Timo Salonen

Last updated

Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen.jpg
Salonen in 2017.
Personal information
Nationality Flag of Finland.svg Finnish
Born (1951-10-08) 8 October 1951 (age 73)
Helsinki, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1974 – 1992, 2002
Co-driver Flag of Finland.svg Seppo Harjanne
Flag of Finland.svg Jaakko Markkula
Flag of Finland.svg Erkki Nyman
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Stuart Pegg
Flag of Finland.svg Voitto Silander
Flag of Finland.svg Launo Heinonen
Teams Fiat, Datsun, Nissan, Peugeot, Mazda, Mitsubishi
Rallies95
Championships 1 (1985)
Rally wins 11
Podiums24
Stage wins256
Total points524
First rally1974 1000 Lakes Rally
First win1977 Rally Canada
Last win1987 Swedish Rally
Last rally2002 Neste Rally Finland

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.

Contents

Rallying career

WRC career (1975–2002)

Salonen's Peugeot 205 T16 E2 at the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally Thumb-Rallye-mont--carlo-1986.jpg
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 (1992–1995)

Following his full-time WRC career, he drove for Guy Fréquelin's Citroën rally raid team. During the 1992 Paris-Moscow-Beijing rally raid, Salonen's ZX burnt to the ground. [4]

In 1993, he then competed regularly for the squad, winning the 1993 Pharaohs Rally Raid [5] 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, [6] second on the Atlas Rally Raid [7] and third on the United Arab Emirates Desert Challenge. [8] 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. [9] 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, [10] taking the victory on the Baja Aragón [11] and providing a test drive for Top Gear (1977 TV series)'s Jeremy Clarkson. [12]

In the 1995 Granda-Dakar rally, he finished fifth, after losing over five hours when his ZX lost drive to its front wheels. [13] Salonen also finished third on the Atlas Rally that season [14] and second on the Baja España-Aragón. [15]

Complete WRC results

YearEntrantCar1234567891011121314WRCPoints
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		4th50
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 7th45
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		6th40
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 11th20
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		13th18
1984 Team Nissan Europe Nissan 240 RS MON
10		 SWE POR KEN
7		 FRA GRE
6		 NZL
4		 ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
6		10th27
1985 Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 MON
3		 SWE
3		 POR
1		 KEN
7		 FRA
Ret		1st143
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 3rd63
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 14th20
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		5th33
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		12th21
1990 Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD MON
8		 POR
Ret		 KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG 25th9
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		13th21
1992 Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 MON
6		 SWE POR
5		 KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR 20th14
2002 Timo Salonen Peugeot 206 WRC MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN
14		 GER ITA NZL AUS GBR -0

WRC victories

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

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References

  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. ↑ "Rallye Raid Paris-Moscou-Pékin (1992)". YouTube . 5 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "1993 Pharaohs Rally Raid - Stage 12 - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - Eurosport". YouTube . 15 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "1993 Baja Aragon Raid - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - SEAT Toledo - Eurosport". YouTube . 26 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "1993 Atlas Rally Raid - Citroen ZX - Mitsubishi Pajero - Eurosport". YouTube . 23 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "1991 Citroen ZX Rallye Raid Evo 2". Girardo & Co.
  9. ↑ "Citroën Paris-Dakar 1994". YouTube . 18 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Citroën Paris-Dakar 1994". YouTube . 18 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Baja Aragón 1994 EuroSport". YouTube . 20 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "1Citroen ZX Rallye Raid - Timo Salonen - Old Top Gear". YouTube . 8 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Dakar Rally 1995". Mitsubishi Motors .
  14. ↑ "Citroën ZX Rallye-raid - Ari Vatanen gagne le rallye de l'Atlas 1995". YouTube .
  15. ↑ "Resumen Baja España-Aragón 1995". YouTube . 8 September 2021.
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
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