Acropolis Rally 1985
Round 6 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 27–30 May 1985
Timo Salonen led the Acropolis from start to finish, even though Stig Blomqvist won 29 of the 47 stages.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Acropolis Rally 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: _morgado via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: TTTNIS via Wikimedia Commons, CC0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Rough, rocky gravel on the Greek mainland.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #3 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #4 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan 240RS (N.J. Theocarakis SA)
- #5 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #6 Mike Kirkland / Anton Levitan — Nissan 240RS (N.J. Theocarakis SA)
- #7 Andrea Zanussi / Sergio Cresto — Lancia Rally 037 (West Lancia Team)
- #8 George Moschous / Dimitris Vazakas — Nissan 240RS (N.J. Theocarakis SA)
Timo Salonen led the Acropolis from start to finish, even though Stig Blomqvist won 29 of the 47 stages.
How the rally unfolded
Both Röhrl and Vatanen were out on the first stage — Röhrl with brakes, Vatanen with steering. Blomqvist’s Sport Quattro was faster, but Salonen controlled the gap and won by 4 minutes 15 seconds.
Ingvar Carlsson’s third place in the Mazda RX-7 was the best result of the car’s world championship career. Shekhar Mehta was fourth in a Nissan 240RS.
The decisive moment
The double retirement on stage 1 decided the shape of the rally; after that it was Salonen’s consistency against Blomqvist’s raw speed.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | 10:20:19 |
| 2 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +4:15 |
| 3 | 9 | Ingvar Carlsson / Benny Melander | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rally Team (Europe) | B | +48:06 |
| 4 | 4 | Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis SA | B | +50:27 |
| 5 | 12 | Saeed al-Hajri / John Spiller | Porsche 911 SC RS | Rothmans Porsche Rally Team | B | +1:01:31 |
| 6 | 14 | Achim Warmbold / Michèle Petit | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rally Team (Europe) | B | +1:04:57 |
| 7 | 6 | Mike Kirkland / Anton Levitan | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis SA | B | +1:07:32 |
| 8 | 8 | George Moschous / Dimitris Vazakas | Nissan 240RS | N.J. Theocarakis SA | B | +1:25:33 |
| 9 | 17 | Franz Wittmann / Max Ogrisek | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Motorsport | A | +1:46:16 |
| 10 | 11 | Stratis Hatzipanayiotou / Evangelos Sassalos | Nissan 240RS | Stratis Hatzipanayiotou | B | +1:55:34 |
Retirements of note
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) — steering, stage 1
- #3 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Sport Quattro) — brakes, stage 1
- #7 Andrea Zanussi / Sergio Cresto (Lancia Rally 037) — accelerator cable, stage 30
- #10 Mauro Pregliasco / Daniele Cianci (Lancia Rally 037) — 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
- 1985 season overview
- All 1985 rallies
- Previous round: Tour de Corse 1985
- Next round: Rally New Zealand 1985
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Audi Quattro, Mazda RX-7
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Audi Sport, Other Teams
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1985
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 1985): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's July 1985 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1985 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1985 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 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/acropolis_1985_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1985 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_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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