Tony Fall RIP

Posted: December 4, 2007 10:16 PM

Tony was in Tanzania, assisting the organisers of the East African Safari Classic Rally, when he was taken ill. He died in his sleep on the night of Saturday 1 December, of a suspected heart attack.

Richard Anthony Fall was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1940. As a car salesman, he was a club rally driver in a Mini. He was soon spotted by BMC Competitions team manager Stuart Turner, and co-opted into the works team alongside Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen and Rauno Aaltonen. His first major international victory in the Mini was the 1966 Circuit of Ireland, co-driven by Henry Liddon.

He rallied with BMC for three seasons - including competing on the original London Sydney Marathon and finishing 23rd in a Morris 1800 - and then joined the Lancia team, where he achieved his highest-ever finish on the RAC Rally of Great Britain: 3rd in 1969.

He joined Datsun for three seasons, achieving many high placings on world rallies, at the same time driving for other factory teams, including BMW, Porsche and VW.

Tony tackled the World Cup Rally from London to Mexico in 1970 with a celebrity co-driver, footballer Jimmy Greaves, and they finished 6th. Twenty-five years later, he competed on the re-run of the event, finishing one place higher. Tony achieved 12 international rally wins in his driving career.

A long association with General Motors commenced in 1974, when Tony established Dealer Opel Team at Tonge Park, Yorkshire, employing driver talent such as Ari Vatanen and Tony Pond.

Success in the UK with DOT led to his appointment as Director of Motor Sport for GM Euro Sport, based in Russelsheim, Germany, in 1978. Under his direction, Walter Rohrl became World Rally Champion in 1982, and - in the latter part of the decade - Tony introduced the Opel-Vauxhall Lotus formula for single-seat racing cars, which launched the careers of many Grand Prix stars, including Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Tony Fall returned to the UK in 1990, initially as manager then owner of the motor sport safety equipment manufacturer, Safety Devices. He was managing director of the Newmarket, Suffolk, based company - famous for the production of roll-over cages - at the time of his death.

Tony, who in recent years had driven a replica of his original Datsun in historic rallies with Yvonne Mehta, was in Africa on "holiday", helping with the organisation of an event he loved, and which had been the scene of many of his triumphs.

His wife Pat, sons Richard and Oliver from a previous marriage, and grandchildren Louis (8), Charles (6) and Mia (4), survive him.

---

Statement from the chairman of Safety Devices International, Bevan Braithwaite OBE, FREng:
"Tony's passing comes as a huge shock to everyone, as he appeared to be in the best of health and was applying his great energy to his many interests. His leadership of Safety Devices International occupied much of his time, and the past two years had been spent putting systems in place that ensured the smooth operation of the business, so that he could take more time off participating in his great love - motor sport.

"As far as customers of SDI are concerned, you should be assured that the business is in excellent shape, with two and half thousand products fully digitised for production, and established procedures for the development of safety cages for new vehicles.

"In the short term, I will be assisting Pat Fall in the management of the company."