Autosportfoto

Kankkunen and Grist named rally legends

Juha Kankkunen and Nicky Grist will be re-united with the Toyota Celica GT-Four they used to win britain's round of the World Rally Championship 25 years ago as part of the celebrations to mark them being named as ‘rally legends' for Dayinsure Wales Rally GB (4-7 october).

The duo recorded a memorable victory at the 1993 version of the event when fierce snow and ice made the British stages more challenging than normal. They have been named as ‘Rally Legends' for this year's event, in recognition of their success.

As guests of the rally, Kankkunen and Grist will climb aboard their event-winning Celica to lead a parade of historic rally cars through the town of Llandudno on Sunday, just before the final stage of the rally gets underway on closed public roads. They will also share their memories of their 1993 success at fan events and take part in various ceremonial duties.

"It will be a pleasure for me to come back to Wales again with Nicky; I'm looking forward to four days of fun and catching up with old friends," four-time world champion Kankkunen said.

"The 1993 rally had the toughest conditions I had ever driven on in the UK. Driving on frozen ice roads without the spikes we used in winter rallies like Sweden made it very, very difficult. But we had a great event."

Grist also has fond memories of co-driving for the Finn on the rally, as he claimed the first of his two WRC wins in Great Britain.

The Welshman said: "To win at home is always very special but it was all the sweeter in 1993 as it was my first, and the conditions had been just so treacherous throughout. I'm really looking forward to getting back into the Toyota with Juha."

Zdroj: wrc.com