Timo Salonen

INTRODUCTION

Timo Salonen (born October 8th, 1951) is a Finnish former rally driver and the 1985 world champion for Peugeot. He often stood out from other drivers because due to his unathletic shape, thick glasses and tendency to smoke in his rally car. He was also known for his relaxed attitude and for his habit of steering his rally car with one hand only. These factors led to the nickname “Löysä” (“Slack”), but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport.  With his seven rally wins in the Group B era (1982~1986), he is tied with Walter Röhrl for the most victories.


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PERSONAL SUMMARY (WRC)

Personal information
Nationality Finland Finnish
Born October 8th, 1951
World Rally Championship record
Active years 1974~1992, 2002
Teams Fiat, Datsun, Nissan, Peugeot, Mazda, Mitsubishi
Rallies 95
Championships 1 (1985)
Rally wins 11
Podiums 24
Stage wins 256
Total points 524
First rally 1974 1000 Lakes Rally
First win 1977 Rally Canada
Last win 1987 Swedish Rally
Last rally 2002 Neste Rally Finland

RALLY BIOGRAPHY

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Salonen achieved his first podium place in the World Rally Championship by driving his Fiat 131 Abarth to second place at the 1977 1000 Lakes Rally. He went on to win the next rally, the 1977 Critérium du Québec (Canada), which was only his fifth WRC event and his first outside his home country.

Salonen’s factory team career at World Championship level began with Nissan, mainly on long-distance events. In 1984, however, he achieved a string of top-ten finishes, resulting in Jean Todt inviting him to drive for Peugeot in the 1985 season.

He began 1985 by playing a supporting role to Ari Vatanen but quickly proved capable of being in a leading role, especially after Vatanen’s near-fatal accident in Argentina. Salonen set a record by winning four world rallies in a row – unmatched and unbroken until Sébastien Loeb’s six wins in a row in 2005 – and went on to win the World Championship with a record 52-point margin ahead of second-placed Stig Blomqvist.

Salonen then remained at Peugeot for the 1986 season, but his first half of the season was plagued by 4 retirements in a row (one being the withdrawal of Peugeot after the Portugal spectator incident) and finished third in the drivers’ championship, behind his new teammate Juha Kankkunen and Lancia driver Markku Alén.

PARTIAL SOURCE: Wikipedia

(possibly spell-checked, translated, and/or edited; abridged, corrected, and/or expanded)


GROUP B RESULTS (WRC)

(# = finish position / R = retired or DNF / = did not compete)

Y TEAM EVENT PTS
Monaco
MC
Sweden
SE
Portugal
PT
Kenya
KE
France
FR
Greece
GR
New Zealand
NZ
Brazil
BR
Finland
FI
Italy
IT
Ivory Coast
CI
United Kingdom
GB
82 Nissan R R R 4 4 R 20
Y Team Event pts
Monaco
MC
Sweden
SE
Portugal
PT
Kenya
KE
France
FR
Greece
GR
New Zealand
NZ
Argentina
AR
Finland
FI
Italy
IT
Ivory Coast
CI
United Kingdom
GB
83 Nissan 14 R R R 2 8 R 18
84 Nissan 10 7 6 4 6 27
85 Peugeot 3 3 1 7 R 1 1 1 1 2 R 143
86 Peugeot 2 R R R R 5 1 1 United States
US-
86 pts 63

WRC VICTORIES

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AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

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GALLERY

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VIDEOS

Use CC in the next video for English subtitles:


REFERENCES

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AWIN Affiliates Program – by purchasing books with the links provided here you are also helping to support the Rally Group B Shrine!*

 Group B – The rise and fall of rallying’s wildest cars (English)

Gruppe B Gruppe B – Aufstieg und Fall der Rallye-Monster (German)

Group 4 Group 4 – From Stratos to quattro (English)

Gruppe 4 Gruppe 4 – Das Jahrzehnt der Heckschleudern (German)

WRC The Complete Book of World Rally Champions : All the Cars, All the Drivers 1974-2004


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