Ivory Coast Rally 1984
Round 11 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 31 October – 4 November 1984
Stig Blomqvist won the Ivory Coast in a Sport Quattro and clinched the 1984 drivers’ title.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Ivory Coast Rally 1984 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: 先従隗始 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
About 4,000 km of West African roads and tracks, timed between controls.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes — Nissan 240RS (Shekhar Mehta)
- #3 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #4 Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux — Opel Manta 400 (Alain Ambrosino)
- #5 Eugene Salim / Clément Konan — Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo (Eugene Salim)
- #6 Samir Assef / Christian Boy — Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo (Samir Assef)
- #8 Surinder Thatti / Norman Main — Nissan 240RS (Surinder Thatti)
- #11 Dave Horsey / David Williamson — Peugeot 504 Pickup (Dave Horsey)
Stig Blomqvist won the Ivory Coast in a Sport Quattro and clinched the 1984 drivers’ title.
How the rally unfolded
Only six of 50 starters finished. Blomqvist won by 22 minutes from Mikkola, with Shekhar Mehta third for Nissan. It was the short-wheelbase Sport Quattro’s only world championship win.
Lancia and Peugeot were absent, and the event counted only for the drivers’ championship.
The decisive moment
Blomqvist’s win made him world champion. Audi also took the 1984 manufacturers’ title.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | 5 h 24 min |
| 2 | 3 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +22 min |
| 3 | 2 | Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes | Nissan 240RS | Shekhar Mehta | B | +1 h 04 min |
| 4 | 4 | Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux | Opel Manta 400 | Alain Ambrosino | B | +1 h 39 min |
| 5 | 11 | Dave Horsey / David Williamson | Peugeot 504 Pickup | Dave Horsey | B | +8 h 34 min |
| 6 | 18 | Patrick Tauziac / Lois Cournil | Mitsubishi Colt | Patrick Tauziac | A | +18 h 49 min |
On the Safari and the Ivory Coast Rally, crews were ranked by penalty time accumulated on timed road sections, not by special-stage times.
Retirements of note
- #5 Eugene Salim / Clément Konan (Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo) — excluded (missed time control), time control 35
- #6 Samir Assef / Christian Boy (Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo) — excluded (missed time control), time control 35
- #8 Surinder Thatti / Norman Main (Nissan 240RS) — withdrew (unknown), time control 0
- #14 Claude Thibault / Claude Papin (Mitsubishi Lancer) — suspension, time control 28
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: Rallye Sanremo 1984
- Next round: RAC Rally 1984
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Nissan 240RS
- Teams: Audi Sport
- 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 (December 1984): ivory coast rally EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's December 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: Rallye Côte d'Ivoire EN · archive
History of the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Ivory Coast Rally 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1984_entries.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: Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); 先従隗始 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); 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); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Steffs88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).