, for the Discovery Channel show Stunt Junkies, Ken Block jumped his Subaru WRX STi rally car 171 feet (52 m) and a max height of 25 feet (7.6 m).^[3] The whole episode was dedicated to Ken Block attempting this stunt.

In 2007, Ken Block joined the DC Shoes Snowboarding team at New Zealand's Snow Park.^[3] Block did massive jumps and assisted in snowboarding tricks while driving his rally car on the mountain alongside the snowboarders. The session made the cover of the December 2007 issue of Snowboarder Magazine and closed out the MTN.LAB 1.5 DVD.^[3]

In 2009, for the BBC show Top Gear, Ken took James May out for Gymkhana-style driving at Block's stunt course at Inyokern Airport, an operational California airport, also starring Ricky Carmichael, whom Ken describes as 'a good friend'.

In 2010, for the BBC show Top Gear, Ken took the feature car from the previous episode (a Reliant Robin) for a lap of the Top Gear test track. He rolled the car and was unable to complete a lap but was unhurt.

On January 6, 2010, the announcement is made as Ken joins up with Ford and begins his WRC career driving both a Ford Fiesta and Focus RS WRC.

On August 24, 2010, Block released the first of a three part Gymkhana 3 video release featuring his new Ford Fiesta.^[18]

Ken Block also holds the world record for the world's fastest snow cat, a modified Subaru STI called a Trax STI.^{[citation needed]}

On September 14, 2010, Block's third Gymkhana video, featuring a Ford Fiesta, was released on YouTube.^[19] The video got more than seven million views in its first week.

On August 16, 2011, the fourth Gymkhana video, The Hollywood Megamercial was released on YouTube, featuring Block driving around the Universal Studios backlot.^[20]

Involvement In Colin McRae: Dirt 2 and Dirt 3[link]

Ken Block is featured as a driver in Codemasters Colin McRae: Dirt 2, along with his Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza.
In Dirt 3 he is seen as a driver and Gymkhana teacher, his Monster World Rally Team vehicles are available in the game.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ken Block

• Ken Block's Official site
• Monster World Rally Team
• Rally Results and News
• Subaru Rally Team USA
• Rally America Website
• Ken Block Official Merchandise Store
• Ken Block Interview
• Gymkhana racing improved by Ken Block, Video, ~4min
• dirt2game.com

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.^[1]

The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad.^[2] Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination."^[3]

The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.

Hart wrote another book in 1999, entitled A View from the Year 3000,^[4] voiced in the perspective of a person from that future year and ranking the most influential people in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictional people from 2000–3000, but the remainder are actual people. These were taken mostly from the 1992 edition, with some re-ranking of order.

Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)[link]

Rank	Name	Time Frame	Image	Occupation	Influence
1	Muhammad	c. 570–632		Secular and religious leader	The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist.
2	Isaac Newton	1643–1727		Scientist	English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion laid the groundwork for classical mechanics.
3	Jesus Christ	7–2 BC – 26–36 AD		Spiritual leader	The central figure of Christianity, revered by Christians as the Son of God and the incarnation of God.
4	Buddha	563–483 BC		Spiritual leader	Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism and is also considered an Gautama Buddha in Hinduism.
5	Confucius	551–479 BC		Philosopher	Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indonesian thought and life. Founded Confucianism, and influenced Neo-Confucianism and New Confucianism.
6	St. Paul	5–67 AD		Christian apostle	One of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, credited with proselytizing and spreading Christianity outside of Palestine (mainly to the Romans) and author of numerous letters of the New Testament of the Bible.
7	Cài Lún	50–121 AD		Political official in imperial China	Widely regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process.
8	Johannes Gutenberg	1398–1468		Inventor	German printer who invented the mechanical printing press.
9	Christopher Columbus	1451–1506	70px	Explorer	Italian navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents.
10	Albert Einstein	1879–1955		Scientist	German theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2.

