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Former World Champion, one of the legends of world championship rallying, will lead the 96-car field as Car One.

Hannu will drive the Escort Mk 1 in which he won the 1995 London-Mexico Rally and will have his 20-year old son Juha as his co-driver. The car has been released from the Ford museum and is being prepared by David Sutton's Historic Motorsport operation in England.

Hannu's tally of victories includes the 1970 London-Mexico, the 25th anniversary re-run organised by Trans World Events in 1995, 18 world championship rally wins and the distinction of being the first-ever European to win the gruelling East African Safari.

The London-Sydney is the only FIA Marathon event Hannu has not done or won. Watch for a determined effort from the man who has come out of retirement to add this to an outstanding lifetime tally of victories.

"I'm very excited to be making a comeback from retirement to do the London-Sydney. I was too young to do the original one in 1968," Hannu joked. "And it will be really good fun to do it with my son."

TWE Event Director Nick Brittan said, "We are thrilled to welcome one of the sports great legends into our event. It will certainly give the front runners something to measure themselves against."

Hannu's Finnish grand parents lived in Brisbane, Australia and his father was born there. "After the rally we will go and see the house where they all lived. It will be a little bit of nostalgia for me and my son Juha," Hannu said.

"My grand father was a captain of a cargo boat and he met a Finnish girl in Brisbane, married her in a week and stayed living in Australia for many years before returning to Finland."