History written as first overseas driver wins the Safari Rally
Hannu Mikkola (right) of Finland and navigator Gunner Palm of Sweden celebrate in Dar es Salaam after coming in first in the 1972 East African Safari Rally. Mikkola became the first overseas driver to win the rally.
What you need to know:
- So Mikkola's victory followed in second place by Zasada only added to the drama at the finish which unfolded in Dar-es-Salaam.
- That year also unveiled Vic Preston Junior, a young Kenyan aged 22, who finished third, navigated by Bev Smith, in another factory Ford Escort.
There are many rally cars in history but only a handful have ever elicited as much worldwide attention as the Ford Escort RS 1600 51 years ago.
This car made history in the 1972 Safari Rally when Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm drove it to victory in the East African Safari Rally. It was such huge news that even today, rally aficionados continue to talk about it. It is also immortalised in several publications.
This is the most famous Ford Escort rally car, now on display in the N-Anadol Collection at Switzerland Museum.
Mikkola became the first overseas driver to win the Safari, a victory that was celebrated across the motorsport globe, and is often recited as the turning point of the sport.
For 20 years, top notch overseas drivers came to East Africa and returned home empty handed but with tales of near misses against polished home drivers familiar in their own territory.
All these changed in 1972 when Mikkola and Palm won the Safari in a works-prepared Escort RS1600. It was also a history-making year as East Africans followed the Safari from live broadcasts by Sammy Lui and Mohammed Abdulahi aboard a light aircraft as they followed the cars across East Africa.
This only added to the drama of Mikkola and the Ford which looked sporty compared to the bulky cars of that time. The actual car that conquered the East African roads is the subject of the book by Ed Heuvink and John Daveport titled Ford Escort RS1600.
The whole story is told from Ford's first involvement in rally sport through the creation of their own specialist competition department, and how Ford cars fared in the Safari.
Mikkola Finland and Swede Palm drove the car to the limit and was chased furiously throughout by Poland’s Sobieslaw Zasada, who competed in the 2021 WRC Safari Rally aged 91.
The Pole lost a possible victory after squandering valuable time turning back to fetch his co-driver Bien Marian whom he had inadvertently left in haste at a control point as he chased after Mikkola.
So Mikkola's victory followed in second place by Zasada only added to the drama at the finish which unfolded in Dar-es-Salaam. That year also unveiled Vic Preston Junior, a young Kenyan aged 22, who finished third, navigated by Bev Smith, in another factory Ford Escort.
