OVE ANDERSSONOve Andersson, who died in a rallying accident on 11 June, 2008, was a Swedish rally champion whose success as a driver made him a respected and influential team boss in various motorsports.He won a total of five rallies during 18 years on the international rally circuit, including the gruelling Monte Carlo and Safari rallies.He became boss of the Team Toyota Europe rallying outfit after they took over his own team in 1972. In 2002, when Toyota launched their Formula One team, Mr Andersson was chosen to be its head.Ove Andersson was born on 3 January, 1938. Naturally he began his rallying career running Saabs, competing international for the first time at Acropolis Rally of Greece in 1964.After establishing himself as a promising driver, he was given seats by Ford and Lancia, but it was with Alpine-Renault that he enjoyed his most successful season, winning the Monte Carlo Rally, Rallye Sanremo, Österreichische Alpenfahrt and Acropolis Rally with co-driver David Stone in 1971.With the inauguration of the World Rally Championship in the early '70s he founded Andersson Motorsport. After striking a deal with Toyota, they became Team Toyota Europe and began running the new Celica cars. (The team wanted to run the smaller Corolla but were forced to adhere to Toyota's marketing wishes, to begin with at least.)Andersson himself had a strong WRC record - particularly considering the nascent nature of his team - with 20 stage wins and seven podium finishes, but ironically his sole WRC win came in a Peugeot 504 at 1975's Safari Rally. Later that year, however, Finn Hannu Mikkola drove a Corolla to victory in the 1000 Lakes Rally, TTE's first win.The team continued to develop over the next decade, culminating in the launch of the Toyota Celica GT-Four, the car that gave both Carlos Sainz and TTE their first World Championship titles. In 1993 the company was bought outright by Toyota Motor Corporation and became Toyota Motorsport GmbH, by which point the team's staff numbered more than 300.They achieved consistent success during the '90s, but in 1995 they were banned from the WRC for illegally modifying the turbo air restrictor in their cars, a piece of engineering FIA President Max Mosley reluctantly described as "the most ingenious thing I have seen in 30 years of motorsport." After serving a 12-month ban they resumed their competitive stance.Mr Andersson was a man of much character, not afraid to go up against his corperate bosses on issues of team practice, using his driving record as leverage to gain improvements to the vehicles. In total he oversaw four drivers' and three manufacturers' WRC crowns, plus a second place in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1999.When Toyota Motorsport entered the world of Formula One in 2002, he was the natural choice to become team leader, co-ordinating the efforts of Allan McNish and Mika Salo. Toyota scored a mere two points all season, but upped this total to 16 with a new line-up of Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta in the 2003 season, after which Mr Andersson went into semi-retirement.As well as acting as a consultant to Toyota, he continued to race vintage rally cars. It was at the Milligan Vintage Trial in South Africa that he died when his car collided head-on with a truck. He was 70.Toyota Motorsport GmbH chairman Tadashi Yamashina paid tribute to the company's racing stalwart, saying: "Everyone at Toyota is extremely shocked and truly saddened at this terrible news. Ove was an inspiration to our team and to many in motorsport. His passion for motorsport was legendary and he is a great loss to our sport."
Keep me informed of updates
