The 1993 Trust Bank Safari Rally winner Juha Kankkunen (second right) and his navigator Juha Piironen (second left) in a jovial mood while being interviewed by Nation reporter Pamela Makotsi after winning the race.
Finn Juha Kankkunen, the former world and Safari Rally champion, is one of the best known international rally drivers in Kenya by the generation that grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s for his first name and spectacular driving skills.
As the 1985 Marlboro Safari Rally progressed, Kankkunen’s first name kept on popping up in live KBC radio bulletins, and the frequency increased when he started climbing up the leaderboard with many Kenyans inquiring whether he was related to Juha Kalulu, the then popular Taifa Leo daily cartoon strip by E.G Gitau.
Gitau’s imagination created a lazy but witty character with a peculiar name which never existed.
“I was told by people at Toyota Kenya that I had a namesake in Kenya later which I found amusing but I never came to meet Juha Kalulu,” recalled Kankkunen in a video call on Thursday from Finland.
The 31-year-old Group B Toyota Celica Twincan Turbo that Juha Kankkunen drove to victory in the 1985 Marlboro Safari Rally at Toyota Kenya (now CFAO Motors Kenya) showroom in Nairobi on May 27, 2021.
Well, his name is pronounced “Yuha”, not “Juha”.
Kankkunen’s love for Kenya remains undiminished decades later and he has a desire to help the country rediscover its once revered position as home of the toughest rally in the world with competent home grown drivers who gave the full time European professionals a run for their money.
The former flying Finn was last week appointed Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Deputy Team Principal.
A team principal in the World Rally Championship (WRC) is responsible for managing a team of rally drivers and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the team. The principal also responsible for identifying and developing talent.
He joins Jarri-Matti Latvala, the team principal of the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team who has overseen many championship victories for Toyota since he replaced another former Safari and world champion Tommi Maklnen who is one of the founders of the team, in 2017.
Kankkunen will play a bigger role as Latvala will also compete in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship in 2025.
Forty years ago he immediately connect with the Kenyan people after winning the 1985 Marlboro Safari Rally on his first attempt aged 24 years. A huge Kankkunen fan base grew only rivalled by that of his compatriot Rauno Aaltonen who raced in Kenya for 23 years but never conquered the Safari despite three second placed finishes and three third placed finishes.
In comparison, Kankkunen won in 1991 in a Lancia Delta Integrale HF and in 1993 aboard a Toyota Celica GT4 Turbo. He last competed at the Safari in 2002 finishing eighth in a Hyundai Accent WRC3.
Kankkunen is a friendly, talkative, easy going man who quickly made lifelong friendships with many Kenyans. But he singled out Mike Kirkland and Patrick Njiru as very dear friends.
World champion Juha Kankkunen (left) is received by Kenyan driving ace Patrick Njiru at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi ahead of the Martini Safari Rally.
“I came to Kenya to celebrate my 60th birthday in 2019 with my boys as a guest of Mike Kirkland. We went to Leopard Beach hotel, and we also went to Tamarind dhow ride. It was a very good holiday,” he recalled.
“Then Patrick takes me to his petrol station in Kibera slums. I see ordinary Kenyan people. Very good people, very friendly. Also Patrick we talk many times and he comes to Finland.
“He is a very good friend and good driver,” said Kankkunen
Njiru, a career Subaru driver, was running a petrol station in Kibera and never shied away from inviting his foreign rally friends like Kankkunen, Marku Alen, Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya to get a real feel of Kenya.
“Juha loved Kenya and Kibera and many people would come to buy paraffin and feel very happy to see all these stars.
You welcome people to your home and it was no big deal. We are always in touch,” said Njiru in reference to his friendship with these drivers despite the fact that they were not Subaru team members.
Kankkunen said he felt very pleased with the compliments of President William Ruto who confessed to staying up late in the night to catch a glimpse of him in action in the 1980s when the Kenyan Head of State visited the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team operation base at the Service Park of the 2023 Safari.
Kankkunen had in 2021 met former President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi where he presented the 1985 Safari Rally winning car, the Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo, as part of Toyota’s celebrations and return to Kenya since 1998 as a factory team.
“Ambassador Fatuma Mohammed and Phineas Kimathi came to my house in Finland and we discussed the future of the Safari and I promised to assist. They also introduced Kenyan coffee and hospitality to my country.”
Mohamed, then the Sports CS, opened the Safari Rally office in Lahti.
Additionally, Kenya set up WRC Safari Rally coffee shops in jyvaskyla during WRC Rally Finland with the objective of promoting Kenya as a major tourist destination and selling Kenyan coffee and promoting the Greening Legacy Project in Kenya which plans to plant 19 million trees.
For Kankkunen, his new appointment is like returning home. While he has been associated with Toyota for a long time since the return of the Japanese manufacturer in the World Rally Championship in 2017 playing peripheral consultant roles, Kankkunen has been part of the Toyota family since 1985.
He will return to Kenya with a basketful of goodies. Topping the shopping list are two commitments to Kenya.
“I will do everything possible within my means to make sure that Safari remains in the World Rally Championship. For sure, it is the most important event. Drivers love it, and it makes the championship very exciting. You cannot be sure of winning the Safari,” drawled Kankkunen in his unmistakable Finnish accent.
“There is no comparison between the old Safari and this one. They are both tough. Yes, the Safari is short and fast but it still remains tough and unpredictable. I will also make sure to help young talented Kenyan drivers become world class drivers. It is sad when I see no Kenyan top drivers in Safari like in the past. I am very willing to assist in developing at least one or two drivers,” said Kankkunen who runs a rally school in Finland.
“I had very good competition with Shekhar Mehta, a very, very good driver. Also the other one at Lancia, Vic Preston. Yes! We were team mates. Also, Kirkland and Ian Duncan and Patrick were very good.”
Kankkunen said Kenya has shown that it has very good talented drivers going by the class of his generation especially Mehta and Duncan who won the 1994 Safari while Kankkunen raced here (1985-2002).
He said they demonstrated their depth with Kirkland finishing second in 1988 and 89 and Preston always leading in most editions of the Safari until something happened to his car.
“We always knew we had top Kenyan drivers to beat.”
He said Kenya must catch potential drivers while they are young which requires a proper programme.
Kenya started the Rallystar Programme as a Safari Rally legacy project in 2021 to nurture young Kenyans through the national and Africa championships.
Two drivers, McRae Kimathi and Hamza Anwar qualified to compete in the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) in the 2022/23 season races in Sweden, Portugal, Croatia, Greece using the same Ford Fiesta Rally 3 cars.
The Rallystar programme was cancelled by the government this year and the Talanta Rally Academy introduced.
Kankkunen does not hide his love for particularly the coast and Masai Mara.
“I go to Kenya every year with my friends from Finland to enjoy the sun, food and beer with my good friend Kirkland.
“He invited me to come to Kenya to drive in the East African Classic Safari in 2005 but it was not a good event for me after his navigator Juha Repo fell sick during the event and forced them to retire the Datsun 240 Z.
“Mike called me and asked if I wanted to drive in the East African Classic. I said why not? Give me a car and a sponsor and I will come to support you.”
Kirkland was the founder of the East Africa Classic Safari in 2003 before he sold the franchise to Surinder Thatthi. The event is now owned by Joey Ghose.
Kankkunen competed in the WRC from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers’ world championship titles, which were both once records in the series.
He is married to Pirjo and has two sons, Niko and Tino.
He drove for Toyota, Peugeot, Lancia, Subaru and Hyundai at the WRC level. He is aged 65 and is not about to slow down.
