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Timo Salonen (born 8 October 1951) is a Finnish former rally driver who won the 1985 World Rally Championship season for Peugeot. It was commented of him that he stood out from other drivers, because he was overweight, wore thick glasses and smoked heavily, but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport. 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").[1] With his 11 rally wins he remained the most successful driver of Group B era (1983–1986) of WRC.

Timo Salonen
Salonen in 2017.
Personal information
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born (1951-10-08) 8 October 1951 (age 73)
Helsinki, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1974 – 1992, 2002
Co-driverFinland Seppo Harjanne
Finland Jaakko Markkula
Finland Erkki Nyman
South Africa Stuart Pegg
Finland Voitto Silander
Finland Launo Heinonen
TeamsFiat, Datsun, Nissan, Peugeot, Mazda, Mitsubishi
Rallies95
Championships1 (1985)
Rally wins11
Podiums24
Stage wins256
Total points524
First rally1974 1000 Lakes Rally
First win1977 Rally Canada
Last win1987 Swedish Rally
Last rally2002 Neste Rally Finland

Rallying career

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WRC career (1975–2002)

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Salonen's Peugeot 205 T16 E2 at the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally

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, which was only his fifth WRC event and his first outside his home country.[2]

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 that year 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[3] – 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, and finished third in the drivers' championship, behind his new team-mate Juha Kankkunen and Lancia driver Markku Alén.

He has remained the most successful driver of Group B with his seven rally wins and one World Rally Championship.

In the turbulent world of post-Group B rallying, Salonen starred for Mazda, taking a popular win on the 1987 Swedish Rally. His last WRC event in action was the 1992 Rally Portugal in a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 until he made a one-time comeback at the 2002 Neste Rally Finland. He managed his Peugeot 206 WRC to 14th place overall.

Salonen was mainly co-driven by Seppo Harjanne, who would later go on to achieve even more success with Tommi Mäkinen (the pairing of Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne achieved 2 championship titles from 1996 to 1997 by 1 point until Harjanne was replaced by Risto Mannisenmäki from 1998 to 2001). After retiring from rallying, Salonen has worked as the CEO for his car sales company Autotalo Timo Salonen in Finland.

Rally Raid career (1993–1995)

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Following his full-time WRC career, he drove for Guy Fréquelin's Citroën rally raid team, winning the 1993 Pharaohs Rally Raid [4] in the works ZX and helping the team win the Cross-Country World Cup manufacturers' title. That same season, Salonen also finished fourth on the Baja Aragon Raid,[5] second on the Atlas Rally Raid[6] and third on the United Arab Emirates Desert Challenge.[7] He would withdraw from the 1993 Paris-Dakar rally, however, when co-driver Fred Gallagher (co-driver) injured his back after a heavy landing.

For the following season, the Finn could not compete in 1994's Paris-Dakar-Paris. Citroën and the event organisers disagreed about the running of the event, the French marque entering a reduced squad of just two ZXs in protest.[8] He did still drive for the team during the World Cup, finishing second on the Tunisia Rally Raid, following a penultimate stage crash that robbed him of the win,[9] taking the victory on the Baja Aragón [10] and providing a test drive for Top Gear (1977 TV series)'s Jeremy Clarkson.[11]

In the 1995 Granda-Dakar rally, he finished fifth, after losing over five hours when his ZX lost drive to its front wheels.[12] Salonen also finished third on the Atlas Rally that season[13] and second on the Baja España-Aragón.[14]

