The drivers

Shekhar Mehta

Nissan · King of the Safari · 1945–2006

Photo: Morio via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The King of the Safari. Shekhar Mehta won Kenya’s great endurance rally five times, the last of them in 1982, and spent the Group B years carrying Nissan’s hopes across Africa, Greece and South America.

Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari

Nissan and the endurance rallies.

Safari master

Born in Kampala on 20 June 1945, Mehta grew up in East Africa and won the Safari Rally in 1973 and four years in a row from 1979 to 1982. The 1982 victory came in a Nissan Violet GTS with Mike Doughty.

Nissan’s spearhead

With the Nissan 240RS Mehta was a consistent points scorer on the rough events: fourth in New Zealand and sixth on the Acropolis in 1983, third on the 1984 Ivory Coast Rally with Rob Combes, and fourth on the Acropolis and in Argentina in 1985. In 1983 he also borrowed an Audi quattro A2 and finished fourth in Argentina.

For his final Safari in 1986 he drove a Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, finishing eighth. A heavy accident outside the World Championship later in 1986 ended his driving career.

Five-time Safari winner and Nissan’s leader on the rough rallies of the Group B era.

Administrator

Mehta then held a series of FIA posts and became president of the FIA Rally Commission in 1997. He died in London on 12 April 2006. His wife Yvonne, whom he married in 1978, was also sometimes his co-driver.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982

1win

1 podium

• Safari Rally (Kenya)

1983

0wins

0 podiums

1984

0wins

1 podium

1985

0wins

0 podiums

1986

0wins

0 podiums

1 WRC wins · 2 podium finishes, 1982–1986

In pictures 2 photos

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Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Shekhar Mehta — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhar_Mehta
2. Wikipedia (EN), Safari Rally — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safari_Rally
3. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), results and entry lists 1982–1986 — https://www.juwra.com/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

Thumbnail photos on this page: 5225C (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Osvaldo di Mando (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Carlo Marzetti (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Brendan Mullan from Glasgow, Scotland (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).