Why I Love Rally ace Rauno Aaltonen goes on Safari in a Mercedes-benz 220
Flying Finn Rauno Aaltonen explains why after competing in the East African Safari Rally 23 times the event still holds such a special place in his affections
‘My co-driver was a local and I could immediately tell he was very nervous... Early on he bought a cloth cap and inserted foam inside, saying it would give him protection if the car rolled’
Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and the East African Safari Rally have always been my dream – I love them all,’ says race and rally star Rauno Aaltonen. ‘On my way home after my accident on the 1962 Monte Carlo Rally I by chance met Diana Howardwilliams, secretary of the Safari Rally organisers, at Paris Orly airport and she invited me to take part.’ Two weeks later he received a letter confirming his entry with a Mercedes 220 saloon supplied by the Mercedes importer in Nairobi.
First run in 1953, the Safari quickly gained a reputation for extreme terrain and weather. ‘When I arrived I immediately fell in love with Kenya,’ recalls Rauno. ‘Everywhere there was stunning scenery and wonderful wild animals. My rallying and motorcycle experience had been on all kinds of roads – dirt, tarmac, ice and snow. In East Africa I felt at home with the dirt and murram surfaces making the conditions irregular and slippery.
‘My co-driver was a local and I could immediately tell he was very nervous. In Finland our driving style was to set the car up and drift it round corners, a technique he was clearly unused to. Also, in Africa it was nothing to meet a rhino or huge elephant round the next bend. Early on we stopped and he bought a cloth cap and inserted foam inside, saying it would give him protection if the car rolled.’
His co-driver’s anxiety soon created navigational errors. ‘We got stuck in a place called Mbulu. To regain traction we let the rear tyres down but by the time we’d reached the end of the stage we were out of time and excluded from the rally.’
BMC competitions manager Stuart Turner arranged for Rauno to enter several Safaris in 1100s, but their fragility and low ground clearance took their toll. ‘Then in 1967 I won the Monte Carlo Rally outright in a Mini Cooper S. Knowing how I loved the Safari, Stuart let me enter it that year with the Mini. We normally ran large twin 1.5in SU carburettors with no air cleaners but for the Safari we used wire mesh filters. Even so, the carburettors quickly filled with dust forming a ring of grit around the needle causing the mixture to weaken and I had to clean the dust out every 13 miles. Eventually the ’head gasket blew and we were out.
‘Nevertheless, after 23 entries I still harbour a passion for the rally and the country.’