Pentti Airikkala

A thoughtful, technically minded Finn, Pentti Airikkala reached the 1000 Lakes podium in a Mitsubishi in 1982 and drove a works Lancia 037 in 1983, but his great victory came after Group B, on the 1989 RAC Rally.

1
podium 1982–86
7
starts
3rd
1982 1000 Lakes
1979
British champion
Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)

Lancia 037 versus Audi quattro.

Career

Airikkala (4 September 1945 – 30 September 2009) was British champion in 1979 in a Vauxhall Chevette. In the Group B years:

  • 1982 1000 Lakes Rally – third in a Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo, with Juha Piironen.
  • 1983 1000 Lakes Rally – fifth in a works Lancia 037, again with Piironen.

He won the 1989 RAC Rally in a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, and later ran a rally school whose pupils included Colin McRae and Richard Burns.

Mitsubishi and Lancia driver, 1979 British champion and 1989 RAC Rally winner.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982
0wins
1 podium
1983
0wins
0 podiums
1984
0wins
0 podiums
1985
0wins
0 podiums
1986
0wins
0 podiums

0 WRC wins · 1 podium finishes, 1982–1986

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Sources

  1. Wikipedia (EN), Pentti Airikkala — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentti_Airikkala
  2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), results and entry lists 1982–1986 — https://www.juwra.com/

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: Osvaldo di Mando (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Andrew Basterfield (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); Thilo Parg (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); 5225C (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Morio (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Carlo Marzetti (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0).