Tapio Laukkanen

Tapio Laukkanen

Laukkanen competing in 2016
Personal information
Nationality	Finnish
Born	(1969-09-23) September 23, 1969 (age 55) Lahti, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1994–2001, 2003
Co-driver	Jorma Kaikkonen Risto Mannisenmäki Tapio Järvi Kaj Lindström Harri Kaapro
Teams	S.B.G. Sport Blue Rose Team Renault Dealer Rallying UK Ford Motor Co. Ltd
Rallies	22
Championships	0
Rally wins	0
Podiums	0
Stage wins	0
Total points	2
First rally	1994 1000 Lakes Rally
Last rally	2003 Wales Rally GB

Tapio Laukkanen (born 23 September 1969) is a retired Finnish rally driver. He was born in Lahti.

In 1996 he won the Finnish Rally Championship in a Volkswagen Golf GTi, in 1999 he won the British Rally Championship with a Renault Mégane Maxi twinned with fellow Finn, Kaj Lindström and in 2016 he won the Kenyan National Rally Championship in a Subaru Impreza. ^[1]

In 2017 he won Kenya's Safari Rally. ^{[2] [3]}

Other co-drivers include Jorma Kaikkonen, Risto Mannisenmäki, Tapio Järvi, Ilkka Riipinen and Rory Kennedy, Gavin Lawrence.

Laukkanen has retired from professional rally races, and now teaches rally drivers at a school bearing his name. ^[4]

Racing record

Complete WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Pts
1994	Tapio Laukkanen	Mitsubishi Galant VR-4	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN Ret	ITA	GBR					NC	0
1995	S.B.G. Sport	Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v	MON	SWE	POR	FRA	NZL	AUS	ESP	GBR 12							NC	0
1996	Blue Rose Team	Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v	SWE	KEN	IDN	GRE	ARG	FIN Ret	AUS	ITA	ESP						NC	0
1997	Blue Rose Team	Volkswagen Golf Kit Car	MON	SWE 19	KEN	POR	ESP	FRA	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN 11	IDN	ITA	AUS	GBR	NC	0
1998	Renault Dealer Rallying UK	Renault Mégane Maxi	MON	SWE	KEN	POR	ESP	FRA 18	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN Ret	ITA 23	AUS	GBR 12		NC	0
1999	Renault Elf Dealer Rallying	Renault Mégane Maxi	MON	SWE	KEN	POR Ret	ESP	FRA 10	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN 13	CHN	ITA Ret	AUS 19	GBR Ret	NC	0
2000	Ford Motor Company Ltd	Ford Focus RS WRC 00	MON	SWE	KEN	POR	ESP	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN Ret	CYP	FRA	ITA	AUS 5	GBR Ret	20th	2
2001	Tapio Laukkanen	Toyota Corolla WRC	MON	SWE Ret	POR 9	ESP	ARG	CYP	GRE	KEN							NC	0
		Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v									FIN 23	NZL	ITA	FRA	AUS	GBR
2003	Tapio Laukkanen	Subaru Impreza WRC 2001	MON	SWE	TUR	NZL	ARG	GRE	CYP	GER	FIN	AUS	ITA	FRA	ESP	GBR Ret	NC	0

References

1. Sidi, Abdul; Musungu, Julius (February 27, 2016). "Finland's Tapio Laukkanen wins Kajiado Rally". The Nation. Kenya. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
2. Holmes, Martin (2017-03-19). "Finnish winner in Safari Rally". RallySport Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
3. "Flying Finn wins maiden Safari Rally title". Capital Sports. 2017-03-18. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
4. Heinonen, Toni (2024-05-23). "A big revelation about his career from the Finnish rally legend – "Only very few people in the world know"". RallyJournal.com. Retrieved 2024-11-10.

External links

• Laukkanen's rally statistics

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Martin Rowe	Autosport National Rally Driver of the Year 1999	Succeeded by Mark Higgins