Complete WRC results

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WRC Points
1974 Timo Salonen Mazda 1300 MON
C
SWE
C
POR KEN GRE
C
FIN
22
ITA CAN USA GBR FRA - -
1975 Timo Salonen Datsun 160J MON SWE KEN GRC MOR POR FIN
6
ITA FRA GBR - -
1976 Timo Salonen Datsun 160J MON SWE POR KEN GRC MOR FIN
6
ITA FRA GBR - -
1977 Timo Salonen Fiat 131 Abarth MON SWE POR KEN NZL GRC FIN
2
CAN
1
ITA FRA GBR
Ret
- -
1978 Alitalia Fiat Fiat 131 Abarth MON SWE
Ret
KEN POR GRE FIN
2
CAN
Ret
ITA CIV FRA GBR - -
1979 N.I. Theocharakis Datsun 160J MON SWE POR KEN GRC
2
4th 50
Team Datsun Europe NZL
DSQ
FIN
5
CAN
2
ITA
Ret
FRA GBR
3
CIV
1980 Team Datsun Europe Datsun 160J MON SWE
7
POR
Ret
KEN GRE
2
ARG FIN
6
NZL
1
ITA
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
CIV 7th 45
1981 Team Datsun Europe Datsun Violet GT/160J MON SWE POR
Ret
FRA
Ret
GRE
Ret
ARG
Ret
BRA FIN
4
ITA
12
CIV
1
GBR
Ret
6th 40
Datsun Silvia KEN
4
1982 Team Nissan Europe Nissan Silvia/Datsun Violet GTS MON SWE POR
Ret
KEN
Ret
FRA GRE
Ret
NZL
4
BRA FIN
4
ITA CIV 11th 20
Datsun/Nissan Violet GT GBR
Ret
1983 Team Nissan Europe Nissan 240 RS MON
14
SWE POR
Ret
KEN
Ret
FRA GRE
Ret
NZL
2
ARG FIN
8
ITA CIV GBR
Ret
13th 18
1984 Team Nissan Europe Nissan 240 RS MON
10
SWE POR KEN
7
FRA GRE
6
NZL
4
ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
6
10th 27
1985 Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 MON
3
SWE
3
POR
1
KEN
7
FRA
Ret
1st 143
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 GRE
1
NZL
1
ARG
1
FIN
1
ITA
2
CIV GBR
Ret
1986 Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 MON
2
SWE
Ret
POR
Ret
KEN FRA
Ret
GRE
Ret
NZL
5
ARG FIN
1
CIV ITA GBR
1
USA 3rd 63
1987 Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD MON
Ret
SWE
1
POR
Ret
KEN FRA GRE USA NZL ARG FIN
Ret
CIV ITA GBR 14th 20
1988 Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD MON
5
SWE
Ret
POR KEN FRA GRE
Ret
USA NZL ARG FIN
4
CIV ITA GBR
2
5th 33
1989 Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD SWE
22
MON
Ret
POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN
2
AUS ITA CIV GBR
6
12th 21
1990 Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD MON
8
POR
Ret
KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG 25th 9
Mazda 323 GT-X FIN
6
AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret
1991 Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 MON
8
SWE
Ret
POR KEN FRA GRE
Ret
NZL ARG FIN
DSQ
AUS
5
ITA CIV ESP GBR
4
13th 21
1992 Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 MON
6
SWE POR
5
KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR 20th 14
2002 Timo Salonen Peugeot 206 WRC MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN
14
GER ITA NZL AUS GBR - 0

WRC victories

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Number Event Season Co-driver Car
1 Canada  5ème Critérium Molson du Québec 1977 Jaakko Markkula Fiat 131 Abarth
2 New Zealand  11th Motogard Rally of New Zealand 1980 Seppo Harjanne Datsun 160J
3 Ivory Coast  13ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire 1981 Datsun Violet GT
4 Portugal  19º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto 1985 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16
5 Greece  32nd Acropolis Rally Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2
6 New Zealand  15th AWA Clarion Rally of New Zealand
7 Argentina  5º Marlboro Rally Argentina
8 Finland  35th 1000 Lakes Rally
9 Finland  36th 1000 Lakes Rally 1986
10 United Kingdom  35th Lombard RAC Rally
11 Sweden  37th International Swedish Rally 1987 Mazda 323 4WD

References

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  1. ^ "Timo Salonen, ensimmäisen luokan ajaja". Suomen Moottoriurheilumuseo (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  2. ^ van der Zee, Tjeerd. "Timo Salonen". RallyBase. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006.
  3. ^ "Loeb ties win record with victory in Turkey". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  4. ^ "1993 Pharaohs Rally Raid - Stage 12 - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - Eurosport". YouTube. 15 September 2024.
  5. ^ "1993 Baja Aragon Raid - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - SEAT Toledo - Eurosport". YouTube. 26 August 2024.
  6. ^ "1993 Atlas Rally Raid - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - Eurosport". YouTube. 23 August 2024.
  7. ^ "1991 Citroen ZX Rallye Raid Evo 2". Girardo & Co.
  8. ^ "Citroën Paris-Dakar 1994". YouTube. 18 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Citroën Paris-Dakar 1994". YouTube. 18 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Baja Aragón 1994 EuroSport". YouTube. 20 May 2021.
  11. ^ "1Citroen ZX Rallye Raid - Timo Salonen - Old Top Gear". YouTube. 8 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Dakar Rally 1995". Mitsubishi Motors.
  13. ^ "Citroën ZX Rallye-raid - Ari Vatanen gagne le rallye de l'Atlas 1995". YouTube.
  14. ^ "Resumen Baja España-Aragón 1995". YouTube. 8 September 2021.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Autosport
International Rally Driver Award

1985
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by World Rally Champion
1985
Succeeded by
Preceded by Race of Champions
Rally Master

1994
Succeeded by