Shekhar Mehta

Shekhar Mehta
Personal information
Nationality	Kenyan
Born	20 June 1945; Uganda
Died	12 April 2006 (aged 60); London, England
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973–1987
Co-driver	Lofty Drews; Geraint Phillips; Ensio Mikander; Keith Wood; Mike Doughty; Martin Holmes; Robert Bean; Yvonne Mehta; Henry Liddon; Rob Combes
Teams	Datsun, Lancia, Opel, Nissan, Audi, Peugeot
Rallies	47
Rally wins	5
Podiums	11
Stage wins	13
Total points	229
First rally	1973 Safari Rally
First win	1973 Safari Rally
Last win	1982 Safari Rally
Last rally	1987 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire

Shekhar Mehta (20 June 1945 – 12 April 2006) was a Ugandan-born Kenyan rally driver. He won the Safari Rally a record five times (1973, 1979–82), including four consecutively,^[1] and in 1981 finished fifth in the World Rally Championship.^[2]

Biography

A Ugandan of Indian Gujarati descent, he was born in 1945 to a family of plantation owners in Uganda, and began rallying behind the wheel of a BMW aged 21.^[3] In 1972, he and his family fled Idi Amin's regime to Kenya,^[4] the year before he clinched his first Safari Rally title.

Mehta's 1973 Safari Rally-winning Datsun 240Z

He was born into a wealthy business family, the son of Khimji Mehta and the grandson of Nanji Kalidas Mehta, founder of the Mehta Group. He was the cousin of Indian businessman, Jay Mehta who is the head of the Mehta Group.^[5] He married his sometime co-driver Yvonne Pratt in 1978 after a ten-year courtship, and they had one son, Vijay, in 1980.^[6]

Through the most successful period of his career he drove Datsun cars. He won the inaugural African Rally Championship in 1981,^[7] and the Cyprus Rally in 1976.^[8] He was on the podium at the 1981 Rally Codasur, twice at the Acropolis Rally and three times at the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire. His career came to an end in 1986 after a nearly fatal crash at Rallye des Pharaons, Egypt while driving for Peugeot.

After his driving days were over he held various administrative positions at the FIA. He became president of the FIA Rally commission in 1997, and was re-appointed as interim President of the World Rally Championship commission shortly before his death. He died in London on 12 April 2006 from liver problems, hepatitis, and illness relating to complications from an old injury.^[9]^[10]

Racing record

Complete IMC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1970	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun 1600 SSS	MON	SWE	ITA	KEN Ret	AUT	GRE	GBR
1971	Nissan Motor Company Ltd	Datsun 240Z	MON	SWE	ITA	KEN 2	MAR	AUT	GRE
1971	Nissan Europe Rally Team	Datsun 240Z								GBR 19
1972	Nissan Motor Company Ltd	Datsun 240Z	MON	SWE	KEN 10	MAR
	Sears Roebuck Ltd						GRE 6	AUT	ITA	USA
	Withers of Winsford										GBR Ret

