Finnish Rally Championship (Group B era)

Finland, home of so many Group B works drivers, gave the new category its own national class. From 1983 a separate Group B champion was crowned alongside the Group A and Group 2 champions, and every Group B title of the period went to an Audi Quattro driver.

1983
first Group B class title
4
titles for Audi Quattro drivers
1988
last Group B class title
2
Finnish winter rounds of the ERC

Champions by class

Year Group B Group A Group 2
1982 — — Kyösti Hämäläinen
1983 Lasse Lampi Mikael Sundström Kyösti Hämäläinen
1984 Antero Laine Mika Arpiainen Kyösti Hämäläinen
1985 Antero Laine Mika Arpiainen Kyösti Hämäläinen
1986 Timo Heinonen Risto Buri Kyösti Hämäläinen

In 1982 the championship was still run for Group 1 (champion Harri Väänänen) and Group 2. The Group B class continued after the ban on Group B in the World Championship: Petteri Lindström won it in 1987 and 1988.

A separate Group B class from 1983, won every year by an Audi Quattro: Lampi, Laine and Heinonen on Finnish snow and gravel.

The cars and events

The Finnish Group B champions all drove Audi Quattros. Two Finnish winter rallies, the Arctic Rally in Lapland and the Hankiralli, were also European championship rounds:

  • 1983: Lasse Lampi and Kuukkala won both in an Audi Quattro A1; Lampi was also third on that year’s Swedish Rally.
  • 1984: Antero Laine and Risto Virtanen won the Arctic Rally in a Quattro A2; Lampi won the Hankiralli.
  • 1985: Laine won the Arctic Rally with Virtanen and the Hankiralli with Huolman, both in a Quattro A2.
  • 1986: Laine and Virtanen won the Arctic again; Timo Heinonen and Peter Rindell won the Hankiralli in a Quattro A2, ahead of Kari Sohlberg in another A2.

The 1000 Lakes Rally, Finland’s world championship round, is covered in the rally pages.

An Audi Quattro A2 of 1983, the type that won the Finnish Group B class.
An Audi Quattro A2 of 1983, the type that won the Finnish Group B class.Photo: sv1ambo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Class champions follow English and Finnish Wikipedia, which agree. The cars and co-drivers come from eWRC-results.com’s results of the Arctic Rally and Hankiralli; we assume, but have not confirmed from a separate source, that the champions used the same cars throughout their title seasons. Co-drivers are given by surname where the source does.

More from Championships

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (Group B era)Coleman, McHale and the Opel Manta 400 on the narrow asphalt of Galway, the Circuit of Ireland and the Lakes.Read more →Portuguese Rally Championship (Group B era)Santos’ Escort and Moutinho’s Renault 5 Turbo, plus the Madeira rally: Portugal’s championship in the Group B years.Read more →Austrian Rally Championship (Group B era)Wittmann, Wiedner and the Audi Quattro on the snow of the Jänner Rallye: Austria’s championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →Dutch Rally Championship (Group B era)Van der Marel’s Manta 400 and Andervang’s RS200: the Dutch championship, most of it raced in Belgium and Germany.Read more →Spanish Rally Championship (Group B era)Zanini, Ortiz and Servià — and the young Carlos Sainz — in the Spanish championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →Belgian Rally Championship (Group B era)Spa, Ypres and the Condroz: Duez, Snijers and Droogmans in the Belgian championship from Porsche to Ford RS200.Read more →

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (EN), Finnish Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Rally_Championship
  2. Wikipedia (FI), Luettelo rallin Suomen-mestareista — https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luettelo_rallin_Suomen-mestareista
  3. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1983 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1983/6-erc/
  4. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1984 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1984/6-erc/
  5. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1985 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1985/6-erc/
  6. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1986 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/6-erc/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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Thumbnail photos on this page: Florian Volk from Deutschland (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Eddi Laumanns aka RX-Guru (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).