Only disaster can stop Finn

Press, 26 November 1982, Page 32

Only disaster can stop Finn

NZPA London Only a disaster can stop Finland’s Hannu Mikkola winning the Royal Automobile Club (R.A.C.) British motor rally today for a record fourth time. Mikkola, who has won the event four times in the last five years, took a commanding five-and-a-half minute lead into yesterday's final stage. And with only nine hours driving between him and victory in the gruelling 2900 km rally, the brilliant 40-year-old Finn will not be taking any risks. “There is no need to go flat out now. I have no problems and I can afford to pace myself,” said Mikkola, who has not looked threatened since retaking the lead from his compatriot, Markku Alen, on stage 17. • Mikkola has been fastest in

27 of his 58 stages, and his compatriot, Henri Toivonen, in second place, knows that his hopes of a second triumph rest on Mikkola being forced to retire. The Audis, with four cars in the top 10, look certain to win the manufacturers’ championship. The Frenchwoman, Michele Mouton, is in third place 38 seconds behind Toivonen, with Alen fourth. Meanwhile, the New Zealand driver, Rod Millen, was forced out of the rally yesterday while lying in seventeenth position in his works Mazda RX7. Rally headquarters in York could not specify what had caused Millen’s withdrawal but he appeared to be one of many casualties during ■ treacherous stages through forests in the north- . east of England. ■