Rallye Sanremo 1985
Round 10 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 29 September – 4 October 1985
Walter Röhrl won Sanremo in the Sport Quattro S1 — his only win with the S1, and his last world championship win.
Episode 4 — Short and Savage: Audi Sport quattro, S1 E2 & Audi’s European Titles
The Rallye Sanremo 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: MrWalkr 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
Ligurian tarmac and Tuscan gravel.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #3 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #4 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro S1 (Audi Sport)
- #6 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #7 Bruno Saby / Jean-François Fauchille — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #8 Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #9 Giovanni del Zoppo / Betty Tognana — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Italia)
Walter Röhrl won Sanremo in the Sport Quattro S1 — his only win with the S1, and his last world championship win.
How the rally unfolded
Röhrl beat Salonen by 6 minutes 29 seconds. Henri Toivonen and Markku Alén finished third and fourth in their 037s, with Dario Cerrato fifth for Jolly Club.
Bruno Saby retired with engine failure. Peugeot already had both titles almost secured, and the win was Audi’s last in the world championship in the Group B era.
The decisive moment
Röhrl’s win proved the S1 could still win on a mixed-surface rally — but it would not happen again.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Sport Quattro S1 | Audi Sport | B | 7:10:10 |
| 2 | 3 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | +6:29 |
| 3 | 1 | Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +7:52 |
| 4 | 6 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +8:33 |
| 5 | 8 | Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri | Lancia Rally 037 | Jolly Club | B | +15:25 |
| 6 | 4 | Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Rally 037 | Jolly Club | B | +23:23 |
| 7 | 9 | Giovanni del Zoppo / Betty Tognana | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Italia | B | +47:52 |
| 8 | 26 | Werner Grissmann / Jörg Pattermann | Audi Quattro A2 | Werner Grissmann | B | +1:05:06 |
| 9 | 14 | Franz Wittmann / Matthias Feltz | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Motorsport | A | +1:05:37 |
| 10 | 18 | Auguste Turiani / Pierre Gandolfo | Opel Manta 400 | Auguste Turiani | B | +1:18:46 |
Retirements of note
- #7 Bruno Saby / Jean-François Fauchille (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2) — engine, stage 37
- #10 Jochi Kleint / Werner Hohenadel (Volkswagen Golf GTI) — accident, stage 6
- #11 Massimo Ercolani / Loris Roggia (Ferrari 308 GTB) — driver injury, stage 4
- #12 Gabriele Noberasco / Bruno Scabini (Citroën Visa) — driveshaft, stage 23
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: 1000 Lakes Rally 1985
- Next round: Ivory Coast Rally 1985
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia 037
- Teams: Audi Sport, Peugeot Talbot Sport, Lancia Martini
- 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
- WRC.com season archive 1985 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1985 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Rallye Sanremo EN · archive
History of the Rallye Sanremo with its list of winners over the decades. - Rallye Sanremo (official site) IT · event
Today's organiser of the Rallye Sanremo, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rallye Sanremo 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/sanremo_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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