Rally New Zealand 1984
Round 7 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 23–26 June 1984
Stig Blomqvist won in New Zealand, ahead of Markku Alén’s Lancia and Hannu Mikkola.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Rally New Zealand 1984 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Fast forest gravel north of Auckland.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #2 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #3 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #4 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (Dealer Team Nissan)
- #6 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #8 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #9 Franz Wittmann / Peter Diekmann — Audi Quattro A2 (Franz Wittman)
Stig Blomqvist won in New Zealand, ahead of Markku Alén’s Lancia and Hannu Mikkola.
How the rally unfolded
Mikkola won 22 of the 45 stages, but finished third, 7 minutes 29 seconds behind. Blomqvist won by 4 minutes 47 seconds from Alén.
Walter Röhrl retired with ignition failure on stage 8, and Juha Kankkunen crashed his Toyota. Timo Salonen was fourth in a Nissan 240RS and Björn Waldegård fifth for Toyota New Zealand. Peugeot skipped the event.
The decisive moment
Blomqvist’s consistency against Mikkola’s raw speed: the Swede scored his third win of the season and moved closer to the title.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | 10:40:41 |
| 2 | 6 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +4:47 |
| 3 | 4 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +7:29 |
| 4 | 5 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Nissan 240RS | Dealer Team Nissan | B | +24:48 |
| 5 | 2 | Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota NZ Ltd | B | +55:17 |
| 6 | 10 | Reg Cook / Wayne Jones | Nissan 240RS | Dealer Team Nissan | B | +1:03:39 |
| 7 | 11 | Malcolm Stewart / Doug Parkhill | Ford Escort RS | Malcolm Stewart | B | +1:05:19 |
| 8 | 31 | Peter Bourne / Michael Eggleton | Subaru Leone 4WD | Motor Holdings | A | +1:24:05 |
| 9 | 36 | Tony Teesdale / Gary Smith | Subaru Leone 4WD | Subaru Motor Sports | A | +1:40:20 |
| 10 | 15 | Blair Robson / Don Campbell | Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo | Heatway | B | +1:44:27 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Quattro A2) — ignition, stage 8
- #8 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — accident, stage 26
- #9 Franz Wittmann / Peter Diekmann (Audi Quattro A2) — engine, stage 21
- #12 Neil Allport / Rodger Freeth (Ford Escort RS) — engine, stage 26
Jonkka’s World Rally Archive gives no stage-by-stage leader summary for this rally.
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: Acropolis Rally 1984
- Next round: Rally Argentina 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 (August 1984): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's August 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: Rally New Zealand EN · archive
History of the Rally New Zealand with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rally New Zealand 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_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: Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 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); Kieran White from Manchester, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Michael Barera (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Sicnag (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).