Mike Kirkland finished seventh in his first Safari Rally aged 23 in 1970. Then he was a brash, yet dashing rookie, rough and raw with huge potential.
He exited the scene 21 years later from where he started -- a seventh position in the 1991 Safari, older, wiser and still active enough to attempt international rallies just for fun.
Between 1973 and 1993, Kirkland, an ace pilot, finished in second position twice, and in third position three times in the WRC Safari Rally, results that earned him a chapter in Roger Barnard’s book, “Safari Rally: The First 40 Year” as ‘the nearly man.’
Nearly is an understatement in Kirkland’s chequered rallying history full of bar-counter idle talk, or bed time anecdotes that have survived the test of time.
There is the one about meeting Uganda President Idi Amin Dada with his driver Paulo Coniglio, smeared and reeking of cow dung after an accident with a cow in Uganda.
Former Uganda President Idi Amin Dada gestures while addressing the media on July 28, 1975, in Kampala during the OUA summit.
Photo credit: AFP
What about the one about surviving infernos or failing to receive medical attention at the Narok District Hospital while in competition because the doctor was too drunk to attend to him?
It is told that Kirkland outlasted everybody in any beer-drinking competition he took part in, and how he stood on his head at the end of many motorsports event parties around the world.
"Rallying has been good to me," Kirkland, now 77 years old, said on phone from Sydney, Australia where he has been marketing festive season tourist packages on behalf of his company of over five decades, Southern Cross Safaris.
"Business has never been better," he added.
“ I've had lots of fun and, most importantly, made lots of friends from many countries," said Kirkland, who has continued to engage in an active lifestyle.
He still does deep sea fishing with his bosom friends like Finnish Safari champion Juha Kankkunen and his previous navigators Juha Repo and Seppo Harrijanne who pay him frequent visits in Mombasa.
His Sunday best wear is a light green blazer, acquired 21 years ago and previously worn by the founder of the Safari Rally, Eric Cecil.
In fact, Cecil gifted Kirkland the attire in 2003 for inviting him all the way from Australia to flag off the first East African Classic Safari Rally in Mombasa.
"I have no idea how old it is," he said.
"I hardly wear the blazer, only on special occasions like last year's Legends Dinner at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi because it is oversized," said Kirkland who has remained lanky.
A Safari Rally fan, the Ugandan dictator was at hand to receive the drivers in Kampala control point in 1971 and Kirkland and Caniglio driving an old Datsun 1600SSS were uncharacteristically the odd ones out.
Caniglio was a sight to behold -- in jungle green camouflage cloths, but wearing immaculate white overalls and neckerschief -- all covered in messy green cow-dung. The car had a long brown smear from hitting a cow.
This is how it happened. Officially Kirkland was listed as the co-driver but in those days the crew would swap seats, and Kirkland who didn’t have money to enter the Safari that year approached Caniglio for a chance to navigate him and the deal was sealed. He could also assist in the driving.
The story goes that while in Uganda Kirkland was on the wheel, when they came across a herd of Ankole cattle and Kirkland managed to dodge all of them apart from one which rammed the left side of the car which spun the poor animal which unleashed a loadfull of the cow-dung on the face of Coniglio in the process..
“My overriding memory of the rally was Paulo’s side of the window open,” said Kirkland.
“She deposited a kilo of manure all over him just before we arrived at Kampala Control to be met by the new president of Uganda, Idi Amin.”
Mike Kirkland (right), the most successful Safari Rally driver alive with two second place finishes, and a third with veteran Safari Rally Press Officer Ann Mason at the Legends Gala at Safari Park Hotel on June 11, 2023 in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Peter Njenga | Nation
Despite the incident, the duo finished 17th overall, an incredible performance from a privateer in a field which included factory teams from Ford, Datsun and Peugeot.
“After Uganda incident, I did the next East African Safari Rally with Bruce Field and we were the first Agip-sponsored competitors to arrive in Narok," he recalls, noting that the crowd was excited as the cars lined up for refuelling. Field was underneath the car checking the shocks when he car caught fire caused by someone smoking a cigarette.
Mike Kirkland co-driven by Robin Nixon, powers his Nissan 200SX through a dusty patch in Suswa on his way to a second-placed finish in the 1988 Malboro Safari Rally.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“We put the fire out and drove to Narok Hospital to get Bruce’s burns treated. There was no doctor there and they told us the doctor was at some bar in Narok. We went and found him, but he was so drunk and incapable,” said Kirkland. He remembers driving very fast to Kericho Control, where Field received the necessary medical attention. They later retired.
He struck a friendship with Dave Harworth who co-drove him from 1979 to 1981 in a Datsun/Nissan factory vehicle.
“I found out Dave had been the Scottish University Champion for drinking beers whilst standing on his head and I was very fortunate to have professional training from Dave as the trick impressed my Japanese team on ends,” recalls Kirkland, who has resided in Mombasa throughout his life.
"They (Japanese) tried and none could do it. Every Nissan party involved 'Mike-san drinking beer upside down'. I have drunk beer standing on my head at Nissan parties at the end of rallies in Kenya, Japan, Ivory Coast, Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Beijing. This may be the reason they kept giving me cars to drive -- to provide the party entertainment," Kirklans says with a tinge of amusement in his voice
The Japanese manufacturer had not won the Safari since 1982, and they felt Kirkland, sixth in 1986 and ninth in 1987, was slipping down on the performance ladder.
The Nissan Rally team's boss Takashi Wakabayashi or Waka -san in rallying circles, never realised his driver was in peak form. Although he promised Kirkland a drive and even engaged him in a recce, he kept him in the dark regarding his contract for some time while Swede Par Eklund was the only other driver in the team.
Waka-san finally told Kirkland that he could only engage him after subjecting him to a 'test' to determine if he was really fast.
"The boss said it had been decided that 'maybe you are not fast enough and you must do a test on Saturday morning at 9 am’ said Kirkland.
Kirlkand said he felt so disrespected he quit in a huff, took the next flight to Mombasa and went straight to Starion Nightclub for serious drinking standing with his feet and not his head all night long.
"I got home early in the morning to find Waka-san had everyone trying to get hold of me to tell me I was supposed to be at a test in Nairobi. I told him I wasn't interested but he insisted so I flew to Nairobi drinking coffee all the time.”
Kirkland, nursing a terrible hangover, pushed the car to its limits and almost smashed it at a brow at high speed as the front suspension parted company with the car.
Luckily, the car did not roll. A relieved Waka-san offered Kirkland the contract.
Kirkland finished second in 1988 and 1989. He raced in a Subaru Legacy in 1990 but retired with mechanical problems.
He then ended his Safari rally career in 1991 with a seventh-placed finish navigated by Surinder Thatthi in a Nissan Pulsar.
In 1993, he teamed up with Chrispin Sassion for the London to Sydney 26,000km marathon driving a Peugeot 504 in the Classic Division and surprisingly finished third overall despite describing the car as "a horrible Peugeot 504."
Kirkland who lives in Vipingo, with his wife never tires of taking a ride whenever necessary. In 2022 and 2023 he competed in the Eifiel Festival of Speed in a Sh24 million restored Datsun 240RS that he drove in the 1983 Safari Rally, now a collector item owned by a Swiss.
It is here that he re-connected with his old friend Lofty Drews, now a resident of Australia who co-drove Rauno Aaltonen.
Kirkland says the present day WRC Safari rally as not fun but has attended the last three editions as the designated driver of the famous German motorsport photo-journalist and author Reinhardt Klein.
Kirkland was born in Thika, went to Nyeri for his primary school education and later joined Duke of York (Lenana School) before relocating to Mombasa where he has been running his tour company for the last 53 years.
Locally, he rates Shekhar Mehta as the best ever and Juha Kankkunen the finest in the world.
He has done fishing expeditions in Mombasa with Kankkunen, Juha Repo and Seppo Harjanne over the years.
"After 19 Safari rallies, I competed in 24 Rhino Charge events. I also raced in two classic cars internationally. I have competed in many rallies internationally. Rallying has been good to me, and I've had lots of fun, and most importantly, made lots of friends internationally."
