Famous 20th Century Rally Drivers

Colin McRae was a British rally driver who won the British Rally Championship title in 1991 and 1992. In 1995, he became the youngest person and the first British driver to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title. Colin McRae's career was cut short by his sudden demise in 2007 when he was killed in a helicopter crash. 

Henri Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver who became the youngest driver ever to become the World Rally Champion in 1980. The record was later broken by his countryman Jari-Matti Latvala in 2008. Henri Toivonen is also known as the son of Pauli Toivonen, who won the 1968 European Rally Championship title.

Tommi Mäkinen is a Finnish former racing driver. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers of all time; he won four World Rally Championship titles during his career. After retiring as a driver, Tommi Mäkinen established himself as a racing executive.

Ari Vatanen is a rally driver-turned-politician who won the drivers' title at the 1981 World Rally Championship as well as the prestigious Paris Dakar Rally on four occasions. He also won the World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in 1997. Since 2013, Ari Vatanen has been serving as the president of the Autosport Union in Estonia.

Norwegian rally and rallycross driver Petter Solberg was a teenager when he won the Norwegian Tamiya Cup and later won 10 FIA World Rallycross Championships and 13 World Rally Championships. He is married to Pernilla Walfridsson, who is herself a leading former rally driver and the daughter of rally driver Per-Inge "Pi" Walfridsson.

British Formula One racing-driver James Clark Jr. is counted among the greatest Formula One drivers of all time. He won his first World Driver’s Championships in 1963 making a record of winning seven out of ten races in a season. He again won the championship in 1965. His 1965 Indianapolis 500 win marked the first win for a rear-engined car.

Keke Rosberg is a Finnish retired racing driver best known for winning the Formula One World Championship in 1982. Rosberg was the first Finnish champion in the history of the Formula One World Championship. Keke Rosberg has also achieved popularity as the father of the 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg.

Marcus Grönholm is a Finnish retired rally and rallycross driver. With 34 rally wins and two championships under his belt, Marcus Grönholm is considered one of the most successful World Rallycross Championship (WRC) drivers of all time.

Juha Kankkunen is a Finnish retired rally driver. He is best known for winning four drivers' world championship titles and 23 world rallies during his illustrious career. A successful driver, Juha Kankkunen competed for popular teams like Toyota, Peugeot, Ford, Subaru, and Hyundai.  

Markku Alen is a Finnish retired rally and race car driver. He had an impressive record in the World Rally Championship, although he never won the championship itself. Markku Alen is credited with coining and popularizing the phrase, now maximum attack.  

Jack Brabham was an Australian professional racing driver best remembered for winning the Formula One World Championship thrice during his illustrious career that lasted 15 years. He is credited with founding the eponymous Formula One racing team and racing car manufacturer. Early in his career, Brabham contributed immensely to the design of racing cars introduced by the Cooper Car Company.

The only Formula One World Champion from Africa, Jody David Scheckter made his debut at the US Grand Prix in 1972, shortly after moving from South Africa to Britain. Two years later he registered his first win with the Swedish Grand Prix. His last win was at the 1979 Italian Grand Prix. In 1980, he retired from motor racing.

Peter Brock was an Australian professional racing driver best remembered for his association with Holden. A three-time Australian Touring Car champion, Brock was honored with the prestigious Australian Sports Medal in 2000. In 2001, he was made an inductee of the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame. Also known for his humanitarian efforts, Brock was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.

Robby Gordon is an auto racing driver who has raced in NASCAR, CART, Trans-Am, IndyCar, IMSA, and Dakar Rally. He began his career in off-road racing and also participated in selected Traxxas TORC Series events. He owns the Stadium Super Trucks, a short course off-road racing series he launched in 2013. He also operates the Speed family of brands. 

Born into a reputed family of racers, Al Unser later became a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner. At 48, he also became the oldest racer to emerge victorious at the Indianapolis 500. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee is also known as Big Al and Al Unser Sr.

Timo Salonen is a Finnish retired rally driver best known for winning the 1985 World Rally Championship for Peugeot. Salonen was initially written off by the media and the experts as he was overweight, smoked heavily, and wore thick glasses. However, Timo Salonen proved his critics wrong by becoming the most successful driver of World Rally Championship's Group B era.

Janet Guthrie created history when she became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500 races. An adventure lover from the very beginning, she was interested in planes and parachutes since her teens. She also excelled in physics and worked as an aerospace R&D engineer.

French former rally driver Jean Todt has been the director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and the principal of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team. He was also the CEO of Ferrari and the president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, and was named the UN’s Special Envoy for Road Safety.