To be one of the best rally drivers of all time, especially in Minis during the 1960s, takes nerve, skill, experience and much, much more. One of few men who epitomised these qualities with towering talent is the hugely successful Rauno Aaltonen. He campaigned these tiny cars to huge effect on the world's toughest rally circuits, winning the Finnish Rally Championship in 1961 and 1965 and the European Rally Championship in 1965. In 1966, partnering Bob Holden, he won the demanding Gallagher 500 race driving a Mini Cooper S on the Bathurst circuit, at Mount Panorama, in New South Wales, Australia. At a young age Rauno would show his ability in powerboats, then motorcycles and, finally, racing and rally cars. It was a progression that would hone his thirst to be the best, fully. He was referred to by Stuart Turner, his boss at BMC's Competitions Department, as 'ambitious' and 'very astute'.
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