See also[link]

• Time 100

References[link]

1. ^ Michael H. Hart The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. first published in 1978, reprinted with minor revisions 1992. ISBN 978-0-8065-1068-2
2. ^ The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Michael H. Hart, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History", Citadel Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-0-8065-1350-8
4. ^ Michael H. Hart. A view from the year 3000: a ranking of the 100 most influential persons of all time; first published in 1999

External links[link]

• Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People

Richard Alexander Burns

File:Richard Burns.jpg Richard Burns in 2003.
Personal information
Nationality	British English
Born	(1971-01-17)17 January 1971
Died	25 November 2005(2005-11-25) (aged 34)
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1990–2003
Teams	Subaru, Mitsubishi, Peugeot
Rallies	104
Championships	1 (2001)
Rally wins	10
Podiums	34
Stage wins	277
Total points	351
First rally	1990 RAC Rally
First win	1998 Safari Rally
Last win	2001 Rally New Zealand
Last rally	2003 Rally Catalunya

Richard Alexander Burns (17 January 1971 – 25 November 2005) was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002. His co-driver from the 1991 to 2003 seasons was Robert Reid.

Career[link]

Pre-WRC[link]

He started driving in a field near his house at the age of eight, in his father's old Triumph 2000. At eleven Burns joined the Under 17 Car Club, where he became driver of the year in 1984. Just two years later his father arranged a trip to Jan Churchill's Welsh Forest Rally School near Newtown, Powys where Burns drove a Ford Escort for the day, and from that moment on he knew what he wanted to do. He badgered his father into letting him join the Craven Motor Club in his home town Reading where his talent was spotted by rally enthusiast David Williams. In 1988 he entered his first rallies in his own Talbot Sunbeam. The car was too basic to make much impression and in 1989 he had to borrow other competitors cars in order to progress. To this end he rallied the stages of Panaround, Bagshot, Mid-Wales, Millbrook, Severn Valley, Kayel Graphics and the Cambrian Rally^[1] as these were all rallies which included stages used on more prestigious events.^[2]

In 1990 he joined the Peugeot Challenge after David Williams bought Burns a Peugeot 205 GTI. He got his first taste of a World Rally Championship event in Great Britain as a prize for winning the Peugeot Challenge that year. In 1991 Burns met Robert Reid, the man who was to become his co-driver for the next 12 years. For 1992 Williams bought Burns a Group N Subaru Legacy and with the support of Prodrive won the National Championship. This year also saw Burns help out Colin McRae with his gravel notes^[3] as Prodrive saw him as a promising driver for the future.

In 1993 he joined the Subaru Rally Team for the British Rally Championship alongside Alister McRae, driving a Subaru Legacy. He won four rounds, the Vauxhall Sport, Pirelli, Scottish, and Manx International, and became the youngest ever British Champion. He finished seventh on that year's snowy RAC Rally. In the wake of his 1993 success, Burns remained with Subaru for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, contesting the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which included the New Zealand and Australia Rallies, and also his home WRC round. His best result was third on the 1995 RAC Rally, behind team mates Carlos Sainz and winner and world champion Colin McRae.

WRC[link]

1996–1998: Mitsubishi[link]

1996 saw an opening with Mitsubishi Ralliart at international level, seized upon with sufficient vigour to guide Burns to victory on that year's Rally New Zealand – albeit then, only a fixture within the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Even so, the fending off of such calibre competition as works-backed Subaru heavyweights Kenneth Eriksson and Piero Liatti only added gloss to an increasingly fervoured reputation. Come 1998, he had won his maiden World Rally Championship event on the treacherous stages of the Safari Rally, piloting a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. He added a second career victory on his swansong outing for Mitsubishi on that year's Rally Great Britain, the event where the dramatic late retirement from fourth of Toyota's Carlos Sainz secured the drivers' title for his team-mate and first leg super special stage retiree on a patch of oil, Tommi Makinen, as well as confirming the constructors' accolade for Mitsubishi.

1999–2001: Subaru[link]

Burns driving a Subaru Impreza WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland.

Burns moved to the Prodrive-run Subaru World Rally Team under David Richards for the 1999 season, joining Juha Kankkunen and Bruno Thiry as part of the factory team driving Subaru Impreza WRCs, replacing Ford-bound fellow Briton, Colin McRae. Burns worked his way to a career high of second place in the drivers' standings, adding to his win tally. He also led Subaru to second in the constructors' series behind the Formula One departing Toyota team. On that year's Rally Argentina, he was upstaged for victory by virtue of a team order mix-up by veteran team-mate Kankkunen. He was a long-time contender for the title in 2000, but crashed out on the Rally Finland in mid-season handing the momentum to eventual champion, and future team-mate, the Peugeot driver Marcus Grönholm who had been competing in his first year as a full-time factory driver. Even so, a stirling comeback from the lower reaches of the top thirty to win on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain kept the Burns name well entrenched within public consciousness.

