Motorsports legend Ulyate speeds off to the land of the unknown, for good

I, along with many from the motorsports fraternity, was shocked to learn of the death of Robin Ulyate last week.

I went to the same school as his son Otto, who is a talented motorcyclist in his own right, and a memorial is to be held for him at his Karen home today.

I had a chat with journalist Asgar Sidi, who did quite a bit of research on Ulyate’s career, and found out some fascinating facts about this legend of local motorsports courtesy of Sidi.

Ulyate was heavily involved in rallying in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s in both driving and organisation. For the second time in the history of Safari Rally and just six years after the ‘Magnificent Seven’ of 1963, just seven crews finished the 1968 East African Safari Rally.

Ulyate and co-driver Michael Wood emerged from the wet and muddy event to be among the seven finishers – and become instant heroes.
Ulyate missed the next two Safaris to concentrate on his farm, but was back for the 1971 edition, co-driven by Ivan Smith, and by the end of the longest-ever Safari, covering some 6,400km and drawing a record entry of 115 with a large overseas entry of nearly 50, Ulyate made history which will never been matched in the history of the event; he brought a BMW 2002Ti home in ninth place, the only time a BMW has ever finished the Safari.

He was also the only privateer in the top-ten - amazingly in front were three factory entered Datsun 240Zs, two Peugeot 504 Inj., two Ford Escort twin-cams, one Porsche 911S and a Lancia Fulvia.

The World Championship for Rallies was officially inaugurated in 1973, replacing the International Rally for Makes. Only the best 12 rallies worldwide made it into this prestigious championship, and the Safari retained its place as one of the qualifying rounds.

Another very big entry of 94 cars was entered and among them was a lone Fiat, which was seeded at Car No 23. Uganda was excluded from the route for the first time, and the total distance was not great as in previous years, but it was designed to consist of tougher and tighter sections.

Ulyate, again partnered by Ivan Smith, made the most of the route and ended up collecting his second top-ten finish. His drive to eighth place in the Fiat 125S was again a record for this unique driver, as he became the first driver to bring a Fiat to its first ever finish in the Safari, and it was also the first time that a 125S model had ever finished a round of a World Championship event.

STARTED IN 38TH POSITION

For the first time the Safari was run solely in Kenya in 1974. A huge entry of 105 cars started the rally, and this was the year of the infamous Embu to Meru section. From the afternoon start in Nairobi cars headed in an anti-clockwise direction around Mount Kenya.

The first 15 cars got through without any difficulties, but then a flash storm hit, which in minutes reduced the surface to a mass of red glutinous mud, and over 70 cars were littered over a stretch of road only a couple of kilometers long. Ulyate, this time in a well-used ex-factory Fiat Abarth 124, had started in 38th position on the road and overtook more than twenty cars on his way to 14th place.

He showed his mastery of the wet conditions to stay in control and complete his fourth top ten finish and fifth consecutive Safari finish in five different models of cars. In the wet he had even overtaken a pair of the officially entered Abarth 124s of Italy’s Sergio Barbasio and Domenico Paganelli, along with the Ford Escort of Vic Preston Junior on his way to 10th place, 60 minutes ahead of the factory Lancia Fulvia of Shekhar Mehta.

Ulyate’s best result came in 1976, as part of the works Mitsubishi Lancer team. Because of a large high-quality entry, he found himself with the start number 22, and the little 1.6 liter Mitsubishi Lancers ran away from the rest of the field in a wet event and finished 1-2-3, with Ulyate finishing behind Joginder Singh and ahead of Scotland’s Andrew Cowan.

That performance earned Ulyate a drive in the exciting Lancia Stratos. He was given a Stratos, which had been left in East Africa and purchased back by the team and rebuilt to Safari-spec. The other two were driven by the Italian great, Sandro Munari and Finland’s Simo Lampinen.

It was one of the wettest Safaris, which took a devastating toll as most of the field became impossibly stuck in the mud. Rains continued to fall throughout the rally, and in all 53 cars dropped out on the punishing first leg, with only twelve cars surviving the 6000km route.

Unfortunately Ulyate and Ian Street were not among the survivors, the Lancia Stratos retiring with host of mechanical problems, finally bowing out with overheating problems.

The all-purpose ‘supercar’ was by no means the sleek and purposeful looking ‘racer’ known in Europe, but it was a car in every drivers’ dreams, and when Ulyate earned a drive in the exciting Stratos, he became the second ever Kenyan to drive the “special car” after Vic Preston Junior, although Frank Tundo did drive one in a later Safari.

MISSED 1978 RACE

Ulyate missed the 1978 Safari but was already in possession of another super-car from the Italian stable, a Fiat Abarth 131 for the 1979 Safari Rally. The factory team had also entered three of this model, and he was involved before the Safari in their testing programme, playing a part for the cars to be modified from its European-type spec to the rigours of Africa.

The opening sections were dry, but the third leg brought the muddiest conditions and Ulyate made up time to bring the car to 14th place. In 1981 four bold American Dodge Ramchargers, four-wheel-drive and of colossal size were entered, with four of these monsters in the hands two Americans (Rod Hall and Malcolm Smith), Sandro Munari and a certain Robin Ulyate. But transmission troubles from the moment they arrived in Africa ended Ulyate’s drive in the third leg.

The Safari Rally had always been the centre of his competitive activity, and that did not go unnoticed as in 1984 Toyota Team Europe (TTE) secured his services by offering him one of the practice Toyota Celicas to drive as a ‘flying mechanic’, as Ulyate was someone with ‘bush-mechanic’ capabilities.

Ulyate performed valuable service for Toyota as a driver and service crew in years to come. Without Ulyate, Bjorn Waldegaard could not have achieved the title of the King of Africa for his six wins against Mehta’s five, and without Ulyate Toyota would not have been in the record books for being the first manufacturer to clean sweep the first four position with the same make of model.

Ulyate also had a firm bond and close working relationship with Waldegaard, as during the 1970s Waldegaard would visit the Ulyate family at their farm where Robin would give him tips on how to drive in the mud.

That was how high the Super Swede regarded Ulyate – and it was no surprise that Waldegaard always excelled in the mud!

His death came seven days before the first anniversary of Waldegaard passing, and he will also be remembered as a highly successful farmer with farms in Tanzania and Kenya. Thanks for the wonderful memories Robin!