Few names are as linked to Rally de Portugal as the one from Hannu Mikkola , one of the famous “flying Finns”. After all, the Scandinavian driver who died today at the age of 78 has won the national competition three times, two of them consecutive.
The first victory in Portugal came in 1979, driving a Ford Escort RS1800. The second and third victories were achieved in 1983 and 1984 during the “Golden Age” of the late Group B, with the Finnish driver on both occasions imposing himself on the competition, driving an Audi Quattro.
Driver's World Champion in 1983, the Finnish driver had a total of 18 victories in the World Rally Championship, the last of which in 1987 in the Safari Rally. With seven victories in “his” rally in Finland, the 1000 Lakes Rally, the Finnish driver registered a total of 123 participations in events of the World Rally Championship.
1979 – Ford Escort RS 1800 – Hannu Mikkola
a long career
In total, Hannu Mikkola's career spanned 31 years. The first steps in rallying, in 1963, were taken at the controls of a Volvo PV544, but it would be in the 1970s, more precisely in 1972, that he started to make a name for himself.
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All because that year he was the first European driver to conquer the demanding Safari Rally (which at the time did not score for the World Rally Championship) driving a Ford Escort RS1600.
Since then, his career has led him to drive machines like the Fiat 124 Abarth Rallye, the Peugeot 504 and even a Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC. However, it was at the controls of the Escort RS and Audi Quattro that he experienced the greatest success. After the end of Group B and after a season driving the Audi 200 Quattro in Group A, Hannu Mikkola eventually moved to Mazda.
There he piloted the 323 GTX and AWD until his partial reform in 1991. We say partial because in 1993 he returned to racing sporadically, reaching seventh place in his “Rally dos 1000 Lagos” with a Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD.
To family, friends and all the fans of Hannu Mikkola, Razão Automóvel would like to convey its condolences, remembering one of the biggest names in the world of rallying and a man who still occupies a place in the Top 10 of the most successful drivers of all times. World Championship of the category.