Burns at the 2001 Rally Finland.

The 2001 rally season began inauspiciously for Burns – neither of the season curtain raisers, the Monte Carlo Rally or the Swedish Rally, yielded points scores, placing in peril before it had begun, the Englishman's title bid. Fourth place in a rain-drenched Portugal kicked his campaign into action prior to second place finishes on the gravel rallies of Argentina and Cyprus, on both occasions to Ford's Colin McRae. Nonetheless, both the Scotsman and Monte Carlo victor Tommi Makinen were later to hit upon snags of their own, while Burns' own consistent points scoring culminated in a first and only individual rally victory of the season in New Zealand, with McRae beaten into second. Burns then finished second on the Rally Australia to close within two points of new standalone series leader McRae, although the Scotsman and Makinen were to struggle to fifth and sixth respectively on this event (and the last of the drivers' points-scoring positions) amid controversy over McRae arriving to time control too late at the end of the first leg of the event to be able to choose a favourable running order on the ball-bearing gravel for day two. Meanwhile the Finn, for his part, continued to struggle with a newly homologated version of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution World Rally Car he had been entrusted with, which had only been introduced by his team a few rounds earlier in San Remo. A four-way title decider, also including nine-point adrift outsider, Ford driver Carlos Sainz, thus beckoned on the final round of the series in Great Britain.

There, all three of Burns' rivals were to have suffered retirement from the event by the end of the second leg proceedings on Saturday. On Sunday, November 25, 2001, therefore, Burns' third place finish behind Peugeot duo Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera enabled him to become the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship. When Richard passed the finishing line at the final stage of the final rally in 2001, Burns uttered words thought to be paying tribute to his codriver Robert Reid: "You're the best in the world". To commemorate the title success, Subaru produced a special edition of the Subaru Impreza in the UK called the RB5[1][2]. A messy legal battle ensued for the Englishman's services for the following 2002 season, from which fresh suitors, 2000 and 2001 manufacturers' champions Peugeot emerged victorious.

2002–2003: Peugeot[link]

Burns with a Peugeot 206 WRC at the 2002 Rallye Deutschland

Burns joined Peugeot for the 2002 season. Although Peugeot were the pacesetting team of the period, Burns had difficulty matching the pace of team-mates Marcus Grönholm (on gravel) and Gilles Panizzi (on tarmac). Therefore the existing tally of ten WRC triumphs were not to be added to, with the quest for a second world title proving equally fruitless for Burns. He cobbled together a title challenge, albeit founded more on regular podium finishes than on victories, for much of the 2003 season – a feat which did not convince him to remain at the wheel of the 206 WRC. The gloomy prospect of a continued winning drought with the French team left Burns poised to rejoin Subaru, having signed for them for the second time beginning with the 2004 season, the ploy being to couple him with the eventual 2003 title winner, Norway's Petter Solberg. In November 2003, however, with the Englishman heading to the season-ending Wales Rally GB still with a chance of winning the title, Burns suffered a blackout while driving with Ford driver Markko Märtin to the rally. He was withdrawn from the event, and thus the title fight, and was later diagnosed with an astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumour.^[4] Treatment during 2004 was followed by surgery in April 2005 that was described as "very successful".^[5] But the diagnosis, that this type of brain tumor was malignant, was only soon realized. On August 2005 a fan day was made, where his fans were invited to see his private car collection, but he wasn't at this time able to drive so his co-driver Robert Reid took seat on his private cars.

WRC Victories[link]

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	46th Safari Rally Kenya	1998	Robert Reid	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4
2	54th Network Q Rally of Great Britain	1998	Robert Reid	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5
3	46th Acropolis Rally of Greece	1999	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
4	12th Telstra Rally Australia	1999	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
5	55th Network Q Rally of Great Britain	1999	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
6	48th Sameer Safari Rally Kenya	2000	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
7	33° TAP Rallye de Portugal	2000	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
8	20° Rally Argentina	2000	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
9	56th Network Q Rally of Great Britain	2000	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC
10	31st Propecia Rally New Zealand	2001	Robert Reid	Subaru Impreza WRC

Complete WRC results[link]