Rally New Zealand 1982
Round 7 of the 1982 World Rally Championship · 26–29 June 1982
Björn Waldegård led a Toyota one-two in New Zealand on the debut of the new-shape Celica.
Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari
The Rally New Zealand 1982 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domainPhoto: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Fast, flowing gravel roads through the farmland and forests of the central North Island.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan Violet GTS (Nissan Motor Dist. (NZ) Ltd)
- #2 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Opel Ascona 400 (Rothmans Opel Rallye Team)
- #3 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport UK)
- #4 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #6 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan Violet (Nissan Motor Dist. (NZ) Ltd)
- #7 Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth — Toyota Celica (Toyota NZ Ltd)
- #9 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport UK)
- #10 Tony Pond / Rob Arthur — Nissan Violet GTS (Nissan Motor Dist. (NZ) Ltd)
Björn Waldegård led a Toyota one-two in New Zealand on the debut of the new-shape Celica.
How the rally unfolded
The lead changed repeatedly in the first half. Röhrl, Mouton, Mikkola and Waldegård all headed the field, and Mikkola won 16 of the 38 stages. But Mikkola’s steering failed on stage 24, and Mouton was out on stage 14 when an oil pipe broke. Waldegård took over for good on stage 14.
Per Eklund made it a Toyota one-two, 3 minutes 13 seconds behind. Röhrl’s third place was worth more to him than any stage win: his rivals had scored nothing.
The decisive moment
Mouton’s oil-pipe failure on stage 14 and Mikkola’s steering failure on stage 24 decided the rally — and swung the championship towards Röhrl.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius | Toyota Celica | Toyota NZ Ltd | G4 | 10:28:08 |
| 2 | 7 | Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth | Toyota Celica | Toyota NZ Ltd | G4 | +3:13 |
| 3 | 2 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Opel Ascona 400 | Rothmans Opel Rallye Team | G4 | +5:29 |
| 4 | 1 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Nissan Violet GTS | Nissan Motor Dist. (NZ) Ltd | G4 | +13:17 |
| 5 | 12 | Rod Millen / John Bellefleur | Mazda RX-7 | Newport Rallying | G2 | +26:47 |
| 6 | 14 | Tony Teesdale / Gary Smith | Ford Escort RS1800 | A.A. Teesdale | G4 | +1:02:09 |
| 7 | 16 | Jean-Louis Leyraud / Eric Johnston | Ford Escort RS1800 | Johnston & Cie | G4 | +1:09:14 |
| 8 | 24 | Malcolm Stewart / Doug Parkhill | Ford Escort RS1800 | Malcolm Stewart | G2 | +1:23:18 |
| 9 | 18 | Paul Adams / Jim Scott | Toyota Starlet | Toyota NZ Ltd | G2 | +1:26:58 |
| 10 | 27 | Reg Cook / Wayne Jones | Nissan Bluebird Turbo | Nissan Motor Dist. (NZ) Ltd | G2 | +1:28:46 |
Retirements of note
- #3 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Quattro) — steering, stage 24
- #6 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta (Nissan Violet) — engine, stage 21
- #9 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Quattro) — oil pipe, stage 14
- #10 Tony Pond / Rob Arthur (Nissan Violet GTS) — accident, stage 14
- #11 Jim Donald / Kevin Lancaster (Ford Escort RS) — accident, stage 14
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
- 1982 season overview
- All 1982 rallies
- Previous round: Acropolis Rally 1982
- Next round: Rally of Brazil 1982
- Cars: Opel Manta 400
- Teams: Opel
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1982
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 1982 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1982 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 1982: event page — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1982.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1982_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1982_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1982_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1982 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_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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