STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Ove Andersson, a Swedish former rally driver and Toyota Formula One team principal, died Wednesday in a car crash in South Africa. He was 70.
Andersson was participating in the Milligan Vintage Trial rally and crashed head-on with another car as he turned a corner, Hans-Eric Almeback, the chief executive of Toyota Sweden, told the Associated Press.
The accident occurred outside Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape. The Milligan Vintage Trial is a rally for classic, pre 1960-cars.
“We all knew him as a very genuine, down-to-earth person who really could inspire confidence. It is extremely tragic,” Almeback said.
During his rally career in the 1970s, Andersson won the Monte Carlo Rally, Rally Sanremo, Osterreichische Alpenfahrt, Acropolis Rally, Safary Rally and gained seven podium places in the World Rally Championships.
He helped build the Toyota Team Europe from his own Andersson Motorsport squad and became the first head of Toyota’s Formula One team in 2002.
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