Death of Leo Kinnunen

Leo Kinnunen died at the age of 73 this Wednesday July 26. He will remain as the first Finn to have competed in a Grand Prix by competing in the 1974 Swedish GP with a TS16 from the Surtees team, but he retired with an electrical problem. The Nordic driver attempted to compete in five other races in the discipline but failed to qualify.

The Finn stood out more in Endurance notably winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1970 on the Porsche 917 with which he also won the 1000km of Monza (Italy) and the 1000km of Brands Hatch (Great Britain) notably being associated with the Mexican Pedro Rodriguez.

Leo Kinnunen also distinguished himself in WRC by climbing onto the last step of the podium at Rally of the 1000 Lakes 1973 at the wheel of a Porsche Carrera RS, finishing behind the Ford Escort RS1600 of Timo Mäkinen and the Volvo 142 of Markku Alén.