Ahead of 1971, Escudería Repsol had grown through successes in various series, creating a buzz at every race that they attended. The team embarked upon the series with the intention of not leaving their rivals with any chance of victory.
During this season Eladio Doncel would continue as director of the Escudería, although he would make occasional appearances as a driver.
In the Spanish Rally Championship, Alberto Ruiz Gimenez was the new main man in the Escudería, tasked with retaining the title. He won the opening race of the season, the Rally Fallas in Valencia, with Javier Bueno as co–driver –although later he would also use Ricardo Muñoz in the role.
The results were brilliant from the start, with victories for Ruiz Gimenez in the Valencia event, Criterium Luis de Baviera, Barcelona–Andorra, 2000 Virajes, Rally Bosch and Costa del Sol, plus wins for Lencina in the Costa Brava and Rally del Salmon. That left the Escudería at the top of the standings shortly before the end of the season.
But the rules for the Spanish Rally Championship were slightly peculiar. The series began to see nationally produced cars and others with nationally produced components (cylinder heads, camshafts etc) participating. The rules that season were designed to award extra points to cars made in Spain.
That decreased the worth of the results taken by Escudería Repsol, who headed the results at practically every race but had to go with young driver Lucas Sainz and an Alpine 1300 –considered a Spanish car– in order to make places count.
There were also excellent partial results obtained at circuits and mountains, but these would only earn the Castilla Mountain Racing title for Jose Manuel Lencina.
