Rallying community mourns Safari veteran Hannu Mikkola

In this file photo taken January 20, 1976, FInnish driver Hannu Mikkola poses in his Opel Kadett GTE during the Monte-Carlo in Monte Carlo. Hannu Mikkola, one of the top 10 rally drivers of all time, has died of cancer aged 78, his sons and the World Rally Championship have said on February 27, 2021.

Photo credit: Photo | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Kenyan legend Patrick Njiru, a former Safari Rally Group “N” winner, said he was saddened by the death of the 78-year-old Finnish driver whom he described as “a very friendly and professional rally driver”.

Rally ace Hannu Mikkola, who died on Friday, was the first foreign driver to win the Safari Rally in 1971 when the event was considered the toughest round of the World Rally Championships.

Kenyan legend Patrick Njiru, a former Safari Rally Group “N” winner, said he was saddened by the death of the 78-year-old Finnish driver whom he described as “a very friendly and professional rally driver”.

“Mikkola was a very friendly person. I rallied against him in the Safari Rally between 1985 and 1987. It was a pleasure knowing him.“

“He was one of my hosts when I was invited to Finland where we were joined by other Finnish Rally legends,’’ said Njiru.

 “His son Vesa Mikkola is an active rally driver in Finland. He has another son who is based in the USA. Vesa had to withdraw from the current Arctic Rally after learning of  his father’s death.”

Ian Duncan, a former winner of the Safari Rally and multiple Kenya National Rally Championship title holder, said he was sad on learning of the death of a great driver, sentiments shared by Phineas Kimathi, the CEO of the WRC Safari Rally.

“I was of a tender age when I started following Mikkola and long before I started participating in the Safari Rally. He was a great driver having won the Safari Rally on two different occasions,’’ said Kimathi.

Despite retiring in the early 1990s, Mikkola’s 18 World Rally Championship victories kept him in the top-10 of the most successful rally drivers in history.

He won the 1983 World Rally Championship in an Audi Quattro, and finished three times as runner-up and as many times in third place.