1000 Lakes Rally 1985

Timo Salonen won his home rally in the 205 T16 E2 by 48 seconds from Blomqvist’s Sport Quattro S1 — his fifth win of the season.

Round 9
of 12 in 1985
Salonen
winner
51
special stages
83/175
finishers/starters
Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)

The 1000 Lakes Rally 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.

At a glance

Round9 of 12 — 1985 World Rally Championship
Dates23–25 August 1985
BaseJyväskylä
CountryFinland
SurfaceGravel
Competitive distance51 special stages, 458.01 km
Starters / finishers175 / 83
Counted forDrivers’ and manufacturers’ championships
WinnerTimo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2
Most stage winsSalonen 20, Blomqvist 16, Alén 7, Mikkola 7
LeadersSalonen (stages 1–4); Alén (stages 5–11); Salonen (stages 12–51)
The Audi Sport Quattro S1 that Hannu Mikkola tested for the 1985 1000 Lakes.
The Audi Sport Quattro S1 that Hannu Mikkola tested for the 1985 1000 Lakes.Photo: Rally Paradise via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The podium

Audi Sport Quattro S1Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
2Stig BlomqvistBjörn CederbergAudi Sport Quattro S1Audi Sport
Peugeot 205 T16 E2Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
1Timo SalonenSeppo HarjannePeugeot 205 T16 E2Peugeot Talbot Sport
Lancia 037 Rally evoPhoto: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
3Markku AlénIlkka KivimäkiLancia 037 Rally evoMartini Racing

Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.

Route and surface

High-speed gravel with crests and jumps.

Key entries

The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):

Timo Salonen won his home rally in the 205 T16 E2 by 48 seconds from Blomqvist’s Sport Quattro S1 — his fifth win of the season.

How the rally unfolded

Alén led from stage 5 to stage 11 in the 037, but Salonen took over on stage 12 and led to the end. Blomqvist won 16 stages but had to settle for second. Alén was third and Toivonen fourth, both in 037s, with Kalle Grundel fifth in a second Peugeot.

Mikkola’s car ran out of oil on stage 31. Kankkunen’s Toyota retired with wheel-bearing failure.

The decisive moment

Salonen’s lead from stage 12 held all the way. His fifth win of the season put the drivers’ title beyond realistic reach of his rivals.

Result — top 10

Pos. No. Crew Car Entrant Gp. Time / gap
1 3 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 Peugeot Talbot Sport B13 4:10:35
2 4 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg Audi Sport Quattro S1 Audi Sport B13 +0:48
3 2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia Rally 037 Evo Martini Racing B13 +3:39
4 5 Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen Lancia Rally 037 Evo Martini Racing B13 +11:26
5 1 Kalle Grundel / Peter Diekmann Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 Peugeot Talbot Sport B13 +11:28
6 8 Per Eklund / Bruno Berglund Audi Quattro A2 Clarion Svenska AB B13 +12:33
7 9 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo Toyota Team Europe B13 +19:33
8 18 Mikael Ericsson / Reinhard Michel Audi 80 Quattro Blue Rose Team A9 +27:16
9 21 Lars-Erik Torph / Jan Svanström Volkswagen Golf GTI Swedish Junior Rally Team A8 +27:51
10 33 Sebastian Lindholm / Staffan Pettersson Audi 80 Quattro VW Auto Oy A9 +36:16

Retirements of note

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

All rounds of 1985

Round 1Monte Carlo RallyAri Vatanen · Peugeot 205 T16Round 2Swedish RallyAri Vatanen · Peugeot 205 T16Round 3Rally de PortugalTimo Salonen · Peugeot 205 T16Round 4Safari Rally (Kenya)Juha Kankkunen · Toyota Celica TCTRound 5Tour de CorseJean Ragnotti · Renault R5 Maxi TurboRound 6Acropolis Rally (Greece)Timo Salonen · Peugeot 205 T16Round 7Rally New ZealandTimo Salonen · Peugeot 205 T16 E2Round 8Rally ArgentinaTimo Salonen · Peugeot 205 T16 E2Round 91000 Lakes Rally (Finland)Timo Salonen · Peugeot 205 T16 E2Round 10Rallye SanremoWalter Röhrl · Audi Sport Quattro S1Round 11Ivory Coast RallyJuha Kankkunen · Toyota Celica TCTRound 12RAC Rally (Great Britain)Henri Toivonen · Lancia Delta S4

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.

Peugeot 205
Peugeot 205Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen in the 205 T16 E2 on 17 October 1986 — before the Peugeots were excluded.
Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen in the 205 T16 E2 on 17 October 1986 — before the Peugeots were excluded.Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
The Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 with its distinctive front splitter and rear wing.
The Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 with its distinctive front splitter and rear wing.Photo: Ermell via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A pair of Audi Quattro WRC rally cars, on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (L–R): a 1986 Audi Sport quattro S1 (chassis 85ZGA905013) as driven by Walte
A pair of Audi Quattro WRC rally cars, on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (L–R): a 1986 Audi Sport quattro S1 (chassis 85ZGA905013) as driven by WaltePhoto: Bahnfrend via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Further resources

All Group B resources →

The same rally in other Group B years

19821000 Lakes Rally 1982Hannu Mikkola won his home rally by just 30 seconds from team-mate Stig Blomqvist — an Audi one-two on the fastest event of the year.Read more →19831000 Lakes Rally 1983Hannu 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.Read more →19841000 Lakes Rally 1984Ari Vatanen won the 1000 Lakes — Peugeot's first world championship win with the 205 Turbo 16.Read more →19861000 Lakes Rally 1986Timo Salonen won the 1000 Lakes by 24 seconds from Kankkunen, after Alén had led for 34 stages.Read more →

Sources

  1. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), 1000 Lakes Rally 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1985.html
  2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1985_results.html
  3. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1985_entries.html
  4. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1985_stage_winners.html
  5. 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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Thumbnail photos on this page: MrWalkr (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rikita (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Michael Barera (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); MrWalkr (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Kieran White from Manchester, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).