44 years ago a Finnish rally driver made the trip to Jamaica for his first overseas rally. And the rest, is history.
Ari Vatanen was a virtual unknown when he came to Jamaica, never having rallied outside of his native Finland. He gained some attention the year before by beating Hannu Mikkola in the 1974 Nortti Rally. In April of 1975 he and co-driver Gerry Phillips made the trip to compete in the JMC’s Rothmans 747 Rally.
Vatanen recalls “It has been 44 years since the Rothmans 747 Rally in Jamaica! And here’s my first car in a foreign rally, Datsun 120Y.”
“We changed the tyres, the oil, the brake pads, put on lights and a Halda. We also changed the shock absorbers, however, only two of them! That made the car interesting to handle!”
“We got the dent in the door when we found a parked truck inside a dust cloud. We just turned the car sideways and…”
Organizer Beth Lacroix wrote of Vatanen’s exploits at the final special Stage at Caymanas Park “Starting at one minute intervals, the first four were Timo Makinen, Andy Dawson, Ari Vatanen and Chris Sclater. Dawson’s Avenger swiftly caught the under-powered Datsun but failed to get by because each time he got within striking distance Vatanen craftily put the Datsun sideways, showering him with a curtain of dust.”
Vatanen and Phillips finished 12th Overall in the Rothman’s 747 Rally. A testament to his remarkable driving is his position of 4th fastest Overall in all Stages despite the stock nature of his Datsun 120Y.
Ari Vatanen would go on to have an illustrious career, winning the World Rally Championship Driver’s Title in 1981.
Pictured; a collage of Vatanen and his Datsun 120Y on the Rothman’s 747 Rally.