Complete WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points
1973	Nissan Motor Company Ltd	Datsun 240Z	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 1	MOR Ret	GRE	POL	FIN Ret	AUT	ITA	USA			N/A	N/A
1973	Datsun UK Ltd	Datsun Sunny												GBR 37	FRA	N/A	N/A
1974	Lancia Marlboro	Lancia Fulvia Coupé HF	MON C	SWE C	POR	KEN 11	GRE C	FIN								N/A	N/A
1974	Lancia Marlboro	Lancia Beta Coupé							ITA 4	CAN	USA	GBR	FRA			N/A	N/A
1975	Lancia Alitalia	Lancia Beta Coupé	MON	SWE	KEN Ret	GRC										N/A	N/A
	Datsun Dealers	Datsun 160J					MOR 6
	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun Violet 160J						POR 7	FIN	ITA	FRA	GBR
1976	D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd	Datsun 160J	MON	SWE	POR	KEN Ret										N/A	N/A
1976	N.I. Theocharakis	Datsun 160J					GRC 3	MOR	FIN	ITA	FRA	GBR				N/A	N/A
1977	D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd	Datsun 160J	MON	SWE	POR	KEN Ret	NZL	GRC	FIN	CAN	ITA	FRA	GBR			N/A	N/A
1978	D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd	Datsun 160J	MON	SWE	KEN Ret	POR										N/A	N/A
	N.I. Theocharakis	Datsun 160J					GRC 3	FIN	CAN	ITA
	Opel Euro Händler Team	Opel Ascona i2000									CIV Ret	FRA	GBR
1979	D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun	Datsun 160J	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 1	GRC	NZL	FIN	CAN	ITA	FRA	GBR	CIV		10th	20
1980	D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun	Datsun 160J	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 1										9th	30
	Nissan Motor Company Ltd							ARG 4	FIN	NZL	ITA	FRA	GBR
	Comafrique													CIV Ret
	Opel Euro Händler Team	Opel Ascona 400					GRC Ret
1981	D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun	Datsun Violet GT	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 1	FRA									5th	55
	Ma. Ma. Sa.								ARG 2
	Nissan Motor Company Ltd									BRA Ret	FIN	ITA
	Comafrique												CIV 3	GBR
	N.I. Theocharakis	Datsun 160J						GRC 5
1982	D.T. Dobie & Co	Nissan Violet GT	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 1	FRA									8th	30
	N.I. Theocharakis							GRC Ret
	Dealer Team Nissan								NZL Ret
	Nissan Motor Company Ltd	Nissan Violet GTS								BRA Ret	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR
1983	D.T. Dobie & Co	Nissan 240RS	MON	SWE	POR	KEN Ret	FRA									9th	26
	N.I. Theocharakis							GRC 6
	Dealer Team Nissan								NZL 4
	Audi Sport	Audi Quattro A2								ARG 4	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR
1984	Subaru Motor Sports	Subaru Leone 1800	MON 14	SWE	POR											9th	27
	D.T. Dobie & Co	Nissan 240RS				KEN 5	FRA
	N.I. Theocharakis							GRC 7	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA
	Nissan Motor Company Ltd												CIV 3
	Team Nissan Europe													GBR 8
1985	D.T. Dobie & Co	Nissan 240RS	MON	SWE	POR	KEN Ret	FRA									13th	20
	N.I. Theocharakis							GRC 4
	Nissan New Zealand								NZL Ret
	Nissan Motor Company Ltd									ARG 4	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR
1986	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	MON	SWE	POR	KEN 8	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR	USA	49th	3
1987	Nissan Motorsports International	Nissan 200SX	MON	SWE	POR	KEN Ret	FRA	GRC Ret	USA 8	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV 2	ITA	GBR	18th	18

References

^ Safari Rally Roll of Honour, Rallybase.nl
^ 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers Final classification, Rallybase.nl
^ "Shekhar Mehta and John Large" Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Issue 4 Article 2, FIA News
^ "Come, Let Us Now Praise Famous Ugandans...", Joachim Buwembo, The Daily Nation, 2 September 2002.
^ "Shree Shekharbhai Khimjibhai Nanji Kalidas Mehta (formerly of Lugazi) died in London on Wednesday 12 April at the age of 61 years". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
^ "Rally icon remembered" Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sports Monthly, issue 52.
^ African Rally Championship Past Winners Archived 11 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Cyprus Rally - past events Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Shekhar Mehta dies in London"^[usurped], Eastandard.net, 13 April 2006.
^ "Shekhar Mehta Loses Battle With Illness"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, Yahoo UK & Ireland Sports, 12 April 2006.

External links

Driver profile, Rallybase.nl
"Datsun and The East African Safari Rally" Archived 6 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Datsunhistory.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by inaugural	African Rally Champion 1981	Succeeded by Walter Röhrl

[1] Safari Rally Roll of Honour, Rallybase.nl

[2] 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers Final classification, Rallybase.nl

[3] "Shekhar Mehta and John Large" Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Issue 4 Article 2, FIA News

[4] "Come, Let Us Now Praise Famous Ugandans...", Joachim Buwembo, The Daily Nation, 2 September 2002.

[5] "Shree Shekharbhai Khimjibhai Nanji Kalidas Mehta (formerly of Lugazi) died in London on Wednesday 12 April at the age of 61 years". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2011.

[6] "Rally icon remembered" Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sports Monthly, issue 52.

[7] African Rally Championship Past Winners Archived 11 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[8] Cyprus Rally - past events Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[9] "Shekhar Mehta dies in London"^[usurped], Eastandard.net, 13 April 2006.

[10] "Shekhar Mehta Loses Battle With Illness"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, Yahoo UK & Ireland Sports, 12 April 2006.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]