Sobiesław Jan Zasada (born 27 January 1930 in

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula River, ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) is a Polish

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver and economist. He won the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has b ...

in 1966, 1967, 1971 and was vice-champion in 1968, 1969, and 1972. In 1967, he was chosen the

Polish Sportspersonality of the Year The Polish Sports Personality of the Year ( Polish: ''Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego na najlepszego polskiego sportowca roku'') is chosen annually since 1926 by the readers of the newspaper '' Przegląd Sportowy'', which makes it the second oldes ...

Career

Sobieslaw Zasada first raced motorcycles, and in 1951 entered four-wheel racing. After solid racing performances, he received support from the Polish automobile club in Warsaw. Zasada won the European Rally Champion title in 1966 with Steyr-Puch 650 (the smallest vehicle to achieve such victory) and in 1967 with 4-cylinder Porsche 912. In autumn of 1967 he was victorious driving his flat-six Porsche 911 in the Gran Premio Internacional de Turismo, a 2055-mile stage race across Argentina. In next two seasons Zasada with his Porsche 911 was runner-up in European Rally Championship, conquered only by Pauli Toivonen in 1968 and

Harry Källström Harry Källström (30 June 1939 – 13 July 2009), nicknamed "Sputnik" , was a Swedish professional rally driver who debuted in 1957 and competed in the World Rally Championship in the 1970s. Prior to the forming of the WRC, Källström won the RA ...

in 1969. Later on Zasada drove a BMW 2002 TI, regaining his European Champion title in 1971 and being surpassed only by

Raffaele Pinto Raffaele "Lele" Pinto (13 April 1945 – 8 December 2020) was a rally driver, who won the 1974 Rally Portugal. Career Pinto began rallying in 1968. In 1972, he won the European Rally Championship in a Fiat 124 Sport Spider. The following year, t ...

in 1972. At the time of his successes racing his Porsche 912 in 1967, Zasada owned a four-person auto repair shop in Kraków. By the late 1990s, Zasada was one of the most successful businessmen in Poland. In 1996 Reuters reported that his Polish automotive group Sobieslaw Zasada Centrum SA launched the construction of Mercedes' Vito mini-vans. The launch marked the first production licensee that Mercedes-Benz had granted in eastern Europe. By that time Zasada controlled two utility car factories and several automotive parts plants. Zasada announced that he will make a comeback in the

2021 Safari Rally The 2021 Safari Rally (also known as the Safari Rally Kenya 2021) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 24 and 27 June 2021. It marked the sixty-eighth running of the Safari Rally. The event was the sixth ro ...

, making him the oldest driver to compete in the World Rally Championship at 91. He took part in the race, but failed to finish it due to a series of collisions. It still made him the oldest driver ever to take part in a WRC rally.

Honours

For his sport achievements and for his contribution to the development of Polish sport, he received the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

: * Knight's Cross (5th Class); * Officer's Cross (4th Class); * Commander's Cross with Star (2nd Class) in 2000.

References

External links

Sobiesław Zasada
s e-wrc profile People from Dąbrowa Górnicza 1930 births Living people Polish rally drivers European Rally Championship drivers Polish businesspeople Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship World Rally Championship drivers {{Europe-rally-bio-stub