Timo Mäkinen (18 March 1938 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland – 4 May 2017) was one of the original "

Flying Finn "The Flying Finn" ( fi, Lentävä suomalainen, sv, Flygande finländaren) 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 ...

s" of motor

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. 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) calen ...

and the

1000 Lakes Rally Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...

Career

Timo Mäkinen - 1965 Rally Finland (cropped)

Mäkinen's start in international rallying came in the 1959

(now Rally Finland), in a

Triumph TR3 The Triumph TR3 is a British sports car produced between 1955 and 1962 by the Standard-Triumph Motor Company of Coventry, England. A traditional roadster, the TR3 is an evolution of the company's earlier TR2 model, with greater power and im ...

. He later drove works

Austin-Healey Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker established in 1952 through a joint venture between the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Donald Healey Motor Company (Healey), a renowned automotive engineering and des ...

s and

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

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 The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

in 1965, winning the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

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 internat ...

. 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 The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms beginning with the original rear-wheel drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), ...

, preceded only by

Erik Carlsson Erik Hilding Carlsson (5 March 1929 – 27 May 2015) was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "''Carlsson på taket''" ("Carlsson on the roof" in reference to Astrid Lindgren's children's book character) as well as ''Mr. Saab'' ...

(

Saab 96 The Saab 96 is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four-passenger seating and at first a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine, later a four-strok ...

) in that feat. Mäkinen won the

Finnish Rally Championship The Finnish Rally Championship is the national rally championship in Finland. The series currently has four classes; Super4 (including R5, S2000 and old WRC cars), Production4 (including Group N cars), R2 (including R2 and R1 cars) and Super2 (in ...

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 Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing. In most of the world, offshore powerboat racing is led by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) regulated Class 1 and Powerboat P ...

, 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 Patrick Barron Hopkirk (14 April 1933 – 21 July 2022) was a rally driver from Northern Ireland. Hopkirk was appointed MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours list. In early 2016, Hopkirk became the IAM RoadSmart Mature Drivers Ambassador. Early ...

, 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 The Rally Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for famous rally drivers and other persons who have had a great influence on rallying. The exhibition is part of the automobile and road museum Mobilia located at Kangasala, near the city of Tampere, in cent ...

, 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 compet ...

. Mäkinen also traveled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to race Mini Coopers in the

Bathurst 500 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rec ...

road race. He finished 6th outright and 3rd in class in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime 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 Lyndo ...

co-driving with N.Irish rally driver

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 Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

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 Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Complete Bathurst 500 results

International wins

* 1964

Tulip Rally The Tulip Rally (Dutch: ''Tulpenrallye''), first held in 1949, is the oldest Dutch rally competition. The teams are divided into three classes: Tour, Sport and Expert. The Expert Class is for the navigators which in the past 2–6 years in the To ...

(Mini Cooper S) * 1965

(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 Arctic Rally, currently Arctic Lapland Rally and also known as Tunturiralli, is an annual rally competition held on ice- and snow-covered roads in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland. It has been organized continuously since 1966. In 2021, a separate ev ...

(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 The Rallye Côte d'Ivoire, perhaps better known as the Rallye Bandama as it was originally called, or the Ivory Coast Rally is a rally race held annually in Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. In common with other races on the continent, it is known for its ...

(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 Sportspeople from Helsinki World Rally Championship drivers