Rally New Zealand 1985
Round 7 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 29 June – 2 July 1985
A Peugeot one-two: Salonen ahead of Vatanen by 77 seconds, with Röhrl third after leading the first half.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Rally New Zealand 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Calreyn88 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 in Northland, north of Auckland.
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 Björn Waldegård / Michel Lizin — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #5 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #6 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #7 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan 240RS (Nissan NZ Ltd)
- #8 Mike Kirkland / Mike Doughty — Subaru RX Turbo (Subaru Motor Sport)
A Peugeot one-two: Salonen ahead of Vatanen by 77 seconds, with Röhrl third after leading the first half.
How the rally unfolded
Röhrl led from stage 3 to stage 16. Salonen took over on stage 19 and stayed in front to the finish. Vatanen won 16 stages but could not catch his team-mate.
Blomqvist was fourth. Toyota had a poor rally: Kankkunen retired with electrical trouble and Waldegård withdrew after falling too far behind.
The decisive moment
Salonen’s lead from stage 19 put him firmly on course for the title.
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 | 8:29:16 |
| 2 | 2 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | +1:17 |
| 3 | 3 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +2:26 |
| 4 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +6:06 |
| 5 | 11 | Malcolm Stewart / Doug Parkhill | Audi Quattro A2 | Malcolm Stewart | B | +59:48 |
| 6 | 10 | Reg Cook / Wayne Jones | Nissan 240RS | Nissan NZ Ltd | B | +1:17:37 |
| 7 | 14 | Ian Tulloch / John Cowan | Ford Escort RS | Ian Tulloch | B | +1:19:52 |
| 8 | 18 | Peter Bourne / Michael Eggleton | Subaru RX Turbo | Subaru Motor Sport | A | +1:22:45 |
| 9 | 16 | Jim Donald / Kevin Lancaster | Nissan 240RS | Nissan NZ Ltd | B | +1:32:19 |
| 10 | 25 | Tony Teesdale / Robert Haldane | Subaru RX Turbo | Subaru Motor Sport | A | +1:32:38 |
Retirements of note
- #4 Björn Waldegård / Michel Lizin (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — withdrew (too far behind), end of leg 1
- #6 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — electrical, stage 39
- #7 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta (Nissan 240RS) — withdrew (too far behind), stage 23
- #12 Neil Allport / Rodger Freeth (Mazda RX-7) — accident, stage 34
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: Acropolis Rally 1985
- Next round: Rally Argentina 1985
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Audi Quattro
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Audi Sport
- 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 (August 1985): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's August 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: 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 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_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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