![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/85_SafariRally_Kankkunen1.jpg\" "\\"85_SafariRally_Kankkunen\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n“Henri [Toivonen] and I were surveying this Opel and wondering how the hell we were going to get it back on the road when this white thing passed overhead, at a fairly low altitude,\u201d says Gallagher.<\/p>\n
The UFO turned out to be a Toyota Celica Turbo and its pilot was a 24-year-old Finn touted as the next Henri Toivonen.<\/p>\n
Gallagher was in his third season \u2013 one with Talbot, two with Opel \u2013 as Toivonen\u2019s co-driver. Theirs had been a frustrating time in underpowered rear-wheel-drive cars against Audi\u2019s turbocharged Quattro.<\/p>\n
Toivonen\u2019s career had lost momentum since his incredible 1980 RAC Rally victory \u2013 as a 24-year-old. Second places in Portugal and San Remo in 1981 \u2013 plus a 1983 Manx International win \u2013 were relative disappointments.<\/p>\n
So there was a lot riding on his new deal with Lancia.<\/p>\n
From the Archive: Spotlight on the Lancia Delta S4 and Integrale (October 1997)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was probably best that we went our separate ways, although it was a bit messy,\u201d says Gallagher. \u201cHenri was doing selected WRC events with Lancia, and David Richards [running a European Rally Championship campaign for Porsche with Henri (below)] wanted a separate co-driver for his programme.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I wanted to do all or nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Having missed an opportunity to join Team Toyota Europe in 1980 because of driver Tony Pond\u2019s unmet demand for a right-hand-drive car, Gallagher jumped at a second invitation \u2013 even if it meant co-driving the inexperienced Kankkunen.<\/p>\n \u201cJoining TTE was the best thing that ever happened to me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a very small but fantastic team. Henry Liddon and Ove Andersson were superb teachers. Plus I learned a lot from Bj\u00f6rn Waldeg\u00e5rd, who was completely open as a team-mate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the making of me.<\/p>\n \u201cJuha and Henri were immensely different bar their natural talent. Juha was very laid back whereas Henri was exuberant. The Italians took Henri to their hearts \u2013 they loved him at Lancia \u2013 but he was inconsistent and there were lots of ups and down.<\/p>\n \u201cLife was a lot easier with Juha.<\/p>\n \u201cHenri hadn\u2019t really grown up by the time he started winning rallies. He was driven hard by his father, Pauli, who was a tough guy and wouldn\u2019t accept second best.<\/p>\n \u201cThat said, we were both learning. If I\u2019d been the co-driver that I became with Juha by 1985 I\u2019m sure I could have got more out of Henri than I did. I would have calmed the whole situation down. Been a bit more authoritative.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Henri was in the bar with the other drivers they would wind him up with talk of their pace note systems. Immediately he\u2019d want to change his, and get frustrated when they didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n \u201cJuha preferred to keep his simple. He made lovely notes that were easy to understand.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Henri, we\u2019d finish the recce and have two packed days ahead of us writing notes. But if he heard that it had rained halfway across the country, he\u2019d jump in a car and insist that we drive the stages again. It would make bugger all difference except that we wouldn\u2019t finish the notes properly.<\/p>\n \u201cJuha\u2019s view would be that it was the same for everybody and that we should do the notes properly. He was more attentive, too.<\/p>\n \u201cHe crashed, of course. In our first year together we had accidents in New Zealand and on the RAC Rally. But in our second we won the Safari and Ivory Coast rallies \u2013 events that require intelligence and patience from a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n Seeded at 21 for his first attempt at the Safari, Kankkunen was not expected to win \u2013 there were works entries from Audi, Peugeot, Lancia, Opel and Nissan \u2013 and he began the 3250-mile event cagily.<\/p>\n \u201cOur tactic was to match the times of [five-time] winner Shekhar Mehta,\u201d says Gallagher. \u201cWe knew our car was faster than his Nissan 240RS and that we could make a push towards the end.\u201d<\/p>\n When most of the supercars hit trouble early, however, it became a battle for victory between the rugged rear-wheel-drive Toyotas, Opels and Nissans.<\/p>\n Kankkunen lay third with 200 miles to go \u2013 Mehta had crashed out before TC65 (of 88) \u2013 and, despite a broken rear shock absorber mount, he pounced when the Manta 400s of Rauno Aaltonen and Erwin Weber suffered clutch\/gearbox and engines troubles respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d been very cautious,\u201d says Gallagher. \u201cOn the Monday morning after the rally we spent an hour driving through muddy puddles because Ove\u2019s wife, who was doing the PR for the team, didn\u2019t think the photographs of us on the event were spectacular enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Even so, Kankkunen\u2019s winning margin over runner-up Waldeg\u00e5rd had been 32 minutes.<\/p>\n From the Archive: Look back at Henri Toivonen, 25 years on (August 2011)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In Ivory Coast they tied on time in a staged 1-2 finish, but Kankkunen got the nod because he\u2019d been one minute faster through the designated tiebreak section during the first leg. It was said that neither driver knew which section this was.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew, but kept it to myself,\u201d admits Gallagher.<\/p>\n Kankkunen signed for Peugeot in 1986 and promptly won the first of his four world titles.<\/p>\n Gallagher remained with TTE to join forces with Waldeg\u00e5rd. They won the Safari and in Ivory Coast that year, and won the Safari again four years later.<\/p>\n The Belfast-born co-driver has no regrets: \u201cIfs and buts. If I\u2019d stayed with Henri I might have been killed with him. I prefer to deal with whatever is in front of me. Bj\u00f6rn became my best friend in rallying and we had a very successful and pleasant time. I will happily lecture anyone about how good he was.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve sat with Kankkunen, Pond, Timo Salonen, Vatanen and Toivonen [above] too, and all of them operated at a level beyond my comprehension as a driver, so I couldn\u2019t honestly say if Henri was quicker than Juha; I don\u2019t see how anybody could.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I couldn\u2019t see Henri becoming a multiple world champion like Juha.\u201d<\/p>\n Click here to place your vote for Kankkunen for the Hall of Fame<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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\n<\/a>Kankkunen in the 1000 Lakes Rally, Finland 1993<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
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