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.
QUICK BROWSE CONTENT
- PERSONAL SUMMARY (WRC)
- RALLY BIOGRAPHY
- GROUP B RESULTS (WRC)
- WRC VICTORIES
- AWARDS / ACHIEVEMENTS
- GALLERY
- VIDEOS
- REFERENCES
PERSONAL SUMMARY (WRC)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | ![]() |
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 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() MC |
![]() SE |
![]() PT |
![]() KE |
![]() FR |
![]() GR |
![]() NZ |
![]() BR |
![]() FI |
![]() IT |
![]() CI |
![]() GB |
|||
82 | Nissan | – | – | R | R | – | R | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | R | 20 |
Y | Team | Event | pts | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() MC |
![]() SE |
![]() PT |
![]() KE |
![]() FR |
![]() GR |
![]() NZ |
![]() AR |
![]() FI |
![]() IT |
![]() CI |
![]() 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 | ![]() US- |
86 | pts | 63 |
WRC VICTORIES
(under construction)
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
(under construction)
GALLERY
(under construction)
VIDEOS
Use CC in the next video for English subtitles:
REFERENCES
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 – Aufstieg und Fall der Rallye-Monster (German)
Group 4 – From Stratos to quattro (English)
Gruppe 4 – Das Jahrzehnt der Heckschleudern (German)
The Complete Book of World Rally Champions : All the Cars, All the Drivers 1974-2004
(C) Page by Jay Auger – website owner, main author & chief editor
- PARTIAL SOURCE: Wikipedia
- More stats on Timo Salonen can be found on eWRC-Results
- Images and videos are the property of their original owners
- DISCLAIMER / LEGAL NOTICES
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