Sobiesław Zasada

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Sobiesław Zasada is a Polish rally driver and economist, born on January 27, 1930, in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland. He won the European Rally Championship three times: in 1966 with a Steyr-Puch 650, in 1967 with a Porsche 912, and in 1971 with a BMW 2002 TI. He was runner-up in 1968, 1969 and 1972. In 1967 he was named Poland’s Sports Personality of the Year, and he also won the Gran Premio Internacional de Turismo in Argentina driving a Porsche 911.

Zasada started with motorcycles and moved to four-wheel racing in 1951, earning support from the Polish automobile club in Warsaw. In 1967 he ran a small four-person auto repair shop in Kraków. By the late 1990s he became a successful businessman, leading Sobiesław Zasada Centrum SA, which helped Mercedes-Benz produce Vito vans in Eastern Europe and grew to include several car factories.

In 2021, at age 91, Zasada returned to rallying in the Safari Rally, becoming the oldest driver in World Rally Championship history; he did not finish after a series of collisions. He was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta for his sporting achievements and his contributions to Polish sport.