Acropolis Rally 1984
Round 6 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 28–31 May 1984
Stig Blomqvist won the Acropolis, with Mikkola making it an Audi one-two and Alén third.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Acropolis Rally 1984 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Rough, rocky Greek gravel in early-summer heat.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #3 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot-Talbot Sport)
- #4 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #5 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (N.J. Theocarakis S.A.)
- #6 Attilio Bettega / Sergio Cresto — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #7 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #8 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan 240RS (N.J. Theocarakis S.A.)
Stig Blomqvist won the Acropolis, with Mikkola making it an Audi one-two and Alén third.
How the rally unfolded
Blomqvist led for most of the rally, with brief interruptions from Mikkola, Röhrl and Vatanen. Vatanen won 11 stages in the 205 T16 and led briefly after stage 18, but the Peugeot’s engine failed on stage 31.
Röhrl retired with electrical failure on stage 44 and Mouton’s engine failed on stage 14. Henri Toivonen crashed his 037. Achim Warmbold finished ninth in a Mazda RX-7 — a rare top-ten result for the rotary-engined car.
The decisive moment
Blomqvist regained the lead on stage 19 and was never headed again; Vatanen’s retirement removed the only real threat.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | 10:41:51 |
| 2 | 7 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +3:07 |
| 3 | 2 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +14:10 |
| 4 | 6 | Attilio Bettega / Sergio Cresto | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +21:58 |
| 5 | 14 | John Buffum / Fred Gallagher | Audi Quattro A2 | BF Goodrich Motorsport | B | +40:19 |
| 6 | 5 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis S.A. | B | +44:38 |
| 7 | 8 | Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis S.A. | B | +52:06 |
| 8 | 16 | George Moschous / Alexandros Konstantakatos | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis S.A. | B | +1:05:54 |
| 9 | 17 | Achim Warmbold / Michèle Petit | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rally Team (Europe) | B | +1:24:47 |
| 10 | 40 | Yoshio Iwashita / Yoshimasa Nakahara | Nissan 240RS | Yoshio Iwashita | B | +1:54:32 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Sport Quattro) — electrics, stage 44
- #3 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) — engine, stage 31
- #4 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Sport Quattro) — engine, stage 14
- #9 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero (Lancia Rally 037) — driveshaft, stage 40
- #11 Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen (Lancia Rally 037 Evo) — accident, stage 24
- #12 Jean-Pierre Nicolas / Charley Pasquier (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) — brakes, stage 37
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1984 season overview
- All 1984 rallies
- Previous round: Tour de Corse 1984
- Next round: Rally New Zealand 1984
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Lancia 037
- Teams: Audi Sport, Lancia Martini
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1984
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (July 1984): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's July 1984 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1984 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1984 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Acropolis Rally EN · archive
History of the Acropolis Rally with its list of winners over the decades. - Acropolis Rally (official site) EN · event
Today's organiser of the Acropolis Rally, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Acropolis Rally 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1984_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1984 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_World_Rally_Championship
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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SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); MPW57 (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Matthew Lamb (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).