Legendary Hannu Mikkola will always be part of Safari folklore
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.
What you need to know:
- Only seven minutes separated them and the younger Finn in underdog Opel took the victor’s laurels.
- Mikkola started his rallying career in Volvo cars in the early 1960s before moving to Ford then won the world title in 1983 in a 4 wheel drive Audi, and the British Rally Championship in 1978.
- He was last in Kenya in 2015 as a guest of the East African Classic Rally.
Only 31 drivers have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally in history but one distinction, the real crème de la crème Hannu Mikkola who passed on February 26, will always be part of the event’s folklore and stuff of what true legends are made of.
Mikkola, navigated by Swede Gunnar Palm, took the Safari to the rest of the world in 1972 after 20 years when he became the first overseas driver to conquer the East African Safari Rally which had eluded the best European professionals in the best competition cars buoyed by mega budgets.
From then henceforth, only three Kenyans – Joginder Singh (1974/76), Shekhar Mehta (1979-82) and Ian Duncan (1994) - ever lifted the victor’s crown.
Mikkola’s first victory was mainstream news in Britain and the rest of the world including the influential New York Times on that April 3 at 9:35am when he led 18 finishers from 94 entrants to the winner’s rostrum ramp in Dar-es-Salaam after 3,750 miles of competition in five days and nights through Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Such was the allure of Mikkola, rated as one of the original “Flying Finns” , that in last weekend’s Lapland WRC Finland Air Forces F-18 Hornet fighter jets conducted a flyover in his honour.
His car, a Ford Escort 1600RS, also became famous and a best seller in East Africa when buyers used Safari Rally victory as a marketing reference point for quality and durability.
Recently, German photojournalist Reinhart Klein published “Ford Escort 1600RS” a 128 pages glossy book authored by Dutchman Ed Heuvink about Mikola’s famous winning Ford now domiciled at the N-Anadol Collection in Switzerland.
If the Safari was the first major overseas entry point of his career, his 1987 victory marked his departure from the WRC stage in an Audi Quattro 200 after a career of trial and error in Kenya.
The 1979 and 1983 Safari editions distinguished him from the field although they remained a bridge too far to cross when victory was always within his reach.
Mikkola, a veteran of 123 WRC events including 19 victories, two of them in Kenya, was one of the new signings in the Mercedes Benz Safari line-up of ‘79.
The German manufacturer is never known to shy away from a challenge and splashing resources, both monetary, technical, and human resource is their forte. Mercedes brought in their top engineers and mechanics from Germany.
The team had over 50 support cars, tonnes of spare parts, a helicopters, and light aircrafts and six drivers in the 280SC and 450SLC models of which one was assigned to Mikkola. But as the team with a $2 million (Sh219,660,000 ) war chest found out, no money can buy a Safari victory.
But through sheer gritty determination, focus and preparations, Mercedes started showing their speed despite the team suffering from management mishaps.
On the final night of the Safari, Mikkola’s sustained drive catapulted him to the lead. But without any warning, the fan belt worked loose and sheered a hole in the radiator.
The Finn stopped, and without spares or proper tools or proper two-way radio commendation waited at the roadside until his teammate Bjorn Waldergaard arrived and helped him reach the team.
He was rescued one hour later by which time Mehta had assumed the lead.
Mikkola started clawing back, taking stage after stage as the competitive mileage dwindled by the hour to take second.
Mechanical gremlins dogged his powerful Audi Quattro in 1983 when he dropped far back the field in the opening days but gradually worked back into contention and was placed second behind compatriot Ari Vatanen in a mechanically inferior Opel Manta.
Only seven minutes separated them and the younger Finn in underdog Opel took the victor’s laurels.
Mikkola started his rallying career in Volvo cars in the early 1960s before moving to Ford then won the world title in 1983 in a 4 wheel drive Audi, and the British Rally Championship in 1978.
He was last in Kenya in 2015 as a guest of the East African Classic Rally.
