1000 Lakes Rally 1983
Round 9 of the 1983 World Rally Championship · 26–28 August 1983
Hannu Mikkola won the 1000 Lakes by 21 seconds from Stig Blomqvist, with Markku Alén just 49 seconds behind in the Lancia — one of the closest finishes of the era.
Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)
The 1000 Lakes Rally 1983 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
Fast, jump-filled gravel roads in central Finland.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #3 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #4 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Opel Manta 400 (Rothmans Opel Rally Team)
- #5 Pentti Airikkala / Juha Piironen — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #6 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #7 Henri Toivonen / Fred Gallagher — Opel Manta 400 (Rothmans Opel Rally Team)
- #8 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (Autokeskus)
Hannu Mikkola won the 1000 Lakes by 21 seconds from Stig Blomqvist, with Markku Alén just 49 seconds behind in the Lancia — one of the closest finishes of the era.
How the rally unfolded
Blomqvist led most of the rally, but Mikkola won 29 of the 50 stages and took the lead for good on stage 49. Alén, in the 037, kept the Audis honest; Per Eklund (private Quattro) was fourth and Pentti Airikkala fifth in a second Lancia.
A young Juha Kankkunen finished sixth for Toyota Team Europe in the new Celica Twin-Cam Turbo. Vatanen and Toivonen both retired their Opel Manta 400s.
The decisive moment
Mikkola overtook Blomqvist on the penultimate stage. Twenty-one seconds after 472 km of stages was the margin.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | 4:23:44 |
| 2 | 3 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +0:21 |
| 3 | 2 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | +0:49 |
| 4 | 9 | Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth | Audi Quattro A2 | Sesab Service AB | B | +2:19 |
| 5 | 5 | Pentti Airikkala / Juha Piironen | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | +8:25 |
| 6 | 12 | Juha Kankkunen / Staffan Pettersson | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +11:05 |
| 7 | 11 | Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala | Audi Quattro A2 | VW-Auto Oy | B | +11:52 |
| 8 | 8 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Nissan 240RS | Autokeskus | B | +14:10 |
| 9 | 18 | Erkki Pitkänen / Juhani Paalama | Nissan 240RS | Team Nissan Finland | B | +21:43 |
| 10 | 33 | Jari Niemi / Erkki Nyman | Ford Escort RS | Jari Niemi | G4 | +26:40 |
Retirements of note
- #4 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman (Opel Manta 400) — halfshaft, stage 35
- #7 Henri Toivonen / Fred Gallagher (Opel Manta 400) — engine, stage 39
- #13 Antero Laine / Risto Virtanen (Ford Escort RS) — clutch, stage 11
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
- 1983 season overview
- All 1983 rallies
- Previous round: Rally Argentina 1983
- Next round: Rallye Sanremo 1983
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Lancia 037
- Teams: Audi Sport, Lancia Martini
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1983
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 (October 1983): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's October 1983 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1983 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1983 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland EN · archive
History of the 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland with its list of winners over the decades. - Rally Finland (official site, the former 1000 Lakes) FI · event
Today's organiser of the 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), 1000 Lakes Rally 1983: event page — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1983.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1983_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1983_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1983_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1983 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_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); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Steffs88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Kevauto (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); nakhon100 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0).