Motor racing, Ernest Hemingway said over half a century ago, is among a very select number of activities that he qualifies as real sports. Mountaineering and bullfighting are Hemingway's other two picks. All three share, above all, the ever-present element of danger that's in the back of the minds of each athlete doing it.

Nowadays, racing has become a lot safer but bike racing and rallying, in particular, have remained particularly dangerous and this here is a small tribute to those brave men and women who go through mud, dust, hail, and worse on the rally stages all around the world.

Rally drivers are of a different breed

"We own the sky, you and I," are the words uttered by at the beginning of Antti Kalhola's most recent video tribute to the world of racing. As Gunship's 'Fly For Your Life' goes on in the background, the video prepares us for takeoff by cascading scenes of drivers getting ready, putting on their helmets, or buckling their seatbelts. Safety is important, especially if you prepare to drive at perilously fast rates of speed on dirt roads lined by trees as rally drivers often do.

The Finn, known for making arguably some of the finest motorsport videos out there, has centered most of his work around two series: the World Rally Championship and Formula 1. It was only last year that Kalhola put out a lengthy video paying tribute to the wild, wild days of Group B rallying and, more recently, he released a video that takes us back to the golden era of F1 in the '70s and '80s.

This video too starts off in the old days but, as we're greeted with scenes dominated by the mighty Lancia 037, the Audi Quattro, or the Ford Escort RS1600, the themes slightly change as we get closer and closer to the present day. In short, it's one thrilling ride through five decades of rallying (the first season of the World Rally Championship took place in 1973) that you simply can't miss.