IHAD NO HESITATION IN ACCEPTING AN INVITATION FROM GM-Opel in January 1983 to visit the Alps and watch preparations for the Monte-Carlo Rally. Apart from the possibility of being taken for a spin – in every sense – by Henri Toivonen in his Opel Ascona 400, it would be an opportunity to get up to speed – again, quite literally – with the world of rallying before the Formula 1 season kicked off eight weeks later. There was also the attraction of catching up with fellow Irishmen Fred Gallagher and Terry Harryman, co-drivers for Toivonen and Ari Vatanen respectively.