Rally | Juha Kankkunen returns to Kenya, where his career took off – “It helped a lot to move forward”

Rally champion Juha Kankkunen is a man who has seen a lot of the world. Some places have naturally become dearer to him than others.

Kenya is one of the most important places in the world for Kankkus – for several reasons.

Four-time world champion Kankkunen won the first World Rally Championship of his glamorous career in 1985 precisely at the Safari Rally in Kenya. Since then there were two more victories in Kenya.

The joyful ones in addition to the winning moments, Kankkunen has liked Kenya in other ways. Over the years, he has spent a lot of time there, also in his free time, vacationing and enjoying nature. And Kankkunen’s 60th birthday party was also held in Kenya.

The World Rally Championship is held in Kenya around Midsummer. Kankkunen, 64, says that he will go on site for, among other things, Toyota’s PR work.

The last time he was in Kenya was in 2019 for his birthday party, where his son and other close circle of the rally maestro were present.

“Of course, I have a certain love for Kenya. Really great memories are from Kenya. It’s wonderful to be back there now,” says Kankkunen.

Cankkunsen competitive full hits in Africa came in 1985, 1991 and 1993. Kankkunen took his first and last Safari victory with a Toyota, the middle one broke at the wheel of a Lancia.

“That first career win is always the most important of them all. After all, it’s just repeating the same thing over and over again,” laughs Kankkunen, who has won a total of 23 World Championship victories.

“When the first win comes, you know that there are opportunities to do a little more,” he continues.

To Kankkusen the first World Championship victory from Kenya is still the most beloved.

“It helped me a lot in my career.”

Kankkunen had turned 26 years old two days before the start of the race and competed in Safari for the first time.

Winning the safari on the first try was supposed to be impossible, but that’s how Kankkunen gassed up to first place after more than 5,000 kilometers of work.

“We had a very strong car for those conditions at the time. And maybe as a farmer I was used to going like that, it was a bit like driving in a field at home”, Kankkunen has said before.

KANKUNEN has also experienced the dark side of Safari. In 1994, he rammed his Toyota with Volts out of the speed of 180 km/h, when the notes did not take into account the place of danger.

The car was wrecked, and Kankkunen got a wound to the head, contusions to the chest and an ankle injury.

Kankkunen describes his trip to Kenya this summer as a quick assignment. In recent years, Kankkunen has done PR work for Toyota in, for example, World Cup rallies in Belgium and Japan. In Belgium, he did a demonstration drive with Toyota’s GR Yaris H2 hydrogen car. In Japan, he drove a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for a demonstration.

Now there is another PR job for the giant Japanese manufacturer.

“You no longer have to go to every rally like the boys [MM-sarjan nykyisten kilpakuljettajien], so this is a nice thing for me in the meantime. Let the boys drive [nykyiset MM-rallikuljettajat] but with the actual racing cars over there”, says Kankkunen good-naturedly.

Kankkunen says his return to Kenya has been eagerly awaited.

“At least Toyota’s people in Kenya have been excited. There I was awaited like the rising moon. That when I will come to them. I was supposed to go last year, but I didn’t get to go on the trip then.”

Kankkusen has many friends and acquaintances in Kenya. Former top driver Mike Kirkland, 75, is one of them.

“During my vacations, Mike has organized all kinds of activities, he has good contacts in almost every direction. In that sense, it’s easy – I call Mike and things will be sorted out,” says Kankkunen.

At the Safari Rally in previous years had the reputation of being the most demanding competition in the World Series. Stony, bumpy and muddy gravel roads and unpredictable weather put drivers and cars to a tough test.

The challenge was also increased by wildlife and local traffic, which in recent years was a nuisance for drivers even during special tests.

Modern Safari is different. It has been adapted to the current competition format of the World Series, where the special tests are in a much more compact format “than in the good old days”.

It’s clear that the Safari doesn’t have the same endurance racing nature that it used to.

“However, we are in Africa, so it will certainly still be a challenging rally. There can be quite bad road sections there. At some points, you have to drive more gracefully, you probably can’t be full all the time, even today,” Kankkunen reflects.

LEGENDARY The Safari Rally was supposed to return to the World Series already in July 2020. It turned out differently when the coronavirus messed up the plans and the classic race was cancelled. It finally returned to the World Cup calendar in June 2021.

Kankkunen took Safari back to the World Cup with open arms.

“It brings a slightly different tone. By its nature, it doesn’t go in quite the same way as maybe other World Cup competitions tend to go. Of course, the race has changed from previous years, but yes, it still requires versatile driving.”

Last year, he took the win in Safari Kalle Rovanperä. Defending world champion Rovanperä, 22, enters the Kenyan competition as the top man in the World Championship points table.

“I’m not going to start betting on the top three, but I believe that Kalle has a strong car for this race,” says Kankkunen.

Read more: Violent protest at World Cup rallies: “We will protest until we get those jobs”

Read more: Kalle Rovanperä found surprises on the Safari routes: “You have to know where those rocks are”

Read more: World champion Ari Vatanen compares Kalle Rovanperä to Matti Nykä: “Success is certain”

Read more: Juha Kankkunen praises Kalle Rovanperä’s tactics: “In his twenties this year”

Read more: Kalle Rovanperä presented his new style – “Vapiska”, comments Iivo Niskanen

Read more: Rally star Esapekka Lappi is not longing for Monaco’s tax haven – she speaks warmly of her family