JOHN BUFFUM RALLY DRIVER

This page was last edited on 26 December , at It's lucky for us then, that there are folks like John Buffum who keep the history of Audi and rally racing alive, and keep alive these amazing machines of the recent past. Route notes are critical since they are used by the co-driver to keep the car on course. In , he drove to a 12th place finish at Monte Carlo, sharing the driving chores with American roadracer Steve "Yogi" Behr. In , Buffum would once again reign supreme by finishing every rally that he entered; netting 8 wins and 2 podiums in 10 events. They started together in a Porsche in , but it was that proved to be the pivotal year. After graduating from college and enlisting in the Army as a mechanical engineer, Buffum was sent to Germany as a second lieutenant in a bridge-building company of the Corps of Engineers.

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It was during this period when Buffum's driving style started to mature, as he went from the reckless mode which earned him the nickname "Stuff'em Buffum" to raoly championship mode.

At this point in time, Buffum had laid claim to the most national championships 11 and most rally victories in the world Rallye Auto Charlevoix Michelin Canada.

When looking back at the Group B era of rallying, John considers these cars as most amazing but also quite demanding to drive.

John Buffum - rally profile

With Doug Shepherd moving into a factory driver's role with Dodge, Buffum hired veteran co-driver Tom Grimshaw, and the pair won back-to-back-to-back championships, including their undefeated season. In Like a Lamb For John, this is what rallying was about, little knowing that his perception would soon change.

vuffum Buffum is also well remembered as being one of raally very few representatives of the Group B era in the United States thanks to his partnership with Audi. Audi was the first manufacturer to successfully introduce all wheel drive to street and racing cars in great numbers. You'd never know in a quick chat just what he had accomplished during his storied racing career. Retrieved December 31, By the time Buffum started driving the Audi factory backed A1 Quattro, he had already become one of the sport's best drivers.

John immediately bought a Porsche T to compete in both regional and international rallies.

John Buffum - Wikipedia

John decided to move away from active competition at the end of his undefeated year since retiring while on top is always a good thing. Prior to the Audi Quattro, all wheel drive was firmly planted in the truck and Jeep world, and certainly not something johnn might find in a high performance car.

The same certainly can not be said for today's Audis.

This form of racing puts driver and co-driver on closed public roads paved, unpaved, snowy, muddy, wet, dry, forested, desert-like and everywhere in between in a race butfum the clock. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Audi also made use of dry sump oiling and a remote reservoir in the trunk along with a gargantuan radiator style oil cooler mounted atop the trunk lid under the wing.

Retrieved from " https: He would drive a Mini Cooper albeit the TSD events were not focused on pure driving skill but rather on the ability to respect the pace set by the officials. Buffum became known for his ability to handle the highly variable conditions of a rally course, his photographic memory of roads and turns and most importantly for his ability to drive fast enough to set the fastest time, but with enough sense to keep the car guffum its wheels long enough to finish the event.

It was there that he saw all-out, World Rallying for the first time, and bought a Rrally T to compete in both regional and international rallies. Buffum became known for his ability to take charge of the ever-changing conditions of a rally course, his photographic memory of roads and turns, and his ability to drive with abandon to post the fastest time, but with enough competition sense to finish the event.

John Buffum

Meeting Buffum was a very special thing for me given given my life long passion for Audi and for rally racing. In fact, it won so many events so raoly that teams and drivers were concerned that the sanctioning bodies would outlaw all wheel drive in rallying just as they had done in other forms of racing.

HUGE aluminum skid plates protect the vital underside bits. When the driver lifted off of the throttle all of the pressurized air would slam into the closed throttle plate, and then pulse back towards the turbocharger building up incredible pressure inside the lines after the cold side of the turbo. Show all driver photos Audi Quattro A2 S Rally Racing News John Buffum biography.

Rallye Perce-Neige Michelin Canada. Unsurprisingly, Buffum still drives an occasional rally. Washington Hillclimb, Rally Racing News.

John Buffum Bio

For those less familiar, first a quick primer on rallying. By the mid's performance rallying was gaining popularity in the U. Back when quattro first came out it was purpose built for racing with use in street cars being a secondary goal.