It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Finnish rally legend Pentti Airikkala who died today (30 September 2009) following a long illness, aged 64.
Pentti won the 1989 RAC Rally (his only WRC win) driving a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, to record one of the event's most popular victories after it eluded him back in 1976 following a great drive in a Ford Escort MkII.
He is probably best remembered though, when he drove a Vauxhall Chevette HS for the DTV team in the late '70s. In winning the 1979 Circuit of Ireland Rally (the year he won the British championship), Airikkala became the first and only 'foreign' driver to do so and later regarded this win as the finest of his long distinguished career.
"The Circuit of Ireland is a very special rally - very long, very hard, very competitive. I am proud to be the first European to win," Pentti said at the time.
Airikkala would later run a hugely successful rally driving school where he instilled his left-foot braking technique into the pupils. His tutoring would churn out a host of future stars such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns.
Current WRC Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala are also former Airikkala graduates and have the left-foot master to thank for helping to launch their respective world championship careers.
R.I.P. Pentti
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They all left foot brake !!!!!
Where there is a shark, there is a Finn.
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Tags: 1000 lakes, bray, Circuit of Ireland, died, dtv, fi, finland, flying finn, ford, harry carpenter, helsinki, illness, lancia, leftfootbraking, lombard rac rally 1989, magnum, mitsubishi, opel, pentti airikkala, rip, tribute, vauxhall chevette hs, video
