Timo Mäkinen (18 March 1938 in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland – 4 May 2017) was a Finnish race car driver and one of the original "

Flying Finn "The Flying Finn" (, ) is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes who were noted for their speed. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term was later extended to notable Finnish racing driver ...

s" of motor

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

. He is best remembered for his hat-trick of wins in the

RAC Rally Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...

and the 1000 Lakes Rally.

Career

Mäkinen's start in international rallying came in the 1959 1000 Lakes Rally (now Rally Finland), in a Triumph TR3. He later drove works Austin-Healeys and

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

s. In the big Healey, he finished fifth in the RAC Rally in 1963. Mäkinen drove Minis during most of 1964 but came second in the RAC Rally in a Healey, at the end of that year. He returned to the Mini Cooper S in 1965, winning the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

and the 1000 Lakes, and capturing a ''Coupe des Alpes'' at the

Alpine Rally The Alpine Rally, also known by its official name Coupe des Alpes, was a rally competition based in Marseille and held from 1932 to 1971. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was among the most prestigious rallies in the world and featured an interna ...

. He came second in the 1965 RAC Rally, again in a Healey. In 1967, Timo Mäkinen drove his Mini at a high speed through the famous Ouninpohja stage of the 1000 Lakes with the car's bonnet open. Leather straps holding the bonnet were not thoroughly tightened, and they opened after a few rough bounces. He tried to put his head out of the side window but his helmet was too big and he could only stick his head halfway out. So he had to skid the car sideways continuously to see the road ahead. Even so, Mäkinen was third fastest on that special stage and he also won the rally overall, for the third year in a row. In 1975, Mäkinen won the RAC for the third time in a row, at the wheel of a Ford Escort RS1800, preceded only by Erik Carlsson ( Saab 96) in that feat. Mäkinen won the Finnish Rally Championship three times, the ice track championship six times and the saloon car race championship three times. In 1969, Mäkinen competed in the very first Round Britain Powerboat Race, which he won. In 1994, Mäkinen made a brief return as Mini celebrated the 30th anniversary of their 1964 Monte Carlo win by Paddy Hopkirk, who also participated in the event. Mäkinen retired on the second stage with a fuel system problem. In 2010, he was among the first four inductees into the Rally Hall of Fame, along with Carlsson, Hopkirk and

Rauno Aaltonen Rauno August Aaltonen (born 7 January 1938), also known as "The Rally Professor", is a Finnish former professional rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1970s. Career Before WRC was established Aaltonen comp ...

. Mäkinen also traveled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to race Mini Coopers in the Bathurst 500 road race. He finished 6th outright and 3rd in class in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

co-driving with Northern Irish rally driver Paddy Hopkirk while finishing 7th outright and 3rd in class in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

with Australian driver John French.

Death

Timo Makinen died on May 4, 2017, of natural causes in Helsinki, Finland.

Career results

Complete IMC results

Complete WRC results

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Bathurst 500 results

International wins

* 1964 Tulip Rally (Mini Cooper S) * 1965

(Mini Cooper S) * 1965 1000 Lakes Rally (Mini Cooper S) * 1966 1000 Lakes Rally (Mini Cooper S) * 1966 Three Cities Rally (Mini Cooper S) * 1967 1000 Lakes Rally (Mini Cooper S) * 1972 Hong Kong Rally (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1973 Arctic Rally (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1973 1000 Lakes Rally (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1973 RAC Rally (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1974 RAC Rally (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1974 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (Ford Escort RS1600) * 1975 RAC Rally (Ford Escort RS1800) * 1976 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (Peugeot 504 V6)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makinen, Timo 1938 births 2017 deaths Finnish rally drivers Racing drivers from Helsinki World Rally Championship drivers