Pentti Airikkala

Pentti Airikkala
Personal information
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born(1945-09-04)4 September 1945
Helsinki, Finland
Died30 September 2009(2009-09-30) (aged 64)
Bray, Berkshire, United Kingdom
World Rally Championship record
Active years19731990, 2003
Co-driverFinland Heikki Haaksiala
United Kingdom John Davenport
Finland Risto Virtanen
United Kingdom Mike Greasley
United Kingdom Mike Nicholson
New Zealand Rodger Freeth
New Zealand Chris Porter
United Kingdom Phil Short
Finland Juha Piironen
Finland Seppo Harjanne
Republic of Ireland Ronan McNamee
Republic of Ireland Brian Murphy
United Kingdom Nigel Gardner
TeamsPrivateer, Vauxhall, Rothmans Ford, Mitsubishi Ralliart, Martini Lancia, Nissan, Q8 Team Ford
Rallies37
Championships0
Rally wins1
Podiums6
Stage wins147
Total points102
First rally1973 1000 Lakes Rally
First win1989 RAC Rally
Last rally2003 Wales Rally GB
Airikkala's Team Ralliart-entered Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo from the 1982 1000 Lakes Rally.

Pentti Airikkala (4 September 1945 – 30 September 2009) was one of the "Flying Finns" who dominated world rallying in the past four decades.[1] His career was more sporadic than many of his contemporaries, and he competed in only three World Rally Championship (WRC) events regularly; the two Scandinavian rallies (the 1000 Lakes and the Swedish Rally) and the RAC Rally in the United Kingdom.

Airikkala was born in Helsinki, Finland.[2] Most of his top flight competitive experience was behind the wheel of various rear wheel drive Vauxhall/Opels like the Chevette HS and Magnum coupé, but his greatest success came in the twilight of his career, when he won the 1989 RAC Rally in a Group A Mitsubishi Galant VR-4.[3][4] He is still the third oldest driver to win a WRC event.

Altogether he competed in 36 WRC events between 1973 and 1990, and a 37th in 2003, scoring 102 points and achieving a best of 9th overall in the 1981 Drivers' Championship.[5] He also contested the British Rally Championship in the 1970s/80s, becoming British Rally Champion in 1979. Since retiring from full-time international competition he operated a highly successful rally driving school in Oxfordshire teaching left-foot braking, where his roster of pupils included subsequent World Champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns.[6]

  1. ^ Pentti Airikkala, 'Flying Finns' website
  2. ^ Hope-Frost, Henry; Davenport, John (2004). The Complete Book of the World Rally Championship. Saint Paul, Minnesota: MotorBooks International. p. 62. ISBN 0-7603-1954-5.
  3. ^ 38th Lombard RAC Rally, Final classification, Rallybase.nl website
  4. ^ "My only WRC win -- Pentti Airikkala". Motor Sport Magazine. February 2005. p. 19. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  5. ^ 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers, Final classification, Rallybase.nl
  6. ^ Pentti's Champion Pupils Archived 2006-05-04 at the Wayback Machine, leftfootbraking.com