Safari Rally 1983
Round 4 of the 1983 World Rally Championship · 30 March – 4 April 1983
Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman won the Safari in the Opel Ascona 400 — the Rothmans Opel team’s only win of 1983.
Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)
The Safari Rally 1983 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Thousands of kilometres of open Kenyan roads and tracks, timed between controls.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro A1 (Audi Sport)
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Opel Ascona 400 (Rothmans Opel Rally Team)
- #3 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (D T Dobie & Co (K) Ltd)
- #4 Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes — Nissan 240RS (D T Dobie & Co (K) Ltd)
- #5 Mike Kirkland / Anton Levitan — Nissan 240RS (D T Dobie & Co (K) Ltd)
- #6 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A1 (Audi Sport)
- #7 John Hellier / John Hope — Peugeot 504 Pickup (Marshalls (EA) Ltd)
- #8 Yoshio Iwashita / Yoshimasa Nakahara — Nissan Bluebird Turbo (Yoshio Iwashita)
Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman won the Safari in the Opel Ascona 400 — the Rothmans Opel team’s only win of 1983.
How the rally unfolded
Audi had not yet won the Safari, and Vatanen’s Opel was both quick and robust on the rough Kenyan roads. He finished six minutes ahead of Hannu Mikkola, with Michèle Mouton third. Kenya’s Jayant Shah was fourth in a Nissan 240RS.
Nissan’s new 240RS had a hard time: Salonen, Mehta, Kirkland and Kojimoto all retired. Of 78 starters, 22 finished.
The decisive moment
Vatanen’s six-minute margin over Mikkola was built on the reliability of the Opel; Audi was still learning how to make the Quattro last in Africa.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Opel Ascona 400 | Rothmans Opel Rally Team | B | 6 h 36 min |
| 2 | 6 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A1 | Audi Sport | B | +6 min |
| 3 | 1 | Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons | Audi Quattro A1 | Audi Sport | B | +59 min |
| 4 | 12 | Jayant Shah / Aslam Khan | Nissan 240RS | Jayant Shah | B | +1 h 22 min |
| 5 | 28 | Yoshio Takaoka / Shigeo Sunahara | Subaru 4WD | Yoshio Takaoka | G2 | +7 h 15 min |
| 6 | 17 | Yasuhiro Iwase / Sudhir Vinayak | Nissan 160J | Yasuhiro Iwase | G2 | +7 h 27 min |
| 7 | 23 | Yoshinobu Takahashi / Peter Pringle | Subaru 4WD | Noriyuki Koseki | G2 | +8 h 06 min |
| 8 | 7 | John Hellier / John Hope | Peugeot 504 Pickup | Marshalls (EA) Ltd | B | +8 h 31 min |
| 9 | 29 | Ian Duncan / Gavin Bennett | Nissan 1200 Pickup | Ian Duncan | “S” | +8 h 37 min |
| 10 | 25 | Azar Anwar / Tim Davis | Nissan 160J | Azar Anwar | G2 | +9 h 23 min |
On the Safari and the Ivory Coast Rally, crews were ranked by penalty time accumulated on timed road sections, not by special-stage times.
Retirements of note
- #3 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne (Nissan 240RS) — engine, time control 78
- #4 Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes (Nissan 240RS) — engine, time control 24
- #5 Mike Kirkland / Anton Levitan (Nissan 240RS) — engine, time control 25
- #8 Yoshio Iwashita / Yoshimasa Nakahara (Nissan Bluebird Turbo) — accident, time control 64
- #9 Juichi Kojimoto / Peter Tilbury (Nissan 240RS) — wheel bearing, time control 35
- #10 Vic Preston Jr / John Lyall (Audi Quattro A1) — accident, time control 70
- #11 Rauno Aaltonen / Lofty Drews (Opel Ascona 400) — engine, time control 71
- #14 Robert Collinge / Stuart Pegg (Range Rover) — accident, time control 84
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1983 season overview
- All 1983 rallies
- Previous round: Rally de Portugal 1983
- Next round: Tour de Corse 1983
- Cars: Opel Manta 400, Audi Quattro
- Teams: Opel, Audi Sport
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1983
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (May 1983): Marlboro Safari Rally EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's May 1983 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1983 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1983 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Safari Rally EN · archive
History of the Safari Rally with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Safari Rally 1983: event page — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1983.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1983_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1983_entries.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1983 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_World_Rally_Championship
All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.
Follow Grouve Sport on YouTube — rally Shorts now, Group B documentaries soon.
SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); SG2012 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Kevauto (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); nakhon100 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Morio (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Rikita (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Brian Snelson